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Imagine getting sucker-punched in the gut and crumbling to the floor. But while you’re rolling around, trying to catch your breath, you spot a huge pile of money. You grab it, pull yourself up and you’re all ready to spend it—only to have someone zip past and snatch it away.
Now multiply that feeling by, oh, about 100. And then you’ll have an idea of what it was like for the Syracuse Orange football team in its season opener against the Northwestern Wildcats Sept. 1 at the Carrier Dome.
Trailing 35-13 midway through the third quarter, the Orange outscored the Wildcats 28-0 over the next 20 minutes to grab a 41-35 lead with two minutes, 40 seconds remaining. But with previously ineffective second-string quarterback Trevor Siemian leading the way, Northwestern drove 75 yards in just under two minutes for the touchdown that sank Syracuse 42-41 before 37,830 exasperated fans in the steamy Dome.
The loss spoiled a record-breaking game for SU quarterback Ryan Nassib, who tossed four touchdown passes and set school single-game records for attempts (65), completions (44), yards (470) and total offense (500 yards).
“You know, to work so hard to get to that point, to come all the way back and to lose by one point in the end, it was devastating,” SU defensive tackle Jay Bromley said. “But you have to learn from it and not put yourself in the predicament to lose.”
It’s going to get harder before it gets easier for the Orange, who will face No. 1 Southern California in New York’s College Classic at 3:30 p.m. Saturday at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, N.J. (the game will be televised by ABC). The Trojans walloped Hawaii 49-10 in their opener Sept. 1.
While a questionable personal foul call on Syracuse cornerback Keon Lyn contributed to Northwestern’s game-winning touchdown drive, the Orange actually lost the game in the first 33 minutes. SU failed to convert two red-zone possessions into more than field goals in the first quarter, then gift-wrapped 28 points for a Northwestern team that finished 6-7 last season and 3-5 in the Big Ten Conference.
“Yes, we did give up a lot in those opportunities,’’ SU coach Doug Marrone said. “It hurts. We’ll get better from it. I promise you that.”
Leading 6-0 on a pair of Ross Krautman field goals, the Orange surrendered Venric Mark’s 82-yard punt return for a touchdown at the end of the first quarter. Syracuse regained the lead, 14-13, but Nassib’s low pass on a short out to wide receiver Marcus Sales caromed off of Sales and into the hands of Northwestern linebacker Chi Chi Ariguzo, who rambled 54 yards to the Syracuse 21-yard line to set up a Wildcats’ touchdown.
After SU went three-and-out on its next possession, Orange punter Jonathan Fisher inexplicably boomed the ball to Mark again and his 53-yard return to the Orange 28 set up another Northwestern score that made gave the Wildcats a 21-13 lead.
“After that, we made a decision that we weren’t going to kick it to him, no matter whether it was a kickoff or a punt,” said Marrone, who’s doubling as the SU special-teams coordinator this season.
The Orange received the kickoff to start the second half. After a Nassib-to-Jerome Smith pass netted a first down at the SU 39, Nassib went back to Smith again on an outlet pass because his other receivers were covered. But Smith was behind Nassib, so the pass was actually a lateral.
Smith dropped it and players from both teams stopped as if it was an incomplete pass. But the referees never blew their whistles, and Ariguzo picked up the ball and ran 33 yards to give the Wildcats a 28-13 advantage. “I thought Chi Chi was very opportunistic,’’ Northwestern coach Pat Fitzgerald said. “Right place, right time.”
That’s one way to look at it.
“The pass behind the line, that’s something that we have to do a better job on,” Marrone said. “That’s a free touchdown. That’s giving someone a free touchdown.’’
After SU’s Krautman missed a 44-yard field goal, Northwestern starting quarterback Kain Colter led the Wildcats on a 73-yard touchdown drive—their only scoring drive that started in Northwestern territory until the last one. But after scoring on a 1-yard sneak to end that drive, Colter left the game with an injury to his non-throwing shoulder.
While the Wildcats’ offense sputtered with Colter on the sidelines, SU’s no-huddle offense started to catch fire. The Orange scored on four consecutive possessions, with Nassib tossing touchdown passes to Sales (7 yards), Jeremiah Kobena (50 and 7) and Christopher Clark (20).
Overall, the Orange offense gained a whopping 596 yards with 33 first downs, and Nassib was sacked just one time. And that was without three starters who were out with injuries: wide receiver Alec Lemon, tackle Justin Pugh and tight end David Stevens.
Sales, the Christian Brothers Academy product who missed all of last season because of drug possession charges that were later dropped, had a career-best 11 receptions for 117 yards, and eight other receivers had at least two catches apiece.
“To be honest, it was kind of expected with this new offense,’’ Kobena said of the no-huddle offense featuring three-step drops by Nassib and quick passes to the receivers. “We were expected to use our weapons and to use what we have and I think Ryan just let it hang out.”
Halfback Prince-Tyson Gulley’s two-point conversion after Clark’s touchdown gave the Orange a 41-35 lead with 2:40 left. Siemian, who was 2-for-4 for 15 yards before the final drive, completed 6 of 7 for 63 yards and a 9-yard touchdown pass to Demetrius Fields on the game-winning 75-yard drive.
After Dan Vaughn’s sack on second down forced the Wildcats into a third-and-15 from the SU 27, Siemian scrambled to escape pressure and headed for the sideline. Lyn, SU’s cornerback, shoved Siemian out of bounds at the 18 and was whistled for a penalty. It was the Orange’s 12th penalty, and by far the most costly.
So instead of fourth-and-6 from the 18, the Wildcats had a first-and-goal from the 9. Fields hauled in Siemian’s perfect pass in the corner of the end zone on the next play. “All I saw was Keon push him out of bounds,’’ SU safety Shamarko Thomas said. “I didn’t think it was roughing the passer. They did it to Tyson {Gulley}, too {on SU’s last possession}, but they didn’t throw the flag.”
Since starting last season 5-2, the Orange has now lost six consecutive games since blowing out then-No. 11 West Virginia 49-23 last Oct. 21 at the Dome. Syracuse needs to win half of its 12 games this season to qualify for a bowl game, and many prognosticators who studied the SU schedule figured the Orange would need to beat Northwestern at home to have a chance for those six wins.
So while the comeback against the Wildcats provided hope for the rest of this season, the reality is that SU is facing a 0-2 start and an uphill climb toward bowl eligibility. “I’m not going to say hey, we don’t have a lot of things to clean up,” Marrone said. “There are a lot of good things out there and that’s what we are going to focus on. We feel that we’re going to be a good football team.”
