Paul Pasqualoni confirmed yesterday what the Syracuse football team’s schedule has said for months: After playing Miami, the Orangemen will play West Virginia.

After SU’s heartbreaking, 17-10 loss to Miami on Saturday dropped it to 5-4, Pasqualoni downplayed the importance of his team’s game Saturday against WVU, which is currently tied for first in the Big East.

SU’s head coach, when asked how much the WVU game means to Syracuse, referred to the Mountaineers simply as ‘our next opponent’ six times in 13 seconds.

‘This is our most important game on our schedule because it’s the next opponent,’ Pasqualoni said. ‘I hate to disappoint you.’

Senior defensive tackle Louis Gachelin, though, felt differently.

‘This game defines our season,’ Gachelin said. ‘The Miami game is out of our system.’

That message rang throughout all of SU. Quarterback R.J. Anderson said he was over the Miami loss by the time the team plane departed Miami. Pasqualoni said the only difference between the flight home from Miami and other trips this year was the length of the trip.

Despite the sobering loss to the ‘Canes, SU players say they have gotten over it.

‘You take some positives out of the game,’ SU fullback Greg Hanoian said. ‘We played tough. We fell short. Let’s move on. We watched the game film, and after that, it’s on to preparation for next week.’

Wild Moss

If you ask Pasqualoni, Bill Walsh said it best.

This summer, Pasqualoni attended a coaching clinic where Walsh spoke. Walsh philosophized that defenses could no longer scheme to have one defender tackle a ball carrier – running backs now are just too good.

Pasqualoni saw that theory manifest itself Saturday when UM freshman running back Tyrone Moss broke several tackles on the Miami scoring drive that produced a game-tying field goal. On the drive, Miami ran 16 times in 17 plays. Syracuse contained Moss on all but one play, an 18-yard rush.

‘They only had one explosive play,’ Pasqualoni said. ‘We executed on every play but one. When you play a team the caliber of Miami, one play can make the difference.’

Another difference, linebacker Rich Scanlon said, was fatigue. Playing in Miami’s 80-degree heat after practicing in the Syracuse cold affected SU’s tackling by the time the fourth quarter came.

‘By the end of the game, fatigue had a little bit to do with (missing tackles),’ Scanlon said. ‘We hadn’t seen (Moss) hardly at all in the first half. We didn’t even know who he was, and all of sudden they had this fresh back in the game.’

Syracuse faces another bruising back this Saturday in WVU’s Quincy Wilson, who turned in one of the season’s best highlights earlier this season against Miami. After catching a pass out of the backfield, Wilson barreled down the sideline and sent a Miami defensive back flying 5 yards before scampering for a touchdown.

‘I could kind of see it coming,’ said Scanlon, who said the play brought him to his feet and put a smile on his face while he watched on television. ‘He had that DB lined for about 10 yards. (Wilson) tries to run over people. I fully expect him to try to do that against us.’

This and that

The status of injured players Damien Rhodes, a running back, and Jameel Dumas, an outside linebacker, will be known later this week, Pasqualoni said. Dumas has missed eight games, while Rhodes has sat out four straight and five total. … West Virginia is 10-2 in the Big East over the past two seasons, its only losses coming to Miami. Maybe Big East teams could borrow a page from Maryland’s playbook – the Terps have outscored WVU 82-24 over the past two seasons.

Published on November 17, 2003 at 12:00 pm