Food & Football: Hurricanes’ Guide to Tailgating Syracuse University

Hello Canes Fans! Our Miami Hurricanes are coming off another spectacular win, 24-25, against the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets and I know the home crowd played a huge part. When the rain started coming down in the 3rd quarter, the atmosphere completely changed. But don't just take my word for it, look at what Shaq Quaterman had to say.

This Saturday, the Canes Family has an open invitation to Hard Rock Stadium as the Canes take on the Syracuse Orange at 3:30PM ET. Per the new norm, (5th week in a row), the Hurricanes are on upset alert, so let's show up and show out as we create a real home field advantage. Before we get into what Game Meal best represents Cuse, let's get to know a little about them.

Syracuse is located in Upstate New York, much closer to Canada than it is to New York City. It is a private university that was founded in 1870. Despite its roots in the Methodist Church, the schools became a Nonsectarian (secular) institutions in 1920. The Cuse has had a football team since 1889, but has been known as the "Orangemen" since 1890 when they switched from pink and blue uniforms to the new official color "proud orange". This is where I learned something new. I've been calling Syracuse the Orangemen, up until basically yesterday. The Cuse dropped the gender identifier in 2004 and now refer to themselves as simply the Orange as part of a rebranding effort with Nike. Another part of the name change is the fact ‘Orangeman’ is a derogatory reference towards Native Americans. The term was birthed out of a 1931 hoax when an Onondagan Chiefs remains were allegedly found on campus and gave way to a temporary mascot, the Saltine Warrior. The warrior was an Indian figure named Big Chief Bill Orange. Today's mascot is simply known as Otto the Orange and is far from controversial.

Photo by Doug Pensinger/Getty Images

Food: Finding the best food to represent the Cuse was challenging. I opted for inspiration from the State of NY itself. Hotdogs would be a solid option with the Nathan’s Hot Dog eating contest held annually on Coney Island. However, I opted to use the state fruit, the (Big) Apple as inspiration. My suggestion would be a grilled apple coleslaw to take a pork tenderloin slider to the next level.

Donovan Hutchins

Drink: The drink inspiration is much more direct than the food thanks to Otto the Orange. I already suggested one Orange inspired drink for the home opener so feel free to repeat if you enjoyed it. But, for this game, I suggest something a little sweeter than the Florida Mule with the Grand Orange Dream Punch. This is where childhood meets adulthood with Orange sherbet and Cognac.

Donovan Hutchins

Be safe Canes Family and drink responsibly! For full recipes of this game and previous ones, see “2017 Hurricanes’ Cooking Guide”

Let me know your food and drink choices for this game!