Spring Break
The Daily OrangeBull Rush: SU thrashes Buffalo in Robinson's first win
By Scott Bisang
Posted: 9/12/05, 12:19 AM EST Section: Sports
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Coming off one of its worst offensive performances in history, the Syracuse football team needed a spark to ignite a lackluster offense.
The Orange struck a match in the University at Buffalo.
Syracuse dominated Buffalo, 31-0, before 34,442 at the Carrier Dome on Saturday. Damien Rhodes led SU with four touchdowns on 236 rushing yards, 216 coming during a 24-0 first half.
The win gave head coach Greg Robinson his first career victory and shook off some of the negativity that surrounded SU's season-opening loss to West Virginia.
"I am really happy and fired up," Robinson said. "It took forever. It was a long game."
Robinson had to wait an extra week for a crack at win No. 1 in large part because SU's new offense struggled. The West Coast-styled attack managed just 103 yards in a 15-7 loss to the Mountaineers on Sept. 4.
Syracuse outperformed that in the first quarter alone on Saturday with 147 yards. By halftime, SU held a 24-0 lead on 332 offensive yards.
SU's defense, which surrendered a pair of field goals to West Virginia, allowed 123 yards as Buffalo never advanced past the SU 30-yard line.
"I am just glad we won," Robinson said. "I really had not thought about the shutout until somebody said something about it earlier. It is great for our guys, and I think both sides of the ball got it done today and that's great. It is what we were hoping to see."
Buffalo, which lost to Connecticut, 38-0, to begin the season, failed for the second week against an improving SU defense. Buffalo starting quarterback Stewart Sampsel went 4-for-18 with 19 passing yards. The Buffalo offense had 10 possessions of three plays or fewer. The Bulls gained more than 40 yards on just one drive during the second quarter and never threatened to score.
"We didn't win at the line of scrimmage in any way remotely needed," UB head coach Jim Hoffer said. "We haven't run the ball on offense, we haven't pass protected and we haven't thrown accurately with any consistency. In the end, we haven't produced."
Syracuse's offense proved more consistent than a week ago, starting with the offensive line that opened gaping holes for Rhodes. The senior tailback scored on runs of 27, 50 and 54 yards in the first half and added a one-yard score in the third quarter. On the last scoring drive of the first half, Rhodes needed just three carries to advance SU from its own 27 to the end zone.
"The more experience you get a real game situation, the more you can understand this offense," Rhodes said. "We didn't shoot ourselves in the foot as much this week."
