Coming off of the 1963 frosh team was HB Floyd Little, a prep star originally slotted for Notre Dame who instead chose to follow in the footsteps of Ernie Davis and completed his first varsity year at Syracuse as a soph All American. With a dedicated Jim Nance blocking for him, the Orangemen had a potent inside-outside attack. AP All American center Pat Killorin supplied the line power and Little rushed for a Syracuse sophomore record of 828 yards and 12 TD's. He also found time to be team leader in receptions, kickoff and punt returns. Nance fulfilled a great deal of his promise with 951 yards on the ground and 13 touchdowns although he did not eclipse Brown or Davis but when he was on his game, he was awesome, displaying tremendous power and speed. The Little-Nance combination led the country in per-game rushing yardage and one coach summed Nance up by stating, "He doesn't have contact, he has collisions." Nance also was the NCAA wrestling champion and continued to blossom in the pros as a perennial all star with the Patriots for many years and the team marched to an impressive 7-3 record and the right to meet potent LSU in the Sugar Bowl. They dropped an exciting game there 13-10 but impressed a national audience. The only change in the helmet design was moving the two-and-a-half inch, dark navy blue numerals from the rear quarter of the shell to the sides to give a more traditional look to the identifiable orange helmet with navy blue one-inch center stripe so closely associated with the Orangemen. Nance left for the pros but 1965 provided Little with another backfield bodyguard in the form of Larry Csonka. The Solon, Ohio star actually spent his freshman year between fullback, linebacker, and defensive tackle and began his varsity career as a linebacker for the first two games of the season. That was quickly repaired and the 238-pounder teamed with Little to again affect a Mr. Outside/Mr. Inside rushing attack. Little passed Brown and Davis-set rushing records and led the country in TD's with nineteen. QB Rick Cassata and future Jaguars and Giants head coach Tom Coughlin a soph wingback, played behind big tackle Gary Bugenhagen and center Pat Killorin who received some All American notice. LB Jim Cheyunski and late-bloomer DT Steve Chomyszak who only lettered in '65 yet played seven years with the Jets and Bengals as one of the strongest men in the NFL bolstered the defense and the team rolled to a 7-3 record, matching their ’64 regular season mark, defeating all of their traditional Eastern rivals in the process. Little again was named All American.