PISCATAWAY, N.J. — Doug Marrone wasn’t going to tear up again. Not this time. Not while walking across the field after Syracuse’s 13-10 win over Rutgers that clinched bowl eligibility. Not while his players cried tears of joy and simulated bowling their helmets in celebration.

Not at the podium, while the room waited for him to give the kind emotional reaction that came from a game, a season and a tenure full of emotion.

But even if it wasn’t the overly dramatic press conference, Marrone knew how much this win meant to the Syracuse football program. Standing behind the podium, he symbolized the past, present and future of the program.

‘Just like Coach Mac used to tell me and our football team when I was a player,’ Marrone said. ‘(He) would always tell us, ‘Don’t ever mistake, part of the college experience is winning.’ We haven’t done that, and I always felt that it was my job to make sure we got over this hump.’

‘This hump’ had been built for six long years without a bowl. And so the win Saturday meant something for the past. The glory days of Syracuse football. The team as it was under the direction of Dick MacPherson, who Marrone affectionately refers to as ‘Coach Mac.’

MacPherson and Marrone were together in Rutgers back in 1985 when Syracuse won its seventh game of that season. Syracuse went to the Cherry Bowl that year, its first bowl in — you guessed it — six years.

Today MacPherson attends all of SU’s home games to provide radio commentary, but he rarely travels to a road game because he attends each of his grandson’s usual Friday night games at Christian Brothers Academy.

But CBA’s season ended last weekend. And for this potentially special occasion, MacPherson made the trip. And he watched one of his former players lead the new rebirth of a program that hadn’t been to a bowl game in six years.

There they were, 25 years later. MacPherson recognized the similarities. How much significance Saturday’s win had for the past of such a rich program.

‘This program was at a very high level at one time, two times,’ MacPherson said in a telephone interview Sunday. ‘As two years have gone by, I think the selection committee and the fans have started to realize that Syracuse football is in very good hands.’

‘This hump’ was the culmination, for some SU players, of four long seasons of trials and tribulations that finally ended in triumph. Nine wins in the previous three seasons, compared with seven already this year. And so the win Saturday meant something for the present.

When it became apparent that SU would come away with the victory, senior defensive tackle Anthony Perkins kneeled down in front of the Syracuse bench and pointed to the sky. Senior Da’Mon Merkerson and juniors Chandler Jones and Torrey Ball posed for the camera near them.

This was their moment. Soon after, Perkins joined his teammates in the festivities, the highlight of which was when he and others simulated bowling their helmets in celebration of going bowling.

Perkins wasn’t one to hide emotion. Pointing to the sky, the tears of joy came with, finally, something to be proud of.

‘For me, I couldn’t hold it in,’ Perkins said. ‘After the struggles that have taken place before I got here and in my early years, to finally get a bowl game on my side.

‘It’s just … euphoria.’

‘This hump’ was finally conquered. And so this win means something for the future. As Perkins said, the win means the end of bowl talk. Even this season, with two games remaining and still a chance to win the Big East, the goals have changed. On to bigger and better things.

Max Suter was asked how this win will be remembered 10 years from now. To Suter, it was all too simple.

‘It’s definitely going to be a big thing,’ Suter said. ‘This year, you know, we changed this program around. It hasn’t been like this in a long time, and finally we’re back to this bowl game.’

With all of the meaning for past, present and future, Marrone couldn’t help but show emotion. Even if it was only to his former head coach getting on the team bus.

‘The only person happier than him,’ MacPherson said, ‘was his wife.’

Brett LoGiurato is an assistant sports editor at The Daily Orange, where his column appears occasionally. He can be reached at bplogiur@syr.edu.

Published on November 14, 2010 at 12:00 pm