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

All of the above applied to Louisville wide receiver Troy Pascley’s inexplicable fourth-quarter drop, the defining 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 by SU.

Instead, the Orange (2-6, 1-3 Big East) got a game-altering gift. And maligned head coach Greg Robinson received some much-needed respite, in the form of Syracuse’s first Big East win in 13 months. The Orange didn’t look all that comfortable doing it, but in this snake-bitten season, a flash of luck was a welcome change.

‘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 earned its first home conference win since a 20-14 win over Connecticut on Nov. 18, 2006. The Orange also topped Louisville (5-3, 1-2 Big East) for a second-straight year.

Syracuse was a 37-point underdog when it shocked Louisville last September. This edition wasn’t quite as thrilling, but Robinson will take it.

‘This was not a surprise,’ the head coach 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.’

That was certainly true of Brinkley. The senior tailback carried 33 times for 169 yards and a touchdown. He cracked 100 rushing yards for the fifth-straight game, the first time any Syracuse running back has accomplished that feat.

Meanwhile, junior quarterback Cameron Dantley added 178 yards and two scores. The biggest of which was a beautifully lofted, 38-yard strike to Da’Mon Merkerson on 4th-and-2 in the second quarter to give SU a 14-7 lead heading into halftime. That advantage stretched even further in the third, when seldom-used freshman tailback Antwon Bailey swept right and burst up the sideline 39 yards for his first career score. ‘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, second-half lead against Pittsburgh. It frittered away a chance to grab a late advantage at West Virginia.

So a collapse must have seemed imminent to the parents’ weekend crowd of 32,917. 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 negated that threat, when defensive end Jared Kimmel forced Louisville tailback Bilal Powell to fumble and Holmes, SU’s sophomore safety, covered the loose ball.

It looked like the Orange wouldn’t get away with a blown coverage minutes 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 10 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,’ Brinkley said. ‘Most of the times things don’t come in our favor, but that one did.’

Brinkley made sure the Orange’s good fortune wouldn’t go to waste. His 45-yard jaunt down the right sideline set up Dantley’s second touchdown pass of the game, an eight-yard toss to fullback Tony Fiammetta.

That was enough for Syracuse, which allowed another touchdown (a 36-yard pass to Pascley) but rode out a necessary win. Williams clinched it with a diving interception in the final minute. ‘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 tranquility in what has been an otherwise tumultuous tenure.

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

‘You know what? She’s out in the real world more than me. I just appreciate her hanging in with me and fighting through all of this stuff,’ Robinson said. ‘We have a lot of work to do.’

jsclayto@syr.edu

Published on November 2, 2008 at 12:00 pm