Don’t ask Mitch Browning how he has been feeling lately. It’s been a rough month.

‘How do you think I’m feeling?’ said Browning, Syracuse’s offensive coordinator. ‘All this losing hurts.’

Hard to blame him for being a little down. The Orange enters Saturday night’s matchup in the Carrier Dome with Louisville (7 p.m., ESPNU) on a three-game losing streak, having scored one touchdown in almost its last 10 quarters, dating back to the beginning of the second half against Pittsburgh on Sep. 27.

Coming off a bye, Syracuse used the extra week of practice to return to fundamentals, hoping to jumpstart an offensive attack that has looked anemic lately. It hit a new low in the second half two weeks ago against South Florida, when the Orange did not earn a first down and managed just 9 total yards in its eventual 45-13 loss.

With five games remaining, Syracuse would need to win out to remain eligible for the postseason, so Saturday would be the perfect chance for the offense to snap out of its funk.

Now it has to figure out what exactly has gone wrong.

‘I really don’t know,’ wide receiver Lavar Lobdell said. ‘There were some circumstances where it was field position and other circumstances where the right defenses were called for the plays we called. Sometimes it was the execution of different plays.’

Louisville may be a tough opponent, considering Syracuse’s style of play. Tailback Curtis Brinkley has carried the Orange of late, tallying at least 100 yards rushing in each of the last four games. Meanwhile, quarterback Cameron Dantley and the passing game have struggled.

The Cardinals boast the best rushing defense in the Big East, allowing just 75 yards on the ground per game, but they have the worst passing defense in the conference, allowing an average of 232 yards in the passing game.

It could be a strong opportunity for Dantley to bounce back from a disappointing showing against the Bulls, in which he went 11-of-27 for 129 yards. Regardless, Syracuse fullback Tony Fiammetta made it clear this week: The Orange will still try to run through the Louisville defense.

‘There will be windows to run, and we just have to hit our targets and play fundamentally sound,’ Fiammetta said. ‘Each man has to do his job, and we’ll get some runs.’

Revenge in the Cards

Louisville will probably come into Saturday’s game with a little extra juice. Last September, Syracuse stunned the then-No. 18 Cardinals, 38-35, at Papa John’s Cardinal Stadium in what was arguably the highlight of Greg Robinson’s tenure as head coach, and the biggest upset in recent Big East history.

The game also marked the lone true bright spot for the Orange in what was ultimately a dismal 2-10 season.

Coming into the Dome this year, Louisville will have revenge on its mind, and the Orange players know it.

‘It plays a major part because they’re coming into the Dome for vengeance,’ cornerback Kevyn Scott said. ‘They’re going to be on their P’s and Q’s. They’re not going to come in here going, ‘Oh, this is just another game.’

‘So that’s going to step our level of play up because we know their level of play will be stepped up.’

Saturday Night Lights

Saturday’s game is a welcoming return home for Syracuse, which has not played at the Carrier Dome in more than a month. It is also the Orange’s first night game since last November, in the season finale against Cincinnati.

‘Night games, they have a little different dynamic,’ Lobdell said. ‘The crowd’s a little different, the energy. We’ve been sitting around watching games all day…so I’m sure there will be a bunch of excitement in the Dome.’

jediamon@syr.edu

Published on October 30, 2008 at 12:00 pm