5. Coming off the bench

 

McNabb will go down in Syracuse folklore as No. 5, but he donned a different number on the basketball court. As a walk-on with the basketball team in the 1995-96 and 1996-97 seasons, McNabb came off the bench wearing No. 24. His crowning moment came against the Hoyas in 1997, when he played a career-high 19 minutes and finished with 10 points while shooting 4-of-5 from the field and 2-of-2 from the line. The Orangemen were short-handed due to foul trouble, and Jim Boeheim turned to McNabb in the 77-74 Syracuse victory.

 

4.  The longest yard

 

As a freshman, McNabb grabbed headlines on Oct. 21, 1995, when he threw the longest touchdown pass in Syracuse history. In a 22-0 win over West Virginia in the Carrier Dome, the freshman signal-caller found future All-Pro wide receiver Marvin Harrison for a 96-yard score. Two years later, he almost surpassed himself with a 94-yard pass to Quinton Spotwood in a win over East Carolina.

 

3.  Taming the Tigers

 

On New Year’s Day 1996, McNabb helped the Orangemen make Gator Bowl history. After an 8-3 season, Syracuse was slated to play against then-No. 23 Clemson in the Gator Bowl in Jacksonville, Fla. Syracuse jumped out to an early 20-0 lead and ultimately won the game 41-0, the largest margin of victory in Gator Bowl history. McNabb earned MVP honors, throwing for 309 yards with three touchdowns while running for an additional score. McNabb’s day was highlighted by two long passing touchdowns to Harrison, one for 38 yards and the other for 56.

 

2.  The final draft

 

After throwing for 8,581 passing yards and 78 touchdowns, as well as rushing for 1,633 yards and 19 touchdowns in four seasons, McNabb jumped to the top of the 1999 NFL Draft board. On April 17, 1999, McNabb was selected second overall by the Philadelphia Eagles, the highest drafted SU player since Ernie Davis was selected first overall in 1962. The only player drafted higher than McNabb was Kentucky quarterback Tim Couch.

 

1.  Fade for the win

 

McNabb got the ball on the Orangemen’s 17-yard line. Down 26-22 to Virginia Tech with the Carrier Dome crowd pleading for something to pull the Orange out of the late-game hole, McNabb had four minutes and 42 seconds to march 83 yards for a game-winning score. McNabb and the rest of the SU offense did just that. A 14-play drive was capped with a 13-yard touchdown pass to tight end Steve Brominski as time expired. On third-and-goal, McNabb scrambled in the backfield and threw a lob pass to Brominski off his back foot, who rose above and snagged the ball out of the air.

 

— Compiled by Jesse Dougherty, asst. copy editor, [email protected]

 

Published on November 1, 2013 at 3:25 am