If only the schedule-makers knew. When they marked this one down a couple years ago, they likely thought little of it, just another early-season contest between a pair of pedestrian programs.

But tomorrow, when the Syracuse football team opens at North Carolina at 1:30 p.m., it could be one of the most significant games in recent SU history. Syracuse sits at a crossroads. The Orangemen aren’t playing just to start their season well, but also to uphold a legacy.

‘It’s the most pivotal game that we’ve ever had as a first game in the program since I’ve been around,’ said Dick MacPherson, who coached SU from 1981 to ’90. ‘It’s going to re-establish who we are.’

Tomorrow’s opener is SU’s first chance to salvage the tradition it spent last year dragging through the dirt. After 15 straight winning seasons – which established Syracuse as the Big East’s most stable program – the Orangemen crafted a 4-8 disaster.

Thirty-four points and 304 yards allowed per contest. No bowl game. One bruised reputation.

‘That’s not what the program is,’ said SU defensive coordinator Chris Rippon, who hadn’t experienced a losing year in his 11-year tenure at SU. ‘(Tomorrow’s) the chance to get this thing going back the way we want to get it going.’

Rippon has received phone calls from about 15 former Orangemen this offseason, current NFL linebackers Morlon Greenwood and Keith Bullock among them. They phoned to offer encouragement but also to send a message:

(ITALICS)Let the guys know – we’re from Syracuse. And the expectation is very high.(ITALICS)

That point has been resonated by other members of the Syracuse program. How SU fares against UNC will set the season’s tone. Win, and last year’s a memory. Lose, and it’s a memory that won’t go away.

‘It’s a loud and clear message that they’ve got to do it,’ MacPherson said. ‘It’s huge. And we’re gonna bring Billy Fucillo down there to make sure they know that.’

No such annoyances are necessary. Syracuse gets the picture, especially the 16 seniors on the roster. Generations of Orangemen before them built a tradition at SU, and it’s their turn to preserve it.

‘The guys before me laid the foundation,’ said Marvin Graves, who played quarterback at SU from 1990 to ’93. ‘Our class did a good job, and then you had Donovan McNabb. The past few years have been rough.’

Said senior tight end Lenny Cusumano: ‘We don’t want to be remembered for what we did last year.’

In Chapel Hill, N.C., Syracuse can give people a reason to forget. Last year, the Tar Heels defeated SU, 30-22, in a game that typified the Orangemen’s exasperating season.

Darian Durant threw for 284 yards, leading UNC back from a 22-16 fourth-quarter deficit at the Carrier Dome. Josh Thomas injured his foot, setting back the defense for weeks. An air of losing started to set in.

‘That was a game we thought we had,’ Cusumano said. ‘It’s payback time now. It’s time to get them down in their house.’

This year’s Carolina defense may invite Syracuse’s revenge. The Tar Heels allowed a staggering 236 yards – and 7.9 yards per carry – rushing in a 37-0 loss to Florida State.

The Tar Heels’ run-stopping deficiency plays perfectly into SU’s strategy. SU’s run-first attack is spearheaded by junior Walter Reyes and sophomore Damien Rhodes, one of the Big East’s best running-back tandems.

When asked this week if he was licking his chops after seeing the way Seminole backs sliced through UNC’s defense, Rhodes, already getting up from an interview, simply shook his head and smiled wide.

Perhaps he sensed that finally, after an interminable offseason, Syracuse has a chance to redeem it’s scarring season.

‘Last year we didn’t do SU football right,’ Rhodes said. ‘We’re ready to get it back to where it’s supposed to be.’

Published on September 4, 2003 at 12:00 pm