Syracuse out to prove it's bowl worthy

ORLANDO, Fla. -- The city of Syracuse can be an uninviting place.

Syracuse the university is warm and friendly, though, particularly to football players from the Northeast.

The football team plays in a domed stadium and practices indoors, after all. And for decades, stars like Jim Brown, Ernie Davis, Larry Csonka, Marvin Harrison, Donovan McNabb and Dwight Freeney made Syracuse a national power.

Head coach Paul Pasqualoni hasn't been able to snow recruits in recent years, though. Talent is drifting elsewhere faster than snowflakes on a windy day, as evidenced by a 4-8 record in 2002 and a 6-6 mark last year.

Syracuse went 6-5 to earn its first bowl bid since 2001 this year, though, and will face Georgia Tech at 7:45 p.m. Tuesday in the Champs Sports Bowl.

The Orange arrived in Orlando on Saturday, glad to be out of the wintry weather and confident after winning three of their last four regular-season games to claim a share of the Big East conference title.

Never mind that they had to share the league championship with three other teams or that the Big East was significantly weakened in 2004 because of the departure of Miami and Virginia Tech to the Atlantic Coast Con­ference.

This has been a special season at Syracuse, defensive end Julian Pollard said.

"We've shown a lot of pride and perseverance," Pollard said. "We've seen the highs and the lows here with this group. We know what it took to get here."

Specifically, the Orange needed victories over Connecticut, Pittsburgh and Boston College in the season's final month. A loss to then-No. 15 West Virginia on Oct. 21 dropped their record to 3-4, and fans and media were publicly questioning Pasqualoni's future.

Pasqualoni is in his 14th season at Syracuse and coached the team to five straight bowl games in the mid-1990s.

The team used the public criticism of their coach as motivation.

"To hear his job was on the line was tough," tailback Walter Reyes said. "But with Coach P, you'd never know his job was on the line. We didn't see him stressing or pulling his hair out. We kind of rallied around him."

The Orange's finish bought Pasqualoni at least one more season at the school. His contract runs through the end of next season, and the Syracuse administration gave him a vote of confidence in a press conference last week.

That news was more welcome to the Syracuse players than the spring thaw.

"Another year is guaranteed, and that's a good thing," Reyes said. "Now we want to win the bowl game and get that seventh win."