The New Meadowlands Stadium hosted a press conference in Manhattan Tuesday to announce that Syracuse will play three football games at the new stadium beginning in 2012.
Syracuse will face USC in 2012 and Notre Dame in 2014 and 2016 in the stadium that will be the new home to the Jets and Giants. The Orange will be the home team for all three games. Syracuse and Southern Cal initially scheduled a two-game series, including one at the Carrier Dome. The Orange and Irish are scheduled to play a four-game series, with two tilts in South Bend, Ind. “We designed New Meadowlands Stadium to accommodate a variety of games, sporting events and concerts,” said Mark Lamping, CEO of New Meadowlands Stadium Company. “We are thrilled to host Syracuse University, a school with rich and time-honored athletic tradition, and we likewise welcome the Orange to be a part of New Meadowlands history.” “This is a tremendous opportunity for Syracuse University to be associated with the New Meadowlands,” said Syracuse AD Dr. Daryl Gross. “We embrace the opportunity to play in the New York metropolitan area, which boasts our most popular alumni base, to enhance our football program and University objectives. As the only BCS team in the state of New York, we feel it is our responsibility to represent this region successfully. The national exposure and playing these traditional college football programs are exciting for us as we look forward to re-establishing our own football tradition. The timing of this is perfect as we begin a new era in our history with head coach Doug Marrone, who grew up in this area and even served as Jets Offensive Line Coach from 2002 to 2005. The stadium is absolutely fabulous and we thank everyone at the New Meadowlands who helped make this opportunity come to fruition. We look forward to this great partnership.” Yankee Stadium officials recently announced it would host a series of college football games, including Notre Dame-Army in 2010, Rutgers-Army in 2011 and Air Force-Army in 2012. Army will be the home team for those games. The story was first reported by the Syracuse Post-Standard. PAULUS NAMED STARTING QB
In other Syracuse news, Orange head coach Doug Marrone named graduate student and former Duke guard Greg Paulus the team’s starting quarterback Monday night.
A former high school All-American in football and basketball at Christian Brothers Academy in Syracuse, Paulus played hoops at Duke and then returned to Syracuse as a grad student in July.
The NCAA granted him a waiver and allowed him to play immediately without sitting a year because he graduated Duke in four years and did not redshirt.
Paulus was a four-time all-state football selection at CBA and held six New York State records, including most career passing yards (11,763).
He hasn’t played organized football in five years (2004), but told USA Today he’s feeling good.
“Something is getting better each day, whether it be footwork, more accurate throws, seeing the defense, getting used to the speed,” he told the paper.
(Photos courtesy Lauren Long/ Syracuse Post-Standard; Syracuse athletics)
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