SYRACUSE - The final home game of the season is at hand for Syracuse, and the Orange have a lot on their plate.

The 18 seniors who have suffered through the past four awful seasons desperately want a victory in their final game in the Carrier Dome, and everybody on the team knows that even a win over Connecticut (6-3, 2-2 Big East) on Saturday night isn't likely to save the job of fourth-year head coach Greg Robinson.

“For our unit, (senior offensive guard) Ryan Durand is someone I know we've got to play real hard for,” Orange sophomore center Jim McKenzie said. “We want him to go out having a good feeling about the dome. UConn would be a very great win to have, especially for the seniors and the fans.”

Any win would do for the Orange (2-7, 1-4). Syracuse is coming off a 35-17 loss at Rutgers, which dropped Robinson's record to 9-35 and 3-23 in the Big East.

“We've put in the time. It's just never really panned out on the field,” McKenzie said. “We never really got the breaks. It just didn't work out the way it really should have. But we've got three more games left, and we're going to play as hard as we can.”

And the Huskies know it. At least they've had two weeks to both prepare - UConn is just 3-12 in Big East road games since joining the league in 2004 - and forget about losing 35-13 to West Virginia at Rentschler Field on Nov. 1, which snapped their 11-game home winning streak.

“We still have that loss in our stomach,” said UConn tailback Donald Brown, who leads the nation in rushing at 156.2 yards per game and is tied for ninth in scoring at 10 points per game. “The Big East is crazy right now. You can't take any week lightly.

“It's going to be fun,” Brown said. “Despite their record, they're a good football team. They play well, they play hard, they're going to come out ready to fight. This is their bowl game. They have a nothing-to-lose mentality.”

This will be the fifth meeting between the teams, and the home team has won each of the previous four.

Last season, UConn was ranked No. 25 and defeated Syracuse 30-7 at Rentschler Field behind quarterback Tyler Lorenzen, who threw for 213 yards and a touchdown.

Just who will quarterback the Huskies on Saturday is a mystery that head coach Randy Edsall isn't going to divulge.

Lorenzen, who is 14-4 as the starter, broke a foot in late September and was expected to be out six to eight weeks.

He hasn't played again, but he's back at practice. Edsall said either sophomore Zach Frazer, 0-2 as a starter, or redshirt freshman Cody Endres, who's 1-1, will probably get the nod.

“I think people can see I did some things good, some things bad,” said Endres, 39-of-84 for 411 yards with no touchdowns and three interceptions. “It's definitely been a learning experience I can take and build on.”

Frazer, who suffered a head injury in his last start, an Oct. 18 loss at Rutgers, is 46-of-79 for 536 yards, two TDs and three picks.

Two years ago, the Orange won here 20-14 behind three interceptions for Robinson's first conference win.

The Huskies also dropped a 42-30 decision to Syracuse in 2004 at the Carrier Dome as their 566 yards of total offense was undone by five turnovers.

“The biggest thing that I want them to do is not turn the ball over,” Edsall said.

“As a quarterback, what you want them to do is lead the team, manage the game. We've shown that we've been able to do things with both those guys in terms of throwing the ball and doing things, but they've got to be smart with the ball, and a lot of times that comes with some experience.”

On the other side of the ball, both Cam Dantley and Andrew Robinson are expected to get playing time at quarterback for Syracuse.

“We have to stay consistent offensively and defensively, keep on improving and keep on keeping our heads up,” Dantley said. “A lot of teams would get down in the dumps.”