Johnny Oliver, the president of Syracuse’s student section, Otto’s Army, spoke with The Daily Orange about what freshmen can expect at games, changes to the student section and Syracuse’s true rival.

The following is edited for clarity.

The Daily Orange: What should freshmen know about attending Syracuse football and men’s basketball games?

Johnny Oliver: Attending a Syracuse game is special because it’s in a dome, especially for football. And the Carrier Dome doesn’t hold as many people as other football stadiums do, but we have a roof on top of it. So even though our crowd numbers can be relatively small (compared) to other stadiums, if we get people in there and if people cheer, that noise has nowhere to go and the Dome gets loud when people are cheering.

The D.O.: What should freshmen know about Otto’s Army?

J.O.: What we’ve been trying to do the past two years is let people know that we’re not just whoever shows up early to the game, but that we do other stuff, too. For instance, we’re going to have our flag football tournament this year. We always donate the money to the Jim and Juli Boeheim Foundation. We are also kind of a liaison between Syracuse Athletics and the student body. This year the student section isn’t going to be the exact same as football games in the past because the band is going to change locations a little bit. SU Athletics came to us and had the idea and they wouldn’t really have gone forth with it if we had said, “Well, we really like the student section where it is.”

Chase Guttman | Staff Photographer

The D.O.: So where is the student section this year?

J.O.: It’s going to change a little bit. The band used to be right behind the end zone. They’re now moving toward the corner of the student section. Now more of the student overflow will be where the band was. It’s kind of like the band will be flanked by the student section a little bit.

The D.O.: Which program should current SU students and incoming freshmen consider their biggest rival and be more excited to see this year: Duke or Georgetown?

J.O.: I’d be most excited for the students to see the Georgetown rivalry game. Although Duke really has been the flavor of the week recently for Syracuse, I mean if you want to go to the rich history. After the last game at Manley Field House (1980) when we lost to Georgetown, John Thompson, Georgetown’s coach, famously said “Manley Field House is officially closed.” You can’t erase that history. Unless someone is a fifth-year student or a grad student, no Syracuse student has seen Georgetown play in the Dome. Once the bad blood gets going again, I’m very excited for that to be there.

The D.O.: How do you think last year’s “Dress like Coach Boeheim” night went and what other events do you have planned?

J.O.: I think it went great. This year, I would love for us to celebrate what will be Jim Boeheim’s 1000th win, and the NCAA be damned. Because they’re not going to recognize it, the school can’t recognize it, but if students show up with signs congratulating Boeheim, then to my knowledge, we can’t get in trouble. The one huge drawback is that 1000th win is probably going to happen when we’re on winter break, but I would still like for us to see something.

The D.O.: With punter Riley Dixon gone, whom is Otto’s Army endorsing as the SU Heisman trophy candidate?

J.O.: (Laughs) Oh man, I don’t know if there is anybody. If I had to pick an early candidate to fill the fan-favorite role, I think it would definitely be (sophomore quarterback) Eric Dungey. I think he endears himself to the crowd by the way he plays. Sometimes he probably gets hit a little harder than you want your starting quarterback to get hit. But I think it’s pretty damn cool that he sacrifices his body to make an electric play.

Published on August 23, 2016 at 10:20 pm

Contact Tomer: tdlanger@syr.edu | @tomer_langer