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yracuse’s longest-ever road trip began with a 4 a.m. wake-up, as it set out for a nearly 11,000-mile ride. The Orange flew to Chicago before boarding a Japan Airlines 747, making a pitstop in Anchorage, Alaska, and then reaching Tokyo, Japan.

“You see things on TV, but to be there, to get a chance to talk to people over there. It was an experience of a lifetime,” offensive lineman Turnell Sims said.

On Dec. 3, 1989, Syracuse’s centennial football team faced Louisville in the Coca-Cola Bowl. Hosted in the world-renowned Tokyo Dome, the Orange and Cardinals met in the 1989 regular-season finale with a trip to the Peach Bowl on the line. SU’s 24-13 win was anchored by third-string quarterback Wendal Lowrey, wide receiver Rob Carpenter and a standout defensive performance.

Thirty-five years later, however, members of Syracuse’s squad reminisce far beyond what occurred on the Tokyo Dome turf. What ensued was a week full of cultural revelations and outlandish stories that have lasted decades later.

“I tried to look at it and just enjoy the best of both worlds on that trip. I will forever tell everybody that it was one of the best six days of my life,” Carpenter said.

Originally sponsored by Japanese motor company Mitsubishi, NCAA teams started traveling to Japan for a regular-season contest in 1977. Coca-Cola took over sponsorship in 1986, and the Tokyo Dome opened in 1988, hosting Barry Sanders and then-No. 12 Oklahoma State. A year later, it was SU’s turn.

Syracuse’s matchup versus Louisville was the second-ever game in the Tokyo Dome. “The Egg” has a capacity of 55,000. Photo Courtesy of Syracuse University Archives, Special Collections Research Center

While most NCAA trips include only travel squads, the Orange made an exception. Due to the needed week of preparation in the country and unique experience, head coach Dick MacPherson decided to bring the entire roster. He told the team his plan early in the season.

“When he announced it, I’m like, ‘Ah, I guess I’m not going, that’s the travel team,’” EJ Dowdell, a redshirt freshman at the time, said. “And then it was like, ‘Well no, everybody’s going.’ That’s when everybody went crazy.”

The Orange’s equipment crew made an inch-thick manifest of all necessary items, which equipment manager Kyle Fetterly said went down to extra shoelaces. The crew began packing a month in advance and drove a tractor-trailer full of equipment to Chicago before the flight.

SU’s flight to Tokyo was unprecedented. Multiple underclassmen had never even been on a flight. Wide receiver Qadry Ismail estimates 90% of the roster had never left the country.

The process of securing birth certificates to acquire passports was rigorous. Defensive lineman George Rooks said the coaching staff and administration met with the team months in advance to sort paperwork, take passport pictures and collect medical information.

At O’Hare International Airport, Syracuse joined the Cardinals, their cheerleading and dance teams and the Grambling State marching band. All parties then piled into a double-decker plane headed west toward Tokyo.

Players took different approaches to managing the flight, which some remember as 16 hours while others saw closer to 20. Linebacker Dan Bucey, who recorded the game-sealing interception, recalls the coaching staff advising players to stay on their normal schedules and sleep on the latter portion of the ride. Against their judgment, Bucey and his crew stayed out all night, expecting to be tired once they got the plane. He struggled to sleep.

Carpenter remembers sleeping the first five hours, settling in before a lengthy backend of the trip. Meanwhile, Bucey said Louisville players enjoyed their time a little more.

“They were ordering alcohol and partying in the back of that plane, carrying on something unbelievable,” Bucey said of the Cardinals. “The stewardess was walking by with the mini bottles to the back of that plane constantly.”

As the flight continued, players from both squads convened to play card games. To refuel midway through the flight, they stopped in Anchorage. Alaska’s largest city was just a pitstop, but Bucey recalls seeing famous musician Barry Manilow donning his signature full-length fur coat in the airport. The short experience didn’t offer much else, though.

“I remember looking out the window of the airport, how brisk and how cold it looked. It was just nothing but heavy snow,” Sims said. “Anchorage is not a place I want to visit again.”

The traveling party eventually departed Alaska and arrived in Tokyo. Fetterly said the equipment team spent nearly six hours in customs. He remembers the airport personnel matching every item to the manifest, creating an exhausting experience.

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Checking through equipment wasn’t Syracuse’s only challenge at customs. Assistant coach Bob Casullo said SU starting quarterback Bill Scharr lost his passport on the way to Tokyo and wasn’t allowed into the country.

Scharr was sent to the United States Embassy, where quarterbacks coach Bill Maxwell checked on him often. Fetterly remembers Scharr staying at the Embassy for the first few nights before the situation was solved and he returned to the rest of the team.

As its starting quarterback sat alone on foreign soil, SU attempted to stay in its routine as much as possible. MacPherson made it a common theme to practice directly after touching down for every road or bowl game. Despite being in a different country, this week was no different.

“It was like we drank for three nights and then went out and practiced,” Sims said. “Your body is tired, you’re lethargic. I don’t think it was the best practice, but it was just a way to get us up and moving and get us focused.”

The practice conditions were abnormal. Syracuse practiced in a pedestrian-filled park where Coca-Cola Bowl officials chalked off areas to resemble a football field. Tokyo citizens went about their business as normal, walking near the sideline and playing frisbee just feet from the field.

“To say it was dirt with a sprinkling of grass would be an understatement,” Ismail described.

To add to poor practices, Carpenter said the flu bug and Japanese cuisine plagued the Orange. Mixed with the conditions of making the trip, the food differences only added to players’ struggles.

“I don’t think I ever felt as bad as I did getting ready for kickoff,” Bucey said. “Still jet lagged, malnourished. We were used to eating so much and having all those calories and some of the food, you just couldn’t eat.”

Sims and a few other offensive linemen tried to curb their desires with hamburgers from the hotel restaurant. Many players loaded up on mini hot dogs at breakfast. The night before the game, Bucey and fellow linebacker David Bavaro tested their luck with an American delicacy — Domino’s Pizza. Though the pizza was thinner and smaller than Domino’s in the U.S., it did the job.

While the final night before kickoff was saved for last-minute food urges, MacPherson emphasized to his players the importance of exploring Tokyo. He wanted to make the week as routine as possible when it came to game preparation and create an experience they’d remember.

The Orange had appeared in bowl games in 1985, 1987 and 1988 under MacPherson before the trip to Tokyo. Though much further from central New York this time around, he kept the same structure.

“It was all business until we were done running sprints. And then after that, he’d say, ‘OK, practice tomorrow at three o’clock. You got the rest of the night off and the morning off. Go see Tokyo,’” Fetterly said of MacPherson.

While it was important for SU to capture its seventh win of the season, MacPherson understood the opportunity to spread Syracuse football internationally.

“He was a visionary. (MacPherson) was the kind of guy who saw beyond what was the game,” Rooks said. “He saw how it would put Syracuse on the map in terms of everyone watching. Looking at that school going from upstate New York to Tokyo, and how that would highlight the program.”

The head coach was clear in his expectations — have a good time, don’t do stupid stuff and look out for each other. His players followed suit.

Multiple nights that week, players took to Roppongi, an entertainment district in Tokyo similar to New York City’s Times Square. Carpenter heard about the area from the American hip-hop group De La Soul, who he grew up with and had recently toured in Japan.

The district was lined with people late into the night with fast food, restaurants and clubs. While many didn’t speak English, the music blaring from the clubs consisted largely of American hip-hop, specifically Run-DMC and De La Soul. Sims said Run-DMC was even in Tokyo at the time, and the players interacted with the group through a few connections.

Greg Walker (left), Rodney “Tex” Johnson (second left), EJ Dowdell (middle), Earl Lumpkin (second from right) and Marcus Lee (right) pose in front of the Miyako Hotel. The Orange stayed in Tokyo for a week to prepare for their game. Photo Courtesy of EJ Dowdell

The Orange relished the nightlife culture but had multiple mishaps as the game drew closer. First, it was with their technology. Running back Duane Kinnon said he remembers the team’s great excitement about buying new cameras and Walkman players. While advancing their leisure technology use, however, in-game headset usage almost turned disastrous.

In the weeks leading up to the trip, Syracuse’s equipment team acknowledged coaches would need to use different headsets. SU relied on 110 volts. In Japan, they used 60 hertz systems. The University of Tokyo allowed the Orange to borrow its headsets for the game after speaking with SU’s equipment team.

“We didn’t bring our headsets. Then, when we got there, nobody could find anybody from the University of Tokyo. Our administrators scrambled,” Fetterly said.

Bill Gallagher, one of Fetterly’s assistants, didn’t make the initial trip to Tokyo. When the headset snafu occurred, SU administrator Doris Soladay sent Gallagher first class to Tokyo by himself. He delivered the headsets, and just as he arrived, Fetterly said the university reached out and provided the initially agreed-upon headsets. Gallagher then served as a ball boy throughout the game.

As the week continued, Ismail felt jet lag and decided to take a pre-practice nap. Typical to an away schedule, the Orange visited the stadium before their final practice.

Ismail and his roommate Todd Kasmer, though, didn’t know about the visit. They planned to nap for a few hours and then head to practice. Decimated by jet lag, Ismail woke up in a panic, quickly realizing they’d overslept.

“That’s it. It’s over. Life as we know it is over. We missed practice, and missed the bus,” Ismail thought.

As they rushed to the lobby, a Football Club Liaison sat at the bar and Ismail explained what happened. The liaison quickly fetched them a cab and directed the driver to the practice field.

When they arrived, no one from the team was in sight. Panic struck again before SU’s bus and police escort arrived at the park.

Ismail and Kasmer, it turned out, were too early. The rest of the team had been at the Tokyo Dome checking out the venue. The pair blended in with the team as they left the bus and acted as if nothing had happened.

Originally labeled as “The Big Egg,” the Tokyo Dome was less than two years old when the Orange took the field. SU was used to playing in a similar structure as 1989 marked its ninth year playing in the Carrier Dome.

Carpenter recalls the Tokyo Dome being “much larger” than the Carrier, with more open space on the playing surface. Ismail described it as “the definition of concrete and some little carpet,” adding the coaches attempted to color it up to add excitement.

When the game began, fans were assigned orange and blue pom poms in one half of the stadium and red and white in the other. The fans were loud but didn’t fully understand what they were watching, making the climate memorable.

“It was so new to them in football that they were cheering for any play,” Rooks said. “Especially when the ball goes in the air, they would cheer.”

The Coca-Cola Bowl game program included team previews in Japanese. Photo Courtesy of Syracuse University Archives, Special Collections Research Center

Syracuse didn’t have much time to worry about the fans, however. Scharr returned from the embassy a few days into the week but hurt his thumb on his throwing hand in practice. The injury sidelined him and thrust backup Mark McDonald into the lineup.

McDonald relieved Scharr multiple times that season, earning the nickname Don Strock — who spent 15 seasons as the Miami Dolphins’ backup. With SU trailing 10-7, McDonald sprained his right ankle on the third series, knocking him out of the game.

MacPherson had to decide between inserting Carpenter—who ran the option offense all four years of high school — or third-stringer Lowrey under center. Initially, the decision was simple.

MacPherson wasn’t going to burn a year of Lowrey’s eligibility and told Fetterly to get Carpenter quarterback shoulder pads. As Carpenter acquired the quarterback wristband and began to warm up, Maxwell went to MacPherson and made the case for Lowrey.

“(Maxwell) sees Carpenter warming up and walks down to MacPherson and says, ‘Let’s just put Lowrey in the game.’ MacPherson goes, ‘Are you kidding me? I’m not ruining a year of eligibility on a kid who’s going to be a great talent for us because of one game over here,’” Fetterly said.

“Without hesitation, Maxwell says, ‘coach, we’re not on the continental 48. Those rules don’t apply.’ MacPherson stared at him for about five seconds. He then goes, ‘Get Lowrey warmed up,’” Fetterly added.

Lowrey was no slouch himself. While not appearing yet that season, Lowrey was a highly touted recruit from Florida, earning All-American honors in his senior season. Known as a pocket passer, Lowrey could rip it if given the time. But early on, the moment got to him.

“The first possession I was in there, I was very nervous,” Lowrey said. “Almost had a turnover. In that initial series that I went in, I remember thinking to myself, ‘Hey, I gotta relax and let this game come to me.’”

He did just that. With Carpenter remaining on the outside and Lowrey under center, the two connected for 64-yard and 78-yard touchdowns in the fourth quarter. Syracuse’s defense then forced future NFL quarterback Browning Nagle to throw two interceptions, with cornerback Sean Whiteman grabbing the first and Bucey securing the second to clinch the game.

It was Lowrey’s only game played with the Orange. After showing glimpses of possibly being the program’s future, Lowrey admittedly let his academics slip, forcing him to leave SU. He sees it now as “blowing a golden opportunity” but still cherishes the appearance in Tokyo.

“It’s amazing how this many years later some of that stuff is still just deeply ingrained in my memory,” Lowrey said. “What really sticks out to me is how jubilant our locker room was after the game and the feeling of accomplishment.”

Tony Taylor (left), Duane Kinnon (center) and Michael Owens (right) pose in front of a building in Tokyo. The Orange defeated Louisville 24-13 in their Tokyo matchup. Photo Courtesy of Duane Kinnon

The Orange celebrated that night and left for the U.S. the next morning. Almost four weeks later, Syracuse set out for Atlanta, taking down Georgia in the Peach Bowl to cap their season at 8-4. Ismail described the Georgia game as anticlimactic, going from a bizarre situation across the world to a matchup a few states away.

Teams led by MacPherson and then Paul Pasqualoni traveled cross country for bowl games in the ensuing years. MacPherson’s 1990 team played in Hawaii. Pasqualoni’s 1991, 1995 and 2004 teams played in Florida. The 1992, 1997 and 2001 squads appeared in Arizona.

Many alumni from the ‘89 team went on to play professionally, traveling the country as NFL players. Still, no trip topped a regular season game across continents, bringing SU its furthest game from campus and building memories that have spanned a lifetime.

Illustration by Flynn Ledoux

Published on December 5, 2024 at 2:52 am

Contact Aiden at: amstepan@syr.edu | @AidenStepansky