tagreena's Blog

Doug Marrone is heading back to the NFL.

After interviewing with the Buffalo Bills Friday night, Syracuse University head football coach Doug Marrone decided to take the job left vacant by Chan Gailey and coach the Bills for 2013-2014 season, according to ESPN.com and NFL.com. 

There has been no word from Marrone yet, nor has any contract been signed.

Marrone became the head coach of the Orange four seasons ago, turning around a program that was a perrenial Big East bottom-feeder. in 2010, Marrone led the Orange to an 8-5 record and it's first bowl victory since 2001. Two years later, the Orange recovered from a 2-4 start to finish 7-6 and win another bowl victory.

Before coming to Syracuse in 2009, Marrone coached in the NFL for six seasons. He was the offensive line coach for the New York Jets from 2002-2005 and was the offensive coordinator for the New Orleans Saints from 2006-2008. In 2008, the Saints led the league in total offense and passing offense with Marrone as its coordinator.

Current and former players, as well as recruits have reacted to Marrone's decision via Twitter. Offensive lineman Justin Pugh, who just declared for the NFL draft earlier this month, tweeted "I think we all should appreciate what coach Marrone did for Syracuse. He left the program in much better shape than where he found it."

Former running back Antwon Bailey tweeted "Happy for Marrone. Great coach. Tough that he's leaving the cuse. Changed the mindset of a program, players and fans."

Augustus Edwards and Malik Brown, two players who originally committed to SU, now plan to visit other schools upon hearing about the departure of Marrone.

Jim Boeheim keeps making history this season.

With No. 7 Syracuse (13-1, 1-0 Big East) defeating Rutgers (9-3, 0-1 Big East) 78-53 Wednesday night at the Carrier Dome, Boeheim sits only behind current Duke head coach Mike Krzyzewski on the all-time Div. 1 wins list. Boeheim, who was tied with Bobby Knight, won game number 903 to take sole possession of second place.

Tuesday's victory also make the first game of Big East play for the Orange, and the continuation of longest, active home-court winning streak at 33 games.

Senior guard Brandon Triche played well, scoring a season-high 25 points, which also lead all scorers. Triche added 6 assists, 4 steals, and shot over 70 percent from the field (8-of-11) and from behind the arc (5-7).

The two teams traded baskets for the first eight minutes of the half, as neither team gained an advantage of more than 6 points. With 8:18 left in the half, the Scarlet Knights took its first lead of the game at 20-18. It was at this point that the Orange re-took control of the game, going on an impressive 21-0 run that lasted until the end of the half. With senior forward James Southerland scoring 7 points and junior forward C.J. Fair scoring 6, the Orange went into halftime leading the Scarlet Knights 39-20.

From there, it was all Orange. Syracuse dominated the second half, going up by as many as 29 after two Triche free throws with 10:48 remaining in the game. When all was said and done, the Orange concluded their last Big East season opener with a defeaning victory over Rutgers.

The Cincinnati Bearcats (6-2, 2-1 Big East) pulled away in the second half to defeat Syracuse (4-5, 3-2 Big East) 35-24 on Saturday.. Running back George Winn ran for three touchdowns for Cincinnati and threw for one in a back-and-forth game with offense.

SU got off to a rocky start right from the first whistle. Jeremiah Kobena fumbled the opening kick-off, which Cincinnati recovered at the Orange 28 yardline. Four plays later, Winn and the Bearcats scored the first touchdown of the game to take a 7-0 lead.

But the Orange closed out the first half strong, as quarterback Ryan Nassib ran in for a one-yard touchdown to even the score and Ross Krautman converted a 24-yard field goal, giving Syracuse a 10-0 lead.

In the second quarter, the two teams traded touchdowns. Cincinnati re-took the lead 7 minutes into the quarter with a little trickery. Winn took the hand-off on a 4^th-and-2, and then threw to a wide-open Travis Kelce for a 37-yard touchdown. Nassib and company responded with a 14-yard touchdown pass to Alec Lemon to give the Orange a 17-14 lead at halftime.

Winn scored his third touchdown of the day, this time on the ground, from the one-yard line after a controversial fumble by Bearcat quarterback Munchie Leguax rolled out of bounds inside the one-yard line. The Orange responded on the next drive with a one-yard rushing touchdown of its own from Jerome Smith.

After the touchdown, the game took a turn for the worse for Syracuse. On the next Cincinnati possession, SU cornerback Brandon Reddish had the chance to intercept Legaux’s pass in Bearcat territory. The Orange got the ball back, but three plays into the drive, Nassib fumbled the ball and the Bearcats recovered at the 15-yard line.

Quarterback Brandon Kay, who was among five players to attempt a pass for Cincinnati, helped the Bearcats take the lead for the last time. He threw a quick screen pass to Travis Kelce, who took the ball into the end zone for a 13-yard touchdown. 

Cincinnati scored the final points of the game one-minute into the fourth quarter on a Winn 2-yard run. The Orange missed a field goal on its next possession, and failed to create any offense for the remainder of the game. 

Next week, the Orange return to the Carrier Dome to play No. 10 Louisville in front of its home crowd.

All photos courtesy of The News Record

Three thoughts from Saturday's game:

1. Rakeem Christmas, Melo’s replacement, is improving …

His stat line says it all: 8 points and 11 rebounds. Those are Fab Melo stats right there, minus the blocks. Slowly but surely, Christmas is developing into the player that he was supposed to be coming out of high school. Melo's absence has forced Syracuse to play Christmas more than they probably would have wanted, but he has performed much better now that he is being given the minutes to perform. With Baye Keita and C.J. Fair not playing up to the standards everyone is used to, it’s comforting to see Christmas emerge as the dominant post player that Melo was during the regular season.

2. Scoop Jardine is more clutch than everybody thinks he is …

In the first half, Jardine only had two points. But when the final buzzer sounded, the fifth-year senior had 16 points, 8 assists, and 5 rebounds. Jardine’s 3 3-pointers in the second half were the reason why the Orange won. Everyone thinks that Dion Waiters and Kris Joseph are the most clutch players on the floor, but Jardine proved that he has the same ability to perform well in the clutch and help his team win the big games.

3. Streakiness hurts and helps SU …

The Orange went on a big run in the first half that put them up big early on. However, Syracuse also allowed Kansas State to go on a run at the end of the half to cut the lead to one going into halftime. The Orange has struggled with this throughout the year, and it has always allowed opposing teams to come back in games. Saturday’s game could have easily turned that, but Syracuse’s late run helped close out the game and propel them into the Sweet Sixteen.