SYRACUSE - Greg Robinson is up against it. The head coach of the Syracuse Orange is facing the biggest game in his three seasons with the Orange.
The Associated Press
Syracuse head coach Greg Robinson reacts after a West Virginia touchdown during the fourth quarter of a college football game in Syracuse, Saturday, Oct. 6.
Syracuse head coach Greg Robinson reacts after a West Virginia touchdown during the fourth quarter of a college football game in Syracuse, Saturday, Oct. 6.
The fact that it comes against upstate rival Buffalo, which has struggled mightily since moving up to college football's top level in 1999, is almost unthinkable.
“They're right down the road from us, and we know coming to play in the dome it's got to be a big thing for them,” Robinson said Monday during the weekly Big East teleconference. “They just had a big win last week. We know that they're going to be revved up. We'd better have our team revved up as well.”
Robinson, who is 6-24 at Syracuse and under the microscope as the Orange continue to struggle on the field, said his team needs to play well and win, no matter who the opponent is.
“I would never want to show any disrespect toward Buffalo. They're working hard and we're working hard. They're going to come in with the intent to win a football game and we're working hard this week to win a football game. That's the bottom line.”
Syracuse's lone victory this season came on the road at Louisville, a 38-35 shocker that sent the Cardinals out of the Top 25 and gave hope to the Orange faithful. Since then, Syracuse (1-6) has lost to Miami of Ohio (17-14), No. 9 West Virginia (55-14), and Rutgers (38-14) to fall out of a tie for first place in the Big East.
Syracuse seemed set to finally build on its Louisville surprise, jumping to a 14-0 first-quarter lead against Rutgers on Saturday before the Scarlet Knights settled down and snapped their two-game losing streak.
“We have to sustain momentum,” Robinson said. “We got the momentum early. We couldn't sustain it.”
The improving Bulls (3-4) apparently can. They're coming off a 43-33 victory over Toledo that has them tied for first place in the MAC East. James Starks ran for 231 yards and three touchdowns to become the first Buffalo back to top 200 yards rushing in 11 years.
Suddenly, a game that before the season seemed a certain Syracuse victory isn't so certain, even if Robinson's first win at Syracuse was a 31-0 decision over Buffalo in the second game of the 2005 season. That was the lone victory for that Syracuse team, which became the first in school history to lose 10 games.
A loss Saturday simply cannot happen, especially since Syracuse has been billing itself as New York's college team.
The pressure is on, to be sure. Then again, it has been since Robinson took over for Paul Pasqualoni.
“The thing I say about pressure is that pressure is what you put on yourself, and we apply plenty of pressure on ourselves no matter what it is,” Robinson said.
Notes: The Syracuse-Buffalo series is tied 3-3-1, but the Bulls' successes came in the first four games from 1896-99. The scores: 6-6, 16-0, 10-0, and 16-0. ... Tailback James Starks is averaging 116.3 yards rushing per game for Buffalo, nearly double what Syracuse is averaging as a team (58.4)
“They're right down the road from us, and we know coming to play in the dome it's got to be a big thing for them,” Robinson said Monday during the weekly Big East teleconference. “They just had a big win last week. We know that they're going to be revved up. We'd better have our team revved up as well.”
Robinson, who is 6-24 at Syracuse and under the microscope as the Orange continue to struggle on the field, said his team needs to play well and win, no matter who the opponent is.
“I would never want to show any disrespect toward Buffalo. They're working hard and we're working hard. They're going to come in with the intent to win a football game and we're working hard this week to win a football game. That's the bottom line.”
Syracuse's lone victory this season came on the road at Louisville, a 38-35 shocker that sent the Cardinals out of the Top 25 and gave hope to the Orange faithful. Since then, Syracuse (1-6) has lost to Miami of Ohio (17-14), No. 9 West Virginia (55-14), and Rutgers (38-14) to fall out of a tie for first place in the Big East.
Syracuse seemed set to finally build on its Louisville surprise, jumping to a 14-0 first-quarter lead against Rutgers on Saturday before the Scarlet Knights settled down and snapped their two-game losing streak.
“We have to sustain momentum,” Robinson said. “We got the momentum early. We couldn't sustain it.”
The improving Bulls (3-4) apparently can. They're coming off a 43-33 victory over Toledo that has them tied for first place in the MAC East. James Starks ran for 231 yards and three touchdowns to become the first Buffalo back to top 200 yards rushing in 11 years.
Suddenly, a game that before the season seemed a certain Syracuse victory isn't so certain, even if Robinson's first win at Syracuse was a 31-0 decision over Buffalo in the second game of the 2005 season. That was the lone victory for that Syracuse team, which became the first in school history to lose 10 games.
A loss Saturday simply cannot happen, especially since Syracuse has been billing itself as New York's college team.
The pressure is on, to be sure. Then again, it has been since Robinson took over for Paul Pasqualoni.
“The thing I say about pressure is that pressure is what you put on yourself, and we apply plenty of pressure on ourselves no matter what it is,” Robinson said.
Notes: The Syracuse-Buffalo series is tied 3-3-1, but the Bulls' successes came in the first four games from 1896-99. The scores: 6-6, 16-0, 10-0, and 16-0. ... Tailback James Starks is averaging 116.3 yards rushing per game for Buffalo, nearly double what Syracuse is averaging as a team (58.4)
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