Flawed and Clawed and Ultimately Mauled
Pike has field day
The Syracuse Orange football team concluded their season on a sour note as they were mauled and clawed by Cinncinnati 30-10.
The game was never as close as the final score indicates. The Bearcats already clinched the Big East BCS berth thanks to WV loss to Pitt on Friday. If there was a reason to come out flat this was it. However the Bearcats wasted little time in carving up SU’s defense like a Thanksgiving turkey. Cincy’s Tony Pike engineered a 9-10 passing first drive that was as simple as pitch and catch. SU’s defense was determined to not get beat deep and often dropped the entire secondary 10-15 yards off the ball. It seemed the game plan was to bleed to death. If it was, then mission accomplished.
On offense, SU decided it was wisest to test Cincy via the air as 5 of the first six plays were passes. The result, a couple of three and outs. The passing got no better the rest of the way as Dantley was at one point 1 for 16 on the day. Of course there was no sign Andrew Robinson or Cody Catalina. Greg Robinson was determined to take the ship down exactly as he had these last 4 years, his way. I’m sure he must have been quite emotional in the aftermath of his final game, but I think the only emotion I have is relief. Relief that this era is finally over.
I am glad his players got him a final win last week against Notre Dame. But there was really no way they were going to get him a win this week. Even if you were just looking at stats it would tell you all you needed to know. The score may have been 13-3 at half, but Pike was already 21-28 for 195 yards versus Dantley’s 1-6 for 5 yards. If it wasn’t for the penalties the scoreboard would have read something along the lines of 24-3.
It’s odd because just two years ago, these two teams played about as boring a game as I’ve ever seen at Nippert, a 17-3 game where neither team could do anything offensively. Now look at Cincy’s offense. Brian Kelly has lifted this program to a BCS bowl game and has done it by using 4 quarterbacks. Has he earned himself a job at a top program? I wouldn’t be surprised.
Kelly should be the choice
SU would be wise if it tapped another Kelly to replace Robinson. Chip Kelly comes in for an interview this week. And if they can get him to say yes to the job, there would be serious reason for excitement, especially for the offense. Need proof? Take a look at the dismantling that Oregon laid on its main rival Oregon St. The win denied OSU a Rose Bowl berth.
Kelly would revitalize the Orange program. He has the Northeast ties that many say are necessary to be successful. He has developed a high powered offense that AD Dr Darryl Gross seems to be enamored with. Gross must make a sound pick this time because he cannot afford to make another mistake. Kelly would certainly intrigue fans and hopefully get them to part with their hard earned money and purchase season tickets. A hire of Kelly would indicate that Gross would like to see that kind
of offensive display versus the safety of a guy like Randy Edsall.
Syracuse cannot and should not be relying on the basketball team to outdraw the football team. That is a losing proposition. The Orange has a long and proud football tradition and choosing Kelly will put the Cuse back on track to regaining that tradition. There is young talent on hand that just needs to be molded and further developed.
Why not bring an exciting brand of offense to the Hill? I for one would certainly enjoy seeing that. Hopefully we will find out this week.
