STATE COLLEGE, Pa. – He held the bitterness back, biting his lip at every turn. Yes, this was Penn State, an overwhelming 29-point favorite. Yes, this was Happy Valley, a nightmare for any opponent. Syracuse was supposed to lose.

But not this way. That’s what stung Alec Lemon. Gripping his Subway bag a tad tighter, the freshman wide receiver shook his head and fought the frustration back.

‘We’re hurting ourselves, we’re beating ourselves,’ Lemon said. ‘It’s self-inflicted.’

This was probably the best team Syracuse (0-2) will face all season, but the team pointed the finger squarely at itself after Saturday’s 28-7 loss in front of 106,387 at Beaver Stadium. Dropped passes, turnovers, misreads, pick your missed opportunity. The offense never found a rhythm against No.7 Penn State (2-0).

Head coach Doug Marrone didn’t want to engage in a firefight with Penn State. Considering the Nittany Lions’ deep offensive arsenal, inviting a shootout would have been a death sentence. So Marrone kept it simple. He wanted to dull the game down. Value possessions. Keep Penn State’s offense off the field. And hope to steal a win at the end.

Instead, miscues marred Syracuse.

‘The plan had merit to it,’ Marrone said. ‘The plan could have worked easily. We had to make more plays.’

Momentum swayed in SU’s direction early. Down 7-0 in the first quarter, Syracuse’s defense stoned Penn State on four straight plays at the goal line to get the ball back. Coaches leaked onto the field in celebration. As players stormed off, Andrew Lewis and Bud Tribbey leapt into the air for a chest bump. The raucous crowd fell silent.

Syracuse’s defense wasn’t to blame. The Nittany Lions’ 24-karat offense only had 318 total yards. On the other side, SU’s offense continually shot itself in the foot.

Syracuse’s best offensive possession was the game in a petri dish.

Trailing 21-0 in the third quarter, the Orange constructed a 12-play, 54-yard drive that chewed up more than six minutes – Marrone’s plan all along. But the Orange didn’t punch it in. Lemon dropped a deep pass in PSU territory. Four plays later at PSU’s six-yard line, a scrambling Paulus appeared to have a clear, vertical path to the end zone. Instead, he stepped backwards and looped left into traffic. And on the next play, a 4th-and-goal from the five, his slant pass to Mike Williams ricocheted off the receiver’s chest in the end zone.

‘It was a perfect pass. It was a perfect route. It was a perfect everything,’ Williams said. ‘I just dropped the pass.’

The red zone was mostly forbidden territory. Outside of a late touchdown pass to Donte Davis, Syracuse had seven drives of five plays or less. The offense’s scoreless streak stretched to five quarters and only mustered 200 yards of total offense.

Sharing some snaps with Ryan Nassib, Paulus struggled. The former Duke point guard finished 14-of-20 for 105 yards with a touchdown and two picks. More telling, Paulus missed multiple receivers on second reads and admitted he strayed from the pocket too soon.

‘There were times I could have stepped up and I got sacked and I’ll take (the blame),’ Paulus said.

Way back in the spring, his brother saw this coming. Paulus’ younger brother Mike, a quarterback at North Carolina, told him this was no ordinary September. Get through those three Big 10 games, he said. Get through those three and you’ll be fine.

Two down, one to go. Saturday’s atmosphere was a buzz saw unlike anything SU will see this fall. Beaver Stadium is more than double the size of the Carrier Dome. After one Paulus sack, a tremor of cheers shook the press box as ‘Zombie Nation’ blared. Marrone prepped his players for every side effect of Happy Valley – the band, the ‘We Are…Penn State’ cheers, the lion roars over the speakers.

He even strategically planned for his offense to drive away from the student section in the fourth quarter. Problem was, by that time Penn State’s backups littered the field.

‘Today we played a team that’s better than us,’ said Marrone, ink blotched on his hand. ‘Penn State was a better football team than us today.’

One program is rebuilding. One’s been on top. Marrone had six weeks to reel in recruits. Joe Paterno has been tossing his recruiting line into a fish hatchery for decades. In numbers alone, the Nittany Lions have 31 more players than Syracuse.

None of this mattered after the game. Excuses were muted. Players refused to take the high road. Again and again, opportunities arose Saturday. Each time, the Orange faltered.

That’s not easy to swallow. Even against Goliath.

Lemon shook his head one more time and glanced back at Beaver Stadium behind him.

Said Lemon: ‘We had a ton of missed opportunities.’

thdunne@syr.edu

Published on September 13, 2009 at 12:00 pm