Twenty-nine seniors and one student manager were honored in a brief ceremony prior to the game for their commitment to the Orange program. Families and friends joined them along the sidelines, as they were each called out, one-by-one, for a picture and a handshake and a hug from Director of Athletics Daryl Gross.
It’s too bad that this annual senior recognition couldn’t be conducted a little closer to the actual kickoff so fans could hopefully be in their seats and they too can give these players their proper due. Instead, they are honored in front of empty gray seats, along the sidelines. Why not honor these players in front of their teammates and fans at midfield just prior to kickoff?
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This senior class has been a part of three bowl victories. With the loss on Saturday, it knocks the Orange out of any bowl contention. Syracuse has games left at Pittsburgh and Boston College. It’s all about playing for pride now.
“The only thing that sucks about this being your senior year is that you don’t want people to remember, when they think back at you as a player, to just remember this season,” senior offensive tackle Sean Hickey said. “This senior class has been extremely successful since we’ve been here, especially the fifth year seniors because we were in the first Pinstripe Bowl.
“This senior class has had success, so for this year to not go the way we wanted it to, it’s disappointing but we were dealt a pretty tough hand throughout this year. You can’t use it as a crutch or an excuse but the good teams can overcome it and I felt this coming in this year we were a good team and I still, deep down, believe that when we have all the pieces that we are, but it was just too much for us to overcome.”
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