our days of player interviews, three full notepads packed with quotes and one Paul Pasqualoni press conference — a week consumed by Syracuse football. And we walked away with one message: Syracuse desperately wants to be the same team it was last year.

It’s clung to a similar motto — “Do you believe” instead of “Why not us” — and an identical, nobody-thinks-we-can-win-so-we’ll-prove-ourselves attitude.

In interviews, this team talked so much about last year’s success you’d think it wanted us to just reprint the guide we ran last year.

“You’re looking at pretty much the same type of team,” fullback Chris Davis said. “We’re just as hungry, just as disrespected and we’ve got a lot to prove. We want to do the same type of things they did.”

We were tempted to run up to the attic, fight through the dust and pull out last year’s guide for reproduction. But a last-second epiphany put this guide in your hands: Syracuse can’t jump in the same uniforms and let last year’s magic rub off. If it wants another surprise season, it will have to find its own identity.

But instead of creating a new image, Syracuse spent its offseason crying injustice and recreating last year’s us-against-the-world attitude.

“We just get a lack of respect,” said Syracuse quarterback R.J. Anderson, who likely uttered those same words this time last year. “They don’t think we have a lot of talent. We could probably win the national championship and still not be ranked in the Top 25.”

Last season, Syracuse finished 10-3, didn’t win the national championship and wound up No. 14.

“Nobody gives us respect,” tight end Joe Donnelly said. “But that’s fine. We’re used to playing as the underdogs. We come through in that role.”

Last year’s team excelled in that role. The 2002 Orangemen have not yet played as the underdog and will for the first time tonight against Brigham Young.

In 2001, the Orangemen had more than a chip on their shoulder. They had a stacked team with experienced talent.

Syracuse entered the 2001 season returning 70 percent of its receiving yards and 59 percent of its rushing yards.

SU brought back its top tackler and its top sack man. It returned 14 starters.

This season, the Orangemen return just 42 percent of their receiving yards and 22 percent of their rushing yards. Both the top tackler (Quentin Harris) and top sack artist (Dwight Freeney) are gone. They return just eight starters.

But Syracuse refuses to change its philosophy — or even its offensive gameplan — to better fit this year’s bunch. Besides clinging to a similar motto and mindset, Pasqualoni said he doesn’t necessarily plan on running the ball less, even though his top three running backs combined for a measly nine percent of last year’s rushing yards.

“We lost some people, but we’ll stack up fine to last year’s group,” running back Barry Baker said. “Don’t blink when your watching, ‘cause you’ll miss something. We’ll kill ‘em with the run, kill ‘em with the pass just like they did last year.”

The 2002 Orangemen may win games, may surprise some people –— but only if they realize the 2001 season is over.

They need to ditch the motto, ditch the self-deprecating whining and come up an identity of their own.

So far they’ve got their own D.O. guide. Maybe it’s a start.

Eli Saslow is the sports editor at the Daily Orange, where his columns appear regularly. E-mail him at eesaslow@syr.edu.

Published on September 2, 2002 at 12:00 pm