NewhouseSports SMC: Syracuse Falls Just Short, Loses to Pittsburgh

In a game decided by inches, the Orange is on the losing end of the stick

By: Mike McCann

At the time, it was almost like no one really cared. Jerome Smith had just scampered 36 yards for a touchdown after the Orange defense had forced Pitt to a three and out. Syacuse led 6-0, with the extra point pending.

But Ryan Norton's extra point was blocked. The Orange didn't take the seven point lead, and it ended up losing the game 17-16, with that one point making all the difference.

"I think it was Aaron Donald...he came through and knocked [our guard] back," said Head Coach Scott Shafer in his postgame press conference. "[I] couldn't tell if the kick was low...and they did a nice job getting penetration over our A-gap guard."

Donald finished the game with nine tackles, three and half of which were for loss.

"[Donald's] a great player," said quarterback Terrel Hunt. "That defense is pretty good."

Missed opportunities

After Syracuse scored on their first drive, the two teams went back and forth, exchanging punts, until Pitt's last drive of the first quarter.

The Panthers had it first and goal from the three yard line before the SU defense rolled up its sleeves and went to work. A five yard false start penalty was sandwiched in between two Cam Lynch sacks, which set up a 42 yard field goal from Pitt kicker Chris Blewitt to make it 6-3 Orange.

"We owe basically our season to [the defense], said center Macky MacPherson. "They're playing their butts off."

The Orange defense allowed only 21 yards on the ground, and only 239 yards of total offense for the game.

"I guess you can say we did a decent job," said Senior Defensive Tackle Jay Bromley. "But to win, you've got to give up less points than the other defense and we didn't do that."

After three more drives (and three more punts), Pittsburgh punched it in from seven yards out on a pass from Tom Savage to Manasseh Garner. It gave the Panthers their first lead.

Pitt would take the lead to the break, but not until after some fireworks. On the Orange's next drive (their last of the half), Hunt nearly connected with Durrel Eskridge on a deep pass down the sideline. Eskridge isn't a wide receiver, but because of injuries to Jarrod West and Jeremiah Kobena, Eskridge played both ways.

The pass looked good at first, but was ruled incomplete right after.

"I felt like I made the catch," Eskridge said. "I kind of bobbled it a little at the end, but I felt like I brought it in at the end and kept my feet in, but the officials made the call, we had to live with it and get ready for the next down.

Eskridge's near touchdown is another prime example of just how close the Orange was to busting through in this one. After a Ryan Norton field goal, Pitt led at recess 10-9.

After back-to-back punts to open the second half, Hunt connected with Alvin Cornelius on a 42 yard touchdown pass, the first of Cornelius's career. It gave the Orange a 16-10 lead.

"You just put the ball out there and let the receivers make the plays," Hunt said. "Just let the receivers make the plays and believe in them."

The Panthers scored next on a five yard run by Isaac Bennett. That gave Pitt a 17-16 lead, which would end up being the final score.

The Orange did have one last chance, though, late in the fourth quarter. On a fourth down and eight from the Pitt 36, Shafer sent Norton out, as if to try a 53 yard field goal. Except that wasn't the plan. It was a fake, and Kendall Moore caught the pass with no one in front of him. There was only one problem. Pittsburgh had called timeout.

"I felt like we had an opportunity to run the fake field goal," Shafer said. "Coach [Paul] Chryst did a nice job calling a timeout before we could get it off, and they won the ballgame."

After the Pitt timeout, the Orange decided to go for it, but an incomplete pass from Terrel Hunt gave the Panthers the win, and in the process gave Pitt its sixth straight bowl berth, the second longest streak in school history.

Up next

The Orange has one last chance to earn its third bowl berth in four years. Next week, Boston College comes to the Carrier Dome for the final game of 2013.

"I don't think you're going to see a team work harder than us this week," MacPherson said. "Our backs are against the wall, we're in a corner, and...it's do or die time."

Boston College has already clinched a bowl berth with a 7-4 record so far this year. For Syracuse, and for these seniors, the Orange will need a sixth win to make the sting of this loss go away.