1977 Syracuse Orangemen football team

The 1977 Syracuse Orangemen football team represented Syracuse University during the 1977 NCAA Division I football season. The team was led by fourth-year head coach Frank Maloney and played their home games at Archbold Stadium in Syracuse, New York. The team finished 6–5 and was not invited to a bowl game.

1977 Syracuse Orangemen football
Conference	Independent
Record	6–5
Head coach	Frank Maloney (4th season)
Offensive coordinator	Tom Coughlin (2nd season)
Defensive coordinator	Dennis Fryzel (1st season)
Captain	Game captains
Home stadium	Archbold Stadium

1977 NCAA Division I independents football records

	Conf							Overall
Team	W		L		T			W		L		T
No. 1 Notre Dame		–		–				11	–	1	–	0
No. 5 Penn State		–		–				11	–	1	–	0
Colgate		–		–				10	–	1	–	0
North Texas State *		–		–				10	–	1	–	0
No. 16 San Diego State		–		–				10	–	1	–	0
Tennessee State		–		–				8	–	1	–	1
No. 14 Florida State		–		–				10	–	2	–	0
No. 8 Pittsburgh		–		–				9	–	2	–	1
East Carolina		–		–				8	–	3	–	0
Rutgers		–		–				8	–	3	–	0
Army		–		–				7	–	4	–	0
Louisville		–		–				7	–	4	–	1
Boston College		–		–				6	–	5	–	0
Cincinnati		–		–				5	–	4	–	2
Georgia Tech		–		–				6	–	5	–	0
Memphis State		–		–				6	–	5	–	0
Northwestern State		–		–				6	–	5	–	0
Syracuse		–		–				6	–	5	–	0
William & Mary		–		–				6	–	5	–	0
Southern Miss		–		–				6	–	5	–	0
Temple		–		–				5	–	5	–	1
Hawaii		–		–				5	–	6	–	0
Navy		–		–				5	–	6	–	0
West Virginia		–		–				5	–	6	–	0
South Carolina		–		–				5	–	7	–	0
Utah State		–		–				4	–	7	–	0
Villanova		–		–				4	–	7	–	0
Illinois State		–		–				3	–	7	–	1
Virginia Tech		–		–				3	–	7	–	1
Miami (FL)		–		–				3	–	8	–	0
Richmond		–		–				3	–	8	–	0
Tulane		–		–				3	–	8	–	0
Air Force		–		–				2	–	8	–	1
Holy Cross		–		–				2	–	8	–	0
Northeast Louisiana		–		–				2	–	9	–	0
North Texas State (originally 9–2) awarded a forfeit win after Mississippi State was found to be using an ineligible player. Rankings from AP Poll

Assistant coaches included Tom Coughlin, a Syracuse alum who later became head coach of the Jacksonville Jaguars and New York Giants; Jerry Angelo, future general manager of the Chicago Bears; and Nick Saban, who went on to be head coach at Michigan State, LSU and Alabama, as well as the Miami Dolphins.

Schedule

Date	Opponent	Site	Result	Attendance	Source
September 10	at Oregon State	Parker Stadium Corvallis, OR	L 12–24	20,540
September 17	NC State	Archbold Stadium Syracuse, NY	L 0–38	20,696
September 24	Washington	Archbold Stadium Syracuse, NY	W 22–20	12,839
October 1	at Illinois	Memorial Stadium Champaign, IL	W 30–20	52,015
October 8	at Maryland	Byrd Stadium College Park, MD	L 10–24	39,100
October 15	No. 10 Penn State	Archbold Stadium Syracuse, NY (rivalry)	L 24–31	27,029
October 22	at No. 14 Pittsburgh	Pitt Stadium Pittsburgh, PA (rivalry)	L 21–28	43,551
October 29	Virginia	Archbold Stadium Syracuse, NY	W 6–3	20,859
November 5	at Navy	Navy–Marine Corps Memorial Stadium Annapolis, MD	W 45–34	16,709
November 12	Boston College	Archbold Stadium Syracuse, NY (rivalry)	W 20–3	16,409
November 19	West Virginia	Archbold Stadium Syracuse, NY (rivalry)	W 28–9	16,118
Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game

Roster

1977 Syracuse Orangemen football team roster
Players			Coaches
Offense Pos. # Name Class OT 76 Neil Barton RB 45 Art Monk So G 64 Craig Wolfley So	Defense Pos. # Name Class	Special teams Pos. # Name Class	Head coach Frank Maloney Coordinators/assistant coaches Jerry Angelo Tom Coughlin Nick Saban Legend (C) Team captain (S) Suspended (I) Ineligible Injured Redshirt