Syracuse’s colors were more feminine early on

The Syracuse Orangemen did not always sport their familiar blue and orange uniforms to which… The Syracuse Orangemen did not always sport their familiar blue and orange uniforms to which college football fans have become accustomed.

Syracuse wore blue and pink uniforms in its first intercollegiate game in which it squared off with Rochester on Nov. 23, 1889. Rochester dominated the Orangemen in a 36-0 defeat.

The next season, orange became the team’s primary color and is how the name “Orangemen” came to be.

Syracuse did not have a home to call its own until moving its games to the Oval in 1895 as it used different parks throughout the city to play its home games.

By 1907, the Orangemen moved into John D. Archbold Stadium, which would be their home for the next 72 years. The final game played at John D. Archbold Stadium took place in 1979.

In 1980, Syracuse became the resident of the Carrier Dome, which was first domed stadium in the Northeast.

The Orangemen’s first rivalry began in 1897 in a game vs. Colgate. A reporter who was rooting for Colgate tackled an Orangeman in order to prevent him from scoring the winning touchdown. The game ended in a 6-6 tie.

Syracuse’s next rival came in 1922 when it began a series with Penn State at the Polo Grounds in New York. The first game ended in a scoreless tie and the teams continued to meet regularly until 1990.

Syracuse had one of the first black quarterbacks in college football. Wilmeth Sidat-Singh led the Orangemen to a comeback victory over Cornell in 1938.

In 1961, Syracuse made history as running back Ernie Davis became the first black recipient of the Heisman Trophy. Davis still remains the only Orangeman to receive the award. He died of leukemia two years later.

The Orangemen have been to 21 bowl games in their long history and had a 13-year stretch in which it went to 11 bowl games.

In 1952, the Orangemen made their first Orange Bowl appearance, which ended in a 61-6 loss to Alabama.

By the end of the decade, the Orangemen were National Champions as they defeated Texas 23-14 in the Cotton Bowl in 1959.

Syracuse has a wealth of former players whom have made it to the National Football League. Popular names include Jim Brown, John Mackey, Jim Ringo, Art Monk, Daryl Johnston, Marvin Harrison and Donovan McNabb.

Brown, Ringo, Mackey, Larry Csonka and Oakland Raiders owner Al Davis are former Orangemen who have been inducted into the National Football League’s Hall of Fame.

The number 44 has special meaning at Syracuse as that number has a lot of stories and history behind it. Many Orangemen legends have donned number 44. James Brown, a 16-year-old freshman running back from Long Island, was the first All-American to wear number 44.

Power running became a trademark of the Orangemen beginning in 1954. Hall of Fame Cleveland Browns’ running back Jim Brown also wore number 44. It is considered an honor at Syracuse to wear number 44 because of the prominence of those who wore the number previously.

The University has gone as far as to change its zip code from 13219 to 13244. The last player whom the coaching staff allowed to wear number 44 was current Miami Dolphin Rob Konrad in 1995.

Syracuse has had 15 consecutive winning seasons and sports a 12-8-1 bowl record. The Orangemen’s most recent bowl appearance was in the Insight.com Bowl in December 2001, where they crushed Kansas 26-3.

Head coach Paul Pasqualoni has won 54 league games and has more career wins than any other current Big East coach.