Syracuse Post-Game Celebration Trolls Liberty
After Syracuse football upset Liberty 24-21 in the Carrier Dome Friday night to improve to 3-1 on the season, the Orange players celebrated in the locker room the only way they could. They danced and sang "Empire State of Mind" by Jay-Z and Alicia Keys.
This may seem innocuous on the surface, but a look back reveals how this move trolled the Liberty football program.
Last season, the Flames beat Syracuse 38-21. Afterwards, the Liberty players celebrated playing that exact song as a way to troll Syracuse. The Orange kept the receipts, and it was clearly on the mind of head coach Dino Babers as well.
"They were so embarrassed about what happened last year," Babers said on the ACC Network after the game. "And they really wanted to take that Empire State of Mind of New York, New York, New York."
A clear reference to last year's Liberty celebration. Below are the videos of this year's Syracuse celebration, last year's Liberty celebration and Dino Babers' comments.
SYRACUSE CELEBRATION
LIBERTY CELEBRATION
DINO BABERS COMMENTS
The win was a big one for the Orange, which improved to 3-1. Liberty beat Syracuse 38-21 last season, so turning a 17 point loss into a three point victory is impressive. Especially considering Liberty was one of the first few schools in the "others receiving votes" category in last week's poll, Liberty has an NFL quarterback that is likely to go high in the first round in the 2022 draft and finished 10-1 last season. Now Syracuse has ACC play coming up just three wins shy of bowl eligibility.
