Coach Shafer Previews Tulane, Reviews Wagner
Forward progress is the theme so far this season for Syracuse. Head coach Scott Shafer is impressed with the improvements the team has made through the first three games, culminating in a decisive 54-0 victory against Wagner. Tulane is up next for the Orange, who will take on the Green Wave in the Carrier Dome on Saturday at 12:30 p.m. (ACC Regional Sports Network).
Shafer's season plan has been to target certain areas to work on and so far he has seen results each week. Last Saturday was no different.
I'm really big on targeting the areas that I feel are necessary to give us a chance to win, and then practicing those types of things," Shafer said. "For instance, we talk about the first down and defensively we won that battle big time. Seventy percent of the time we won the first-down war. Our offense has the same exact goal, except they want to get four yards or more. They did a good job, but they were still a little bit short at 55 percent. Third down, both sides dominated. Defense was 86 percent in the win category. Offense was 59 percent, which their goal is 45 percent. READ MORE
Football Breaks Ground on New Indoor Practice Facility
Syracuse University broke ground on a transformational indoor practice center on Sunday at Lower Coyne Field on the Lampe Athletics Complex. Construction is expected to take approximately eight to nine months on the $13 million building, which will serve as a training center for Orange football and other intercollegiate sports programs.
Support for the indoor practice center is led by a major gift from Syracuse Board of Trustees Chairman Richard L. Thompson '67 and his wife, Jean '66. In recognition of their generosity, the turf field at the practice center will be named in honor of Jean Thompson's father, John F. Phelan, a Sherrill, N.Y. native who was a freshman at SU and a member of the 1940 Orange football team.
In 1941, when World War II broke out, Phelan left Syracuse after one year to join the armed forces and never returned. He was killed in action in France in 1944, giving the ultimate sacrifice in action for his country. He was survived by his wife, Jean Taylor Phelan, and Jean, his 6-week-old daughter. Jean Thompson ultimately went on to attend SU and graduated in 1966 with a bachelor's degree from the College of Arts and Sciences. READ MORE
