Coming off a year in which the Orange won the Pinstripe Bowl and posted its first winning season since 2001, the bar is set high. But before Syracuse can achieve its lofty goals, it must prove it can win at home and replace its stout defense from a year ago.

And head coach Doug Marrone said it all begins with starting over.

‘We always have to start from the beginning,’ Marrone said at the team’s annual media day Aug. 5 inside the Carrier Dome. ‘So what we’re going to try to obviously create is this work ethic, this foundation that will give us the ability to attain our goals.’

Marrone spoke about the goals and expectations for the team in his press conference to open the 2011 season at media day. The head coach, entering his third season at the helm, underscored Syracuse’s goal for the near future. Though last season was a much-needed sampling of success, SU still has not proven it can compete year in and year out for the conference championship.

That’s the mission Marrone accentuated numerous times throughout his press conference. Not necessarily Big East title or bust, but competing for the Big East title is necessary.

‘Because once we have that, then we have it ready to take it to the next step, and now we can talk about things that are greater than the Big East title,’ Marrone said.

To accomplish this goal, SU must defend its home turf. The team’s poor performance at home last season was partly to blame for its fourth-place finish in the Big East. The Orange went 0-4 against Football Bowl Subdivision opponents and only defeated Football Championship Subdivision teams Maine and Colgate in the Carrier Dome.

The head coach said he recently spoke with his players about how winning at home is integral to the greater goals of the program. With four Big East home games this year, SU’s home improvement could make or break the season.

‘We’re trying to build this football team and make our home so much of an advantage for us that really, 12th man, it doesn’t become just a cliché, just a marketing term, but it’s the truth,’ Marrone said.

Players were in line with Marrone’s edict. Wide receiver Dorian Graham said while he’s looking at the smaller objectives — improving each day, developing better timing with SU’s quarterbacks — the bigger goal is competing for the Big East championship and subsequent Bowl Championship Series berth.

Freshman running back Adonis Ameen-Moore, who committed to Syracuse in December after the team’s 7-5 regular season, said he’s excited to be at SU to be part of the next step. And Orange wide receiver Van Chew, who will likely assume the team’s No. 1 receiver role, said putting together consistent campaigns is that next step.

‘Our goal is to compete for the Big East and just keep every year going, just like last year with going to a bowl,’ Chew said.

To compete in the conference, SU will need an inexperienced defense that is riddled with uncertainty to step up.

The Orange graduated two starting linebackers, both its starting cornerbacks and its top three defensive tackles. The current SU depth chart includes a freshman, Dyshawn Davis, starting at linebacker, and a starting cornerback, sophomore Keon Lyn, who missed the beginning of the season after being sidelined with mononucleosis and played on special teams after returning.

Syracuse ranked seventh in the nation in total defense last season. While expectations as a whole are higher, defensive coordinator Scott Shafer said expecting a young defense to improve much from what the defense posted last season is tough — especially one that only returns five starters from 2010.

But he said last year’s success serves as motivation for this year because it sets a precedent for those stepping into the shoes of graduated players. As the team shoots to be competitive in the Big East every year, Shafer wants to see his defense aim to be ranked among the best in the nation year in and year out.

‘Any time you have a defense that’s a top-10, -five, -six, -seven defense in different categories, is it realistic to say this group can cut that in half? Probably not,’ Shafer said. ‘But is it realistic to say that the bar’s been set and that we want to fight our butt off to be competitive every year, to be to the point where we are a top-20 defense? And that’s hard to do. … And that’s the challenge we have, we want to try and do that.’

All eight coaches at Big East media day Aug. 2 agreed that the conference is as competitive and wide-open as any in the country. Every team has a shot to earn the BCS berth that comes with the conference title.

But Marrone said to ‘compete’ for the Big East title, not to contend or to win. And SU has a lot to accomplish before it can achieve his goal, he said.

‘I’m excited about getting this thing started,’ Marrone said. ‘We have a lot of work in front of us to get where we need to be to be able to compete for the goals that we have in front of us.’

mcooperj@syr.edu

 

Published on August 4, 2011 at 12:00 pm

Contact Mark: mcooperj@syr.edu | @mark_cooperjr