Twenty-five years after the Sept. 11 attacks, Syracuse’s first home football game in their aftermath still stands out for more than the final score.
The Orange welcomed Auburn to the Carrier Dome on Sept. 22, 2001, in a non-conference game that carried a weight far beyond football. Syracuse had originally been scheduled to face East Carolina on Sept. 15, but that game was postponed because of the attacks and later played on Sept. 29, when the Orange won 44-30. Auburn filled the open date, and the matchup brought a familiar opponent back to Central New York.
The two programs had already crossed paths in one of Syracuse’s most painful football memories. Auburn and Syracuse tied in the 1988 Sugar Bowl, when Auburn coach Pat Dye chose to kick a field goal instead of going for the win. That tie denied Syracuse a rare perfect undefeated season, and plenty of Orange fans still remember it.
But the 2001 game became about something much larger than old football wounds. Syracuse beat Auburn 31-14, yet the moment that has lingered most came before kickoff, when then-Governor George Pataki spoke to the crowd during a pregame ceremony.
As former Syracuse football reporter Donnie Webb wrote, Pataki said:
"You know, we New Yorkers are strong people, While those evil criminals have been able to break our hearts, they haven’t been able to break our spirit. The American people are stronger and stand more unified than ever before.”
For fans in the building, the scene was unforgettable. One fan who was 11 years old at the time remembered being overwhelmed by the emotion inside the dome.
More than 40,000 fans were waving American flags and chanting “U-S-A” before kickoff. That fan sat in Section 303, Row ZZ, Seat 1, the highest seat in the Carrier Dome.
That perspective, even from the top of the building, left a lasting impression about how sports can bring people together in a time of grief. For many, it remains one of the most memorable games in Syracuse football history.
Syracuse is back on the field Saturday at 3:30 p.m. ET against California in its second game of the season.
The Orange opened with a 66-3 win over New Hampshire. The game will air on the ACC Network, with radio coverage on TK99/105 (99.5/100.5 FM) and WAER (88.3) in Syracuse, as well as Cuse.com.
SyracuseRoundtable will also have insight and takeaways after the game from the JMA Wireless Dome.
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Allen is scheduled to be recognized on the field at halftime of Syracuses upcoming game against California, a moment that fits the spirit of the award as much as the man receiving it. For Orange fans, it is also another reminder of how much of the programs identity is built on figures like Allen, whose legacy still resonates whenever Syracuse chooses to put its history front and center. [Read more 🡒]