Syracuse football fans are celebrating a stellar season, after a big win at the Holiday Bowl Friday night.
The atmosphere was electric, as Syracuse fans from near and far filed into the Snapdragon Stadium in San Diego, CA, more than 2,000 miles from the JMA Wireless Dome.
Sterling Fitzgerald is a third-year architecture student at SU, who traveled with his family from Las Vegas for the game.
"I think it's been really good,” Fitzgerald said about this season. “The players have been a lot better, just working together, even with the new coach, it's been really great to see."
His mom, Stephanie, agrees.
"Last year, we thought the same thing was going to happen, and it was very anticlimactic,” she said. “This year, it just kept going better and better and better, and that it was on the west coast, and we actually got to drive here instead of always flying, so it's been fabulous."
Nick Alencewicz is originally from Baldwinsville but now lives in Denver. He said despite the move, he’s still a huge Orange fan and has been watching this season closely.
"Kyle McCord's been a great quarterback, can't imagine that he would come here, and we've had such a great season, so I want to support him and the rest of the guys, and all the other fans who couldn't be here," he said.
The Orange did not disappoint, as the team took on the Washington State Cougars in a fast-paced game and won 52-to-35.
The victory marked the team’s third 10-win season since 2000 and the first since 2018. It showcased a strong performance from quarterback Kyle McCord, who now holds the ACC single-season passing yards record.
And the fans were pleased, like Gary McGinnis, who lives in Newport Beach, CA, but is originally from the Rochester area.
"I like the quarterback. He's good,” McGinnis said. “Everybody else is really good, too. They've got great receivers."
His son, Matt, said he hopes the team will get more recognition.
"Being ranked 21st is an understatement,” he said. “They're a lot better team than that. They should've been ranked higher. This is the best quarterback we've ever had at Syracuse."
And after a strong first season, Coach Fran Brown wants to tell the community he’s hopeful this is only the beginning of the team’s success.
"I'm happy that we're in the position we're in, and we set a standard,” Brown said in a post-game news conference. "I think the 10 wins show that we're becoming a successful program, and we have to continue to work, so this is just a standard that was set, and we want to go above and beyond."
