Bruce Williams called the sequence ‘crazy.’ Tailback Curtis Brinkley called it ‘a blessing.’ Cornerback Mike Holmes said he felt ‘relieved.’

All of the above applied to Louisville wide receiver Troy Pascley’s inexplicable fourth quarter drop, the key play in Syracuse’s 28-21 upset over the Cardinals at the Carrier Dome Saturday night.

With the Orange clinging to a seven-point lead in the fourth quarter, Pascley streaked wide open down the middle of the field, not a Syracuse soul in sight to stop him from tying the game and cueing another fourth quarter meltdown for SU.

Instead, the Orange (2-6, 1-3 Big East) received a game-altering gift in this snake-bitten season. And maligned head coach Greg Robinson got a much-needed respite, in the form Syracuse’s first Big East win in 13 months.

‘Boy, when that ball hit the ground, I saw Coach Robinson do a sigh of relief,’ said Williams, Syracuse’s senior safety. ‘That was crazy.’

Not that the uneasiness of the victory would do anything to dampen Syracuse’s spirits. Wins have been hard to come by these last four years. Especially ones against Big East foes. And that’s exactly what the Orange got Saturday night.

Syracuse improved to 3-22 against Big East competition under Robinson and topped the Cardinals (5-3, 1-2) for the second straight year. It was Robinson’s second home Big East victory, the other a 20-14 win over Connecticut on Nov. 18, 2006.

‘It was not a surprise for our football team. This was not a surprise,’ Robinson said. ‘We knew we were getting better. The players knew it, and that’s not to take anything away from Louisville, they’re a great football team. But our players played very well.’

For the most part, that was true. Syracuse took a 14-7 lead into halftime, thanks to a beautifully lofted 38-yard strike to Da’Mon Merkerson on 4th-and-2 in the second quarter. Dantley finished 11-for-22 for 178 yards and two touchdowns.

That lead widened midway through the third, when seldom-used freshman tailback Antwon Bailey swept right and burst up the sideline 39 yards for his first career score to make it 21-7. ‘You have to seize the moment,’ Bailey said. ‘That’s the approach I take whenever I’m in the game.’

But no lead has seemed comfortable for Syracuse this season. Not for a team that had been outscored, 80-13, in the fourth quarter coming into Saturday. Syracuse squandered an 11-point, fourth-quarter lead against Pittsburgh. It frittered away a chance to grab a late advantage at West Virginia, driving inside the Mountaineers’ 10-yard line before stalling.

So a collapse must have seemed imminent for the parents’ weekend crowd of 32,917 at the Dome. First, Louisville marched 85 yards in the third quarter, sapping eight minutes off the clock before a touchdown strike by Cardinal quarterback Hunter Cantwell made it 21-14.

Then, Williams muffed a punt, gifting Louisville the ball on the Orange’s 40-yard line. Syracuse withstood that threat thanks in part to a Louisville holding penalty, one of eight Cardinal penalties on the day.

It looked like the Orange wouldn’t get away with a blown coverage two drives later. On a 2nd-and-9 from the Louisville 36, Cantwell fired deep for a wide open Pascley. There wasn’t an SU player within 15 yards of the sophomore. But Pascley, who had two catches this season coming into the game, dropped the ball. Two plays later, the Cardinals punted.

‘That was a blessing,’ said Brinkley, SU’s senior tailback. ‘Most of the times, things don’t come in our favor, but that one did.’

Then Brinkley took over. The senior carried 33 times for 169 yards – a career-high and the fifth-straight game Brinkley had cracked 100 rushing yards. His 45-yard jaunt down the right sideline set up Dantley’s second touchdown pass of the game, this one an eight-yard toss to fullback Tony Fiammetta.

That was just enough for Syracuse, which allowed another Cardinal touchdown (ironically, a 36-yard pass to Pascley) but rode out a necessary win. Williams clinched it with a diving interception with under a minute left. ‘The whole time after that punt I was thinking ‘You gotta make a play and make coach happy,” Williams said.

That he did. Upon entering the media room before his post-game press conference, Robinson embraced his wife, the two sharing a rare moment of peace in what has been an otherwise tumultuous tenure.

For one week at least, the head coach can rest a bit easier.

‘I just appreciate her hanging in with me and fighting through all of this stuff,’ Robinson said. ‘It’s not really so much a relief. We have a lot of work to do.’

jsclayto@syr.edu

Published on November 1, 2008 at 12:00 pm