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Unfortunately for Syracuse, ‘gate was merely a script on the opponent’s helmet and not a metaphor for where the Orange had moved through.
It would be nice to suggest the 42-7 victory over Colgate was a mile marker for the Orange, propelling it at 3-1 headfirst into the conference slate. But the only gate SU and the conference found in Week 4 was the one dividing gruesome from mediocre.
SU took care of business, not allowing a Colgate score until the fourth-quarter and rediscovering a potentially dominant running game which was relatively dormant in the first two games. Delone Carter’s hard yards should be exactly what the Orange attempts to do to every opponent – shove it down their throats. Forget asking Ryan Nassib to A) sling the ball all over the field in his first year as a starter and B) develop a big threat WR after Aaron Weaver went down. Keep it simple, stupid. Run the football and prepare to win Big East games ugly. Style points are for losers. Six wins is six wins, no matter how you get there.
But while the ‘Cuse did its part, the rest of the Big East looked shaky at best. Rutgers lost at home to an 0-2 North Carolina team reeling from suspensions and ineligibility problems. UConn had a devil of a time against a bad Buffalo team in the first half before pulling away late. Cincinnati has lost its magic upon the departure of Brian Kelly, falling in Oklahoma and dropping its third game already in the young season. Butch Jones agent did not tell him there would be Septembers like this.
Plus, the nation had already watched Miami throw Pitt around like a rag doll at Heinz Field on Thursday night, 31-3. West Virginia had a tall task traveling to Death Valley and trying to steal one from a Top-15 LSU squad, but predictably came up short.
The Orange Fan will begin salivating because there is pretty clearly no unbeatables in the Big East this season. The Big East Fan can’t help but cringe, though. The conference has “fall down go boom” in the first month of the season.
9/30 3:25p: (Correction: Only one FCS win can count per season toward bowl eligibility. The Orange still needs four wins in its final eight games.)
Posted: D.A.
