HOPELESS: Syracuse eliminated from bowl contention after heartbreaking loss to Louisville

LOUISVILLE, Ky. - Jim McKenzie sat at the interview table on the verge of tears. The senior center, normally cheerful and outgoing, appeared devastated. Just 30 minutes prior, he had watched Louisville escape with a come-from-behind win over Syracuse in the last two minutes of a game SU seemed to have wrapped up. He couldn't stomach that result.

"It's a heart breaker," McKenzie said. "They pulled it out at the end, it's unfortunate. It's a part of football. You got to play all four quarters, all 60 minutes."

In a devastating loss that eliminated Syracuse from bowl contention, the Orange couldn't hold off Louisville in the final minutes as the Cardinals beat SU, 10-9, in front of 33,223 at Papa John's Cardinal Stadium in Louisville, KY Saturday afternoon. Louisville's go-ahead touchdown with 1:24 left proved to be the winning score as Syracuse had missed its extra point on its lone touchdown, one of the Orange's many plays where it failed to execute.

"It hurts, that's all I can say really," running back Delone Carter said. "We had it, we had it in the bag and it slipped away from us."

After struggling to find any offensive rhythm throughout Saturday's game, Syracuse (3-7, 0-5 Big East) stood one good punt coverage and defensive stand away from victory with a 9-3 lead with just under four minutes to go. At that point, it seemed like a pretty good option as Louisville hadn't looked particularly impressive through 56 minutes, managing only 112 yards of total offense up to that point.

The punt, though, is what ultimately doomed the Orange. Earlier in the game, Louisville's Trent Guy had returned a punt 94 yards to the house for a touchdown that had appeared to tie the game. Instead, he was ruled down by contact at the Louisville 6-yard line. This time, he took his punt 44 yards to Syracuse 45-yard line and galvanized his Louisville squad.

"I feel like we have players on the field who have to make that play. It's part of their responsibility," Marrone said. "Just like it is for everyone on a football team, and they're responsible to go down there and make the play. And, at times, we got knocked out of our lanes. It's just people not executing well."

With the clock dipping closer to zero, Louisville ran a post play for 6-foot-9 Josh Chichester. Syracuse defensive back Da' Mon Merkerson, standing at 6-foot-1, never had a chance to even get a piece of the ball. Chichester caught the ball from quarterback Adam Froman to tie the game, and one extra point later, Louisville had a 10-9 lead.

SU's missed opportunities, such as Greg Paulus first half fumble at the Louisville 28-yard line and Long 's inability to field a snap from Max Leo after Delone Carter's 5-yard touchdown gave SU a 9-3 lead, suddenly reared their ugly heads.

"I think you have to execute and that's the whole thing you expect to execute at a high level and to win football games that's what you have to do," Marrone said. "There's nothing really crazy about this game. It's about execution."

Still, Syracuse had its chance. Mike Jones returned the ensuing kickoff to the Syracuse 46-yard line. All the Orange offense had to do was grab a couple of first downs before it could bring in Ryan Lichtenstein for Northwestern Part II.

It never got that far. On 2nd-and-10 at the Louisville 43, Paulus hit new No. 1 receiver Marcus Sales with a catchable ball that Sales couldn't corral. It deflected off him and Louisville's Andrew Robinson dived for the ball and grabbed it before hitting the crowd for the interception. Originally called an incomplete pass, a review showed it was an interception. The Louisville crowd erupted. It had snatched victory away from an Orange team hungry for the taste of victory.

"I'm not here to talk poorly against any player and really put it on one player, one play," Marrone said. "Was the ball behind Marcus? From my standpoint, I'm not going to lie to you, it looked a little behind him but it looked like a catchable ball."

Despite outgaining the Cardinals 266 to 151, holding Louisville to 34 yards of rushing, and sacking Froman four times, Syracuse left Louisville in last place in the Big East. The Orange had frankly outplayed the Cardinals for most of the game, but couldn't come up with the knockout blow. The sense of the team after the game was one of disappointment mixed with devastation. Just like McKenzie, the normally joyous Anthony Perkins was somber afterward, still feeling the effects.

Syracuse now realistically faces a scenario of finishing Big East play at 0-7. Saturday was its best chance to knock off the goose egg, as the Orange never trailed and despite its problems, was tied at zero going into the half. Louisville did not take any steps to win the contest for almost the entire game, but somehow pulled out the victory at home. While Syracuse had the game in its hand, it simply couldn't do what it needed to emerge victorious.

"We did well overall, I thought we played hard, we had great effort, I was really proud of my teammates," McKenzie said. "But in the end, it was just one too many mistakes. There was a litany of them throughout the game."

mrehalt@syr.edu