The Syracuse Orange [4] recorded a winning record last season for the first time since 2001. SU football hopes to continue its recent success under third-year head coach Doug Marrone [5] this fall.
SU opens its 2011 campaign [6]Labor Day weekend against Wake Forest [7]in the Carrier Dome [8]. It will be the first Thursday night football game in the program’s history.
Syracuse will then host Rhode Island [9], the only team from the Football Championship Subdivision on the schedule this season. Week 3, SU travels to the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum to play Southern California [10] in the first of a two-game series. Game two will be played next fall at the New Meadowlands Stadium.
The Orange host Toledo [11]of the Mid-American Conference in Week 4 and open BIG EAST Conference play in Week 5 against Rutgers [12], who SU dramatically beat last season, 13-10.
SU finishes non-conference play Week 6 in New Orleans against Tulane [13]in the first of a home-and-home series. West Virginia [14] visits the Carrier Dome after a bye week. The Mountaineers hope to reclaim the Ben Schwartzwalder Trophy, which SU won last season for the first time since 2001. Conference play continues with a pair of road games against Louisville [15]and Connecticut [16].
SU then returns home for a Friday primetime game against South Florida [17] on ESPN 2 and the home finale against Cincinnati [18]. Syracuse wraps up the regular season at Heinz Field against Pittsburgh [19], who the Orange have not beaten since 2004.
