What Went Wrong Saturday???

Now that the shock and awe has worn off from this Saturday's absolute drubbing at the hands of the Pittsburgh Panthers, Syracuse players and fans all want to know what exactly went wrong out there? How did it come to this? A 45-14 loss at home on Homecoming Weekend (by the way, doesn't 'Orange Central' sound more like a location and less like a week long series of events?) after a program rejuvenating win in Tampa at the University of South Florida?

First thing that automatically comes to mind when you win a huge game and then drop a home game the next week is that it was an "emotional letdown." We all remember when Syracuse defeated then #19 Louisville in 2007 on the road. What did the Orangemen do the next week? They lost on the road at Miami of Ohio, a school that had a SIX game home losing streak. Syracuse's emotions were maybe a little TOO high. Expectations were obviously way too high. And Las Vegas' expert opinions were clearly off because Syracuse was actually favored to win this game! All it took was one play from scrimmage for the Panthers to know that we were in for a long afternoon.

Another reason for the lopsided loss, turnovers. Pittsburgh didn't commit any. Syracuse had 4 of them. Ryan Nassib had just two interceptions through 5 games this season coming in, and he was picked off twice in this contest. The first interception came late in the 1st half when Syracuse was in Pitt territory. Down 28-7 with 1:20 left in the half Nassib threw up a lame duck ball into the middle of the field, something we haven't seen all year from him, and it was easily picked off to end the Syracuse drive at the 43 yard line. If Syracuse could have protected the ball and managed to find the end zone, 28-14 half time deficit isn't completely insurmountable. However the half would end 28-7.

In second half action, after exchanging punts Syracuse again drove down to the Pittsburgh 31 yard line. Instead of putting up points, Ryan Nassib threw so far behind his intended receiver, another bad pass we haven't seen Nassib throw all season, the ball was intercepted and returned for 80 yards and a touchdown. 35-7 Pittsburgh. If Syracuse's two drives don't get stopped with a turnover and if they were able to put points up on the board on the two drives, we may have found ourselves down just 7 points instead of 28 points. Syracuse MUST protect the ball, especially against desperate Big East teams!

Other turnovers that were serious drive killers were Alec Lemon's fumble at the Pittsburgh 31 yard line with 6:06 left in the 3rd quarter and the fumble credited to Ryan Nassib when Pittsburgh was clearly offsides on the snap. Although it was not called, Pitt pushed the center off the ball at the Syracuse 38 yard line with 9:33 left to play in the game and recovered the ball for a Pittsburgh first down. One play later it was 45-14 Pittsburgh.

A third reason for such a lopsided loss to Pitt was the lack of running game from Syracuse. The Orangemen's two dynamic runners who have helped lead the charge down field all season for the cuse, Delone Carter and Antwon Bailey, combined for just 62 rushing yards. Nassib contributed 14 of his own to give Syracuse only 76 on the day. Carter ran for a measly 37 yards and Bailey did no better with only 25 yards on the ground. Not a recipe for success.

Lastly, Syracuse's secondary was absolutely lost on Saturday. Tino Sunseri finished the day 17 of 24 passing attempts for 280 yards, 4 touchdowns, zero interceptions. The four TD passes were to four different receivers, and each of Syracuse's corners were tortured. Help over the top was slow, tackling was non-existent, and even our speed players were a step slower than Pitt was on this day.

The good news is that Syracuse won't be playing Pittsburgh again this season. The bad news is that the Orangemen will be traveling to Morgantown to take on #20 West Virginia this weekend. It will not be getting any easier for the Cuse any time soon.

If Syracuse can protect the ball and play smarter on defense, than they can at least keep the game respectable, unlike the outcome on Saturday. At the end of the day, the Cuse is still 4-2 on the season and 3 wins away from qualifying for a bowl game. I think Syracuse fans everywhere would have signed up for 4-2 at the start of the season and I'm sure many fans expected us to be right here. So let's not get too down on the program after one bad loss. Just pick up the pieces and regroup for Saturday.

photo courtesy of syracuse.com

Orangemen v. Pittsburgh: Homecoming 2010

This Saturday at 12PM in the Carrier Dome the Syracuse Orangemen will be hosting the Pittsburgh Panthers in a Big East conference showdown. The game caps off a week long series of events titled "Orange Central," however us real fans know that it is indeed Homecoming weekend. As the school's long list of distinguished alumni make their way back to campus for a fun filled weekend of debauchery and Max Weinberg, we can once again look to the football team as a source of pride for the Syracuse community.

The Orangemen are returning to the Dome after a tremendous win at the University of South Florida, which propelled their record to 4-1 for the first time since the 1999 season. The three headed monster of Ryan Nassib, Delone Carter and Antwon Bailey lead Syracuse on a 98 yard 14 play touchdown drive in the 4th quarter, and Syracuse's defense held on to give syracuse a 13-9 win and a much needed conference road victory. The win left the Syracuse Orangemen alone at first place in the Big East!

The Pittsburgh Panthers come into the Dome after losing on the road in South Bend last weekend, 23-17 to the hated Notre Dame Fightin' Irish. The loss dropped the Panthers to just 2-3 on the season. This will be the first Big East game of the season for Pittsburgh, who were many experts pre-season pick to finish first in the conference. The Panthers were preseason ranked 15th in both the USA Today and AP polls. They have since dropped from the rankings.

Pittsburgh is lead into the Dome by sophomore QB Tino Sunseri. In his first season under center, Sunseri has completed 90 of 139 passing attempts for 961 yards and 5 TDs. He has also thrown 3 interceptions and been sacked 9 times. Last weekend against Notre Dame Sunseri was 27 of 39 for 272 yards with 1TD and 1INT in the loss. He also ran for 1 TD, so Syracuse's defense will have to contain Sunseri in the pocket, much like they accomplished last weekend when they were faced with USF quarterback B.J. Daniels.

On the ground Pittsburgh has Ray Graham and Dion Lewis taking the carries. Each has 60 rushing attempts, however Ray Graham has been the more productive back thus far this season with 536 yards and 5TDs compared to Lewis' 206 yards and 2TDs. In the air Pittsburgh's #1 receiver is Jon Baldwin. Baldwin has 24 catches for 322 yards and at team leading 3 receiving TDs. Mike Shanahan has 19 catches for 239 yards and Devin Street is another WR target for Sunseri, 9 catches for 113 yards.

Last weekend, Syracuse was catapulted into respectability primarily because of their defensive performance. Max Suter's 8 tackles (six solo, three for a loss, and a sack) earned him Big East Defensive Player of the Week honors, and Shamarko Thomas contributed 6 tackles and a sack. Both Da'Mon Merkerson and Jeremi Wikles each had an interception and Syracuse's defense looked stronger than it has at any point this half of the decade. Each time they were asked to make a big stop, they provided the pressure and got SU the ball back. It will take another great all around effort from the defense in order for Syracuse to be successful on Saturday.

The game will be televised live on the Big East Network (aka SNY), although it is STRONGLY suggested that if you live in the Syracuse area that you ATTEND the game! There are plenty of tickets and good deals still available for SU fans which should enable fans to make it inside the Dome. If you go, make some NOISE! If someone asks you to sit down on 3rd and long tell them "politely" to STAND UP and cheer! Also, if you are attending the game be sure to wear ORANGE! I'm not sure why we have to tell people that, but regardless, get it done!! It's an ORANGE OUT!

[The t-shirt pictured above I received Homecoming weekend 2002 during my freshman year. Back then they weren't afraid to call Homecoming "Homecoming"]