OXFORD, Ohio – The scoreboard read: Miami 17, Syracuse 14.

It might have well flashed, ‘Forget about it. Last week was a fluke.’

Whatever the message, the outcome was clear: Syracuse’s offense regressed from its breakout game, a stunning upset of then-No.18 Louisville last weekend.

And it was SU head coach Greg Robinson who said earlier in the week he was worried about Syracuse this weekend, not Miami (Ohio). It proved prophetic.

Syracuse could not build on the immense momentum it had earned seven days earlier. The Orange offense, which amassed 465 yards against Louisville, tallied 302 facing a defense statistically worse than the Cardinals’.

Miami (Ohio) defeated Syracuse by that 17-14 score in front of 16,800 fans at Yager Stadium, setting the Orange back to 1-4 (1-0 Big East) with a seemingly unthinkable loss.

‘That was unacceptable,’ Robinson said. ‘Obviously, our football team was not prepared properly, and that comes right to me. Mentally and emotionally, I didn’t see it.’

It was Syracuse’s first loss to a Mid-American Conference team since Sept. 11, 1976, when Bowling Green beat Syracuse, 22-7, at Archbold Stadium. And it was the second team the Orange has lost to this season that it beat handily last year.

‘We felt like we should handle this team, and just the opposite happened,’ quarterback Andrew Robinson said. ‘That’s definitely unacceptable.’

The Syracuse defense allowed more points (14) to Miami in the first half than the RedHawks had scored in its past two games combined (10) against Cincinnati and Colorado. Miami senior running back Cory Jones rushed for two scores – the first two touchdowns of his career. He had all of three career rushing attempts in four years coming into the game. The RedHawks finished with 436 yards of total offense – 286 coming on the ground.

Robinson, who came within two yards of the school’s passing yards record last week with 423 yards, threw for 236 Saturday and completed only 47 percent of his pass attempts. He threw for 59 yards in the first half.

That first half is what did Syracuse in.

‘We just didn’t execute early and that’s the biggest thing,’ said Robinson, the sophomore quarterback. ‘You’re not going to get a touchdown on the first play of the game every time you go out on the field, but we definitely have to play better in the first half. We played about as poor as you can play in the first half, and we can’t play like that.’

Robinson, who threw the ball with such perfection at Louisville, showed no signs of carrying over the success he found. In the first half, he was 6-for-15 with 59 yards passing and more than a few overthrown balls. His receivers also dropped three sure catches, including one by running back Curtis Brinkley that could have gone the distance.

The protection was decent in the beginning, but it grew progressively worse. And while Robinson was sacked only twice, he was forced out of the pocket, and all of a sudden, the deep option was all but extinguished.

It returned, in spurts, as the Orange attempted to mount a comeback. Robinson hit Mike Williams for a 43-yard strike to cut the lead to 14-7 with nine minutes left in the third. Then, with just over four minutes left in the game, Taj Smith caught a 28-yard pass for his third touchdown of the season.

With the score 17-14 Miami, Syracuse stopped the RedHawks offense on three consecutive plays, with Tony Jenkins sacking quarterback Mike Kokal on third down to force a punt with 2:43 remaining. Syracuse took the ball on its own 11 with 2:29 left and zero timeouts to use. But it was the same old story on offense.

Andrew Robinson was sacked by Morris Council on first down. He threw an incompletion on second down. He hit Rice Moss for a nine-yard gain on third down, and he threw a pass batted down at the line by Council on fourth.

Game over.

Still, Greg Robinson said it shouldn’t have even come to the last series. He thought SU was in the game until the very end, but the way it started the game, that was most frustrating. There was no building upon the Louisville game, something that angered the head coach.

‘That’s what I would have expected (to see carryover),’ Robinson said. ‘Like I said to you, whatever the motivation is, the fear of losing or the excitement of trying to get better. Obviously, we weren’t motivated well enough to perform the way we are capable of performing.’

Senior defensive end Jameel McClain couldn’t understand the loss, either. After a game like Louisville, a loss like Saturday’s was unconscionable.

‘It’s low,’ McClain said, ‘because you come out and you bring your game. You bring your lunch pail last week, and this week it’s like we left it on the bus or something. It’s hard, man. It really does hurt.’

Published on September 30, 2007 at 12:00 pm