Kaligis can definitely use all of the assist he can get, particularly an embrace and a few encouraging phrases from the opposing coach.
No. 22 Syracuse (9-3, No. 21 CFP), led by nationwide passing chief Kyle McCord, is a 17-point favourite based on BetMGM in Friday night time’s Vacation Bowl towards the depleted Cougars (8-4), whose season has nosedived since mid-November.
After beating future Pac-12 opponent San Diego State 29-26 on Oct. 26 at Snapdragon Stadium, coach Jake Dickert, quarterback John Mateer and the remainder of the Cougars have been 7-1 and about to leap into The Related Press High 25.
Now the Cougars are barely recognizable as they return to Snapdragon. Dickert was employed away by Wake Forest, Mateer transferred to Oklahoma and operating again Wayshawn Parker left for Utah. Quite a few coaches, together with the offensive and defensive coordinators, are gone, and greater than 20 gamers have entered the switch portal.
The Cougars, who misplaced their final three video games, are a main instance of how faculty soccer’s quickly altering panorama can dramatically have an effect on a program.
“Going into the ins-and-outs of the game tomorrow doesn’t matter,” Kaligis stated. “We are who we are, we have what we have. I know that’s for both of us.”
Kaligis stated gamers who entered the portal after Dickert left can go well with up Friday night time. “I know we came here with 98 guys. That’s who we’re going to show up on the field with.”
The state of the sport
Kaligis stated relationships between gamers and coaches are extra necessary than ever, even when there’s much less time to develop belief “and coach them the right way.”
“When a staff (member) leaves and guys get in the portal, it’s because of the relationships they have garnered with their position coaches. When that position coach isn’t guaranteed he’s going to be there, that’s who that young man trusts,” Kaligis stated.
“I’ve been doing this for a long time,” he added. “What’s been hard for me, I spent 13 years at Wyoming, I saw three graduating classes. I remember I was the longest-tenured coach there. To see them all the way through. When I came to Wazzu, I was their fourth D-line coach.”
Wazzu’s hunch
The Cougs improved to 8-1 by beating Utah State 49-28 on Nov. 9 however then misplaced three straight, together with to Oregon State within the de facto championship recreation between the 2 groups left within the Pac-12. In addition they misplaced to New Mexico and Wyoming, two of the Mountain West groups that weren’t invited to affix the reconstituted Pac-12 beginning in 2026.
Airing it out
McCord, who transferred from Ohio State, rewrote the Orange’s file e-book this season with 4,326 yards passing, 29 touchdowns and 367 completions. He’s nicely inside vary of breaking Deshaun Watson’s ACC single-season file of 4,593, which he set in 15 video games in 2016.
Orange targets
A win will give Syracuse 10 wins for the primary time since 2018 and simply the third time since 2000. Brown can grow to be the second Syracuse coach since World Struggle II to file 10 wins in his first season, becoming a member of Paul Pasqualoni, who did it in 1991.
Of their closing regular-season recreation, the Orange rallied from a 21-0 deficit for a 42-38 win towards then-No. 6 Miami that knocked the Hurricanes out of ACC title rivalry and ended their Faculty Soccer Playoff hopes. McCord threw for 380 yards and three touchdowns.
“We want to go out and have a good game,” Brown stated. “We have an opportunity of winning 10 games, which means you’re starting to become a successful program, right? Our players haven’t had a chance of winning a bowl game. So there’s a lot of things that are on the line for us to really be able to build our program and being able to move forward.”
Sequence historical past
This would be the groups’ second assembly. Syracuse beat Washington State 52-25 in 1979.