Syracuse goes 'Deep in the Heart of Texas’ to battle SMU

Syracuse has not played a game in the Lone Star state since 2013's Texas Bowl win over Minnesota in Scott Shafer's first season as head coach. Saturday, there will bea sellout crowd at SMU's Ford Stadiumin Dallas as the Orange meet the ACC's second-year Mustangs, looking to avoid consecutive defeats for thefirst time under Fran Brown.

Currently, there are five Orange players who hail from Texas and are heading back closer to their hometowns this weekend. They are QB Luke Carney (Mesquite), WR Johntay Cook (DeSoto), WR Darrell Gill Jr. (Atascocita), RB Will Nixon (Waco), and OL Byron Washington (DeSoto).

Back to Dallas, site of the most important game in program history

It is hard to believe the Cotton Bowl, which opened in 1930, is still being used regularly for football games, including the annual Red River Rivalry between Texas and Oklahoma. It was on that site on January 1, 1960 that Syracuse wrapped up the national championship by virtue of its 23-14 win over the home-state Longhorns, a game that was brought to the Big Screen in the 2008 movie "The Express: The Ernie Davis Story," highlighting the tensions between an integrated team from the north, and a non-integrated team from the south that did not respect the visitors.

Just over a minute into the game, SU quarterback Gerhard Schwedes hit Davis with an 87-yard touchdown pass, still the longest in Cotton Bowl history, to give the Orangemen a quick 7-0 lead. Davis also had a key interception to set-up another 'Cuse touchdown.

A capsule history of Syracuse football's five other games in Texas

1957 Cotton Bowl vs. TCU - Syracuse's first trip to Dallas ended in bitter disappointment. Despite Jim Brown's 132 yards rushing and two touchdowns, he had his extra point blocked with just over 5:00 to play when the TCU defense saw an Orange player get confused on the snap count, allowing timed penetration by a Horned Frogs player to block the kick. That point turned out to be the difference when Jim Ridlon scored late, but in the days before the two-point conversion option, Brown's last extra point still put Syracuse on the short end of a 28-27 final.

1966 Baylor at Waco - In the days in which there was usually only one game televised nationally, this was the game of the week on ABC, featuring its top announcing team of play-by-play voice Chris Schenkel, analyst Bud Wilkinson, and field reporter Bill Fleming. Unfortunately, Ben Schwartzwalder's No. 7 ranked team fell behind early to a Bears blitz, and only managed to score six points in each half in a 35-12 defeat.

1970 Houston at Houston - The nine players who comprised the "Syracuse 8" had been suspended for skipping spring practice, and remained suspended by the administration heading into the season opener played at the still-novel Astrodome, which had opened five years earlier. The Cougars ran up-and-down the flat Astrodome track blitzing SU 42-15, including a 99-yard touchdown pass in the second quarter to demoralize an already down Orange squad.

1993 Texas at Austin - Syracuse came into the game ranked sixth, and had defeated a down Texas program in the Dome by ten points the season before. The Longhorns Mike Adams scored on a 54-yard punt return to give UT an 18-14 lead in the third quarter. SU rallied, and with the game tied at 21-21, Orange kicker Pat O'Neill missed wide right on a makeable 33-yard FG with 11 seconds to play to send everyone home disappointed.

2013 Texas Bowl vs. Minnesota - This time in Houston playing across the street from the long-vacated Astrodome at NRG Stadium, SU trailed 17-14 in the game's final minutes when quarterback Terrel Hunt scampered 12-yards with 1:14 remaining to give the 'Cuse a 21-17 lead. The Orange defense then held the Gophers on their final possession, and SU finished 7-6 to give Shafer a winning record in his first season as Syracuse head coach, a feat matched by Paul Pasqualoni in 1991, and Brown last season.

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