INSIDE SLANT

The glorious sendoff left the seniors lingering on the field of green, mopping up every drop of joy, slapping hands with fans leaning over the rails and hugging every teammate they could find.

Syracuse battered and stunned No. 25 Rutgers 31-13 in a Big East Conference shocker at the Carrier Dome.

In what was the biggest victory of Doug Marrone’s first season as Syracuse’s football coach, the Orange responded to significant injury adversity by shoving down and trampling the favored Scarlet Knights before 36,759 fans including several important recruits on campus for official visits.

Syracuse had lost six starters from its lineup over the last two weeks and 10 for the season because of injury. Throw in the defection of leading receiver Mike Williams and the Orange was a decidedly undermanned team against Rutgers, which was coming off back-to-back victories over Connecticut and South Florida.

Marrone said he was not ready to label it a breakthrough win for his program because he expected it. That it came at the expense of the Orange’s biggest recruiting rival and was delivered on behalf of the seniors was “exciting” and “a very good win.”

It was the first Big East Conference win of the season for Marrone and Syracuse, which improved to 4-7 overall and 1-5 in the league. It came a week after a difficult 10-9 loss to Louisville in which the Orange gave up the winning score with less than 90 seconds remaining.

“I mean it feels real good,” said SU receiver Marcus Sales, who had three catches for 44 yards. “It would even feel better if we’d gotten the win last week.”

The Orange will not be attending a bowl this season, it closed out its unprecedented eight-game home schedule with the sweetest win of the season.

NOTES, QUOTES

• One of the many Syracuse players to play their final home game was quarterback Greg Paulus, who was 13-of-16 passing for 142 yards with a touchdown, no interceptions and no sacks.

• How crazy was the game for Syracuse kicker Rob Long? He had one punt blocked for a safety and another partially blocked. He had an unsuccessful onside kick. Another kickoff barely trickled out of bounds, giving Rutgers the ball at the 40. He chased down and tackled David Rowe of Rutgers after he ran 16 yards with a blocked field goal attempt by Ryan Lichtenstein in the fourth quarter. Long had a 62-yard punt after the safety. He averaged 50.7 yards on three punts. He averaged 55.3 yards on seven kickoffs.

Game Ball Goes To:   LB Doug Hogue—Hogue broke the school record for tackles for loss in a game with 6.5, breaking a mark held by some dude named Dwight Freeney. He had 3.5 sacks and even forced a fumble.

Keep An Eye On:   RB Antwon Bailey—Bailey had 77 yards on 16 carries and a TD to lead the charge. Let’s also give some credit to Delone Carter with 67 yards on 22 carries and a TD.

Quote To Note:   “We did some things we haven’t shown. I thought we can create some adversity for our opponent and be able to capitalize on it.”—Syracuse coach Doug Marrone

STRATEGY AND PERSONNEL

Looking Good:   Syracuse finished with 31 points, 23 first downs and 424 yards total offense against the No. 1-ranked defense in the Big East Conference. The Orange offense held the ball a staggering 40 minutes and 1 second. Rutgers had it for 19:59.

A team that had scored one offensive touchdown or fewer in three consecutive Big East defeats erupted for four touchdowns and a field goal against the Scarlet Knights.

Syracuse’s defense tied a school record by sacking Rutgers Tom Savage nine times for 88 yards in losses. On the Scarlet Knights’ next-to-final possession with less than 5 minutes to play, Savage was sacked three consecutive plays for 34 yards with the final tackle coming at the Rutgers 1.

Still Needs Work:   That onside kick call was, well, interesting. The defense was playing well and that call gave Rutgers prime field position led directly to Rutgers’ only touchdown of the game.

The Orange also had a blocked punt for a safety, another partially blocked punt, a blocked field goal, some close calls on fair catches, and a few other eye raisers.

Roster Report:  

• Carter said he sustained a neck stinger after being tackled in the second half. Carter was going down to the ground when he was hit by a Rutgers defender. Carter was on his back briefly before trainers assisted him off the field. He did return to play.