For a moment, long before the clock struck zero on a 28-7 loss to Cincinnati, Delone Carter allowed himself to believe Syracuse could beat the fifth best team in the country.

The offense lined up 7 yards away from cutting the deficit to just one touchdown. The momentum remained firmly with the Orange and grew stronger with each first down. Never mind the last trip into the red zone ended with an interception – at least SU was driving.

That meant with a score here, Syracuse stood a chance.

‘If they’re No. 5, we must be pretty good, going down there and pressing the ball into the red zone like that,’ Carter said. ‘If we were to execute, it would have been a great thing.’ Instead, Saturday’s contest became another familiar episode in a season defined by sloppiness and missed opportunities. Carter fumbled on 1st-and-goal, ending both the drive and Syracuse’s chance to stage a remarkable upset against an opponent vying for a spot in the BCS title game.

It was one of two turnovers the Orange (3-5, 0-3 Big East) committed inside the 10-yard line, as SU continued to struggle with ball security in crucial situations. Both miscues ended long drives of at least 11 plays and occurred while Syracuse was still within striking distance of at least tying the score.

Saturday’s game again raised questions about an impending quarterback controversy. Starter Greg Paulus threw an interception in the end zone, garnering boos from the crowd of 33,802 in the Carrier Dome whenever he ran on the field in the second half. Meanwhile, the fans cheered backup Ryan Nassib loudly each time he came off the sideline.

Paulus finished 12-of-17 for 85 yards and a touchdown, while Nassib went 7-of-10 for 97 yards. Afterward, SU head coach Doug Marrone said Paulus is still his starting quarterback.

‘At the end of the day,’ Marrone said, ‘we’re not a good enough football team to not execute at a very high level and stay in a game or be able to win a game against the No. 5 team in the country.’

The turnovers stung even more, considering the Syracuse defense bent but didn’t break for much of the game against backup quarterback Zach Collaros, who played in place of the injured Tony Pike. Cincinnati scored its two first-half touchdowns on broken plays, including one on a botched field goal attempt.

Though Collaros finished with 295 passing yards and four touchdowns, SU held the powerful Cincinnati spread attack to just 21 points through three quarters.

That set the stage for the turnovers. With Syracuse trailing by seven late in the second quarter, the quarterback duo of Paulus and Nassib brought the offense down to the Cincinnati 8-yard line. On 1st-and-goal, Paulus tried a fake screen pass to Donte Davis before turning to the middle. The Bearcats were not fooled, as UC corner James Frey jumped the route and made a lunging interception.

Wide receiver Mike Williams said Paulus thought the Cincinnati secondary fell for the fake. It was Paulus’ 11 pick of the season and his seventh in four games.

‘It was again, to be aggressive and not be stupid and be aggressive and take a shot,’ offensive coordinator Rob Spence said. ‘And if it was not there, just throw the ball away.’

The second turnover was perhaps more deflating than the first. Midway through the third quarter and the Bearcats holding a 21-7 lead, Paulus and Nassib again found a rhythm. Syracuse converted two key third downs and a fourth down, driving to the Cincinnati 7.

Carter took a handoff up the middle and was hit immediately by lineman Derek Wolfe, who forced and fell on the fumble. The play served as the turning point of the game, and the Orange never recovered, picking up just two first downs from that point on.

‘They had a backside linebacker on a blitz, and on the handoff he kind of got in there with me,’ Carter said. ‘I didn’t have full control of it, and it popped out.’

Syracuse has struggled with turnovers all season and didn’t show much improvement Saturday. Marrone has taken extra time in practice for the last month to try and remedy this problem, bringing the whole team together for 10 minutes to work on special ball security drills. To this point, they have not seemed to help.

And it seems Marrone may be running out of ideas.

‘It’s a good question of how much of that is on coaching,’ Marrone said. ‘I’ll take it. It’s on me. I have to do a better job.’

jediamon@syr.edu

Published on October 30, 2009 at 12:00 pm