The Citizen

SYRACUSE - So often, Syracuse does just enough to lose.

The Orange did their best to give away Saturday's game - a muffed punt and a late five-play, 77-yard scoring drive by Louisville had the Carrier Dome crowd fearing the worst from a team that, frankly, can't get any worse.

But Curtis Brinkley, an efficient Cameron Dantley and a revitalized defense gave Syracuse more than enough to secure a 28-21 win on Saturday.

And if Greg Robinson could schedule Louisville 12 times a season, I'm sure he would - two of Robinson's three Big East wins have come against the Cardinals.

“This was not a surprise,” an exuberant Robinson said after the game. “The players knew it, they knew we were getting better.”

Last season, the Orange snapped Louisville's 20-game home winning streak with a 38-35 win with the Cardinals ranked 18th in the nation.

And for the second straight season, Syracuse was the better team on game day, which says a lot considering the Orange wasn't better than Akron and was barely better than Northeastern.

A lot of the credit goes to Brinkley, who broke a school record with his fifth straight 100-yard game. A lot of the credit goes to an offensive line that not only created seams for Brinkley, but didn't allow a sack against a defense that got to South Florida's Matt Grothe five times last week. And a lot of the credit goes to luck, something the Orange hasn't had much of lately. Trailing 21-14 with less than 12 minutes to play, the Cardinals had a scoring opportunity that was almost too easy.

Wide receiver Troy Pascley had 15 yards between himself and the closest SU defender, but a Hunter Cantwell pass slipped through his fingers. If completed, Pascley would have strolled into the end zone and Louisville would have been back in the game. Instead, Louisville was forced to punt after another incomplete pass.

The Orange caught a break - one that Robinson gladly welcomed.

“We've dropped that ball too,” he said. “It was blown coverage on our part ” but I've been on both sides of those kinds of plays. I would rather have him drop that pass than catch it.“

Syracuse created some breaks as well. After Bruce Williams fumbled away a punt, the Orange defense got the ball back after just three plays, forcing a fumble that was recovered by Mike Holmes at midfield.

The botched punt was almost expected - Syracuse had a seven-point lead, its defense was limiting Louisville and it hadn't turned the ball over through three quarters.

I give SU credit, its defense got the ball back quickly and without any repercussions.

Maybe they needed to show each other more than they needed to show the fans. Syracuse looked like a team that could beat West Virginia, but it folded in the fourth quarter.

It looked like a team that could knock off Pitt, but its run defense collapsed down the stretch.

The Orange needed to put together a solid effort from start to finish. And they did just that.

They proved they can win in the Big East.

If the defense is making progress, and the line continues to hold strong, and Dantley doesn't turn the ball over, and Curtis continues to be Curtis, then this team will be tough to beat.

And while you wait for next week's game at Rutgers, chew on this - at 2-6, Syracuse is technically still bowl eligible.

How's that for getting your hopes up?