Greg Robinson’s eyes stretched wide and his neck craned from side to side as he ranted, replaying the scene from the fourth quarter.

The Syracuse head coach remembered every detail. SU linebacker Derrell Smith crashing into Northeastern quarterback Anthony Orio as he threw on 3rd-and-10. Senior linebacker Jake Flaherty’s perfect coverage on Huskies tight end Brian Mandeville. And, most of all, the 6-foot-7 Mandeville’s leaping grab, a 22-yard play that kept the Huskies alive and further exposed Syracuse’s spotty pass defense.

‘Jake Flaherty is just dangling all over him. Covered, covered,’ Robinson said, growing more animated. ‘And he still comes down with it. And this guy made three catches like that. So come on, be fair. Don’t sit there and try to put down something that was real. That’s the truth. That kid played his tail off and that quarterback did a great job.’

Despite Robinson’s attempt to absolve his pass defense, big passing plays plagued the Orange in its 30-21 victory. Northwestern had six passing plays greater than 15 yards. Three of those were to Mandeville, who finished the game with 5 grabs for 83 yards. Two others went for touchdowns – a 27-yard strike in the second quarter and a 54-yard bomb in the fourth. Both scores marred an otherwise solid defensive effort.

‘I think those two pass plays gave them some momentum,’ said sophomore safety Randy McKinnon. ‘They had some good plays and 83 was a good tight end … But I think if we eliminate those two big plays, I feel the momentum moves more towards us for the whole game.’

Big plays had been something of a problem for Syracuse’s pass defense before Saturday. Most recently, Syracuse allowed five touchdown passes and 344 passing yards to No. 16 Penn State. All five of those touchdown tosses were 15 yards or longer.

The Orange was better – although far from perfect – against Northeastern, buoyed by the return of McKinnon and sophomore cornerback Nico Scott from injury. For most of the first half, the Huskies offense stagnated while Syracuse built a 10-0 lead.

Then, the first of SU’s two big blunders made life difficult. On a 1st-and-10 from the Syracuse 27, Orio found sophomore receiver Greg Abelli on a fade route for a touchdown with 25 seconds left. ‘We were in zone coverage and we didn’t play it very well,’ Robinson said.

That left a sour taste in the mouth of the sparse Carrier Dome crowd, who booed the Orange off the field at halftime – even with a 10-7 lead.

That frustration returned in the fourth quarter, when McKinnon was caught flat-footed as Huskies’ receiver Chris Plum streaked by him and snagged a 54-yard pass to cut the SU advantage to 24-14. That was the second play of the fourth quarter, providing a shock just when it looked the Orange would cruise.

‘Those things we can limit it back tonight,’ Robinson said. ‘If we go back out there and play the game again, those two things aren’t going to happen again. We’re going to play the scissors route, and we’re going to play the guy down the middle of the field in a three-deep zone.’

Orio helped the Huskies keep it close throughout the final quarter, seeking out Mandeville like he had all day. On back-to-back plays, the senior tight end caught one 22-yard pass and forced a pass interference penalty deep downfield.

Orio finished with 293 yards on 23-of-37 passing. But as Robinson pointed out, those numbers would have been dulled down if not for those two big gainers and Mandeville’s acrobatics.

Those mix-ups masked what otherwise was Syracuse’s best defensive effort of the year. The Orange forced a pair of interceptions. It also limited the Huskies run attack to 90 total yards – not bad for an SU defense that had allowed over 200 rushing yards each of its first three games.

‘We know we have a lot to still work on as a defense,’ said senior free safety Bruce Williams. ‘We are going to correct those mistakes. We didn’t make as many mistakes today as we have in the past.’

But the mistakes Syracuse did make in pass coverage were big ones. That’s one more kink the Orange needs to work out before next weekend, when Pittsburgh comes to town to start Big East play.

‘To even contend in the Big East, you can’t give up big plays,’ McKinnon said. ‘Any team, no matter who you’re played – Northeastern, Pitt – you can’t give up big plays. That’s what we’re going to have to do.’

jsclayto@syr.edu

Published on September 21, 2008 at 12:00 pm