Minnesota 23, Syracuse 20. After all the indignities and standing misery of the Greg Robinson era, I'm not sure even longtime Orange fans thought it was possible for their football team to inflict an entirely new kind of pain on them. Know ye the cruelties of optimism, Syracuse.
On one hand, the vast majority of the day felt like a triumph. It would have been really easy for 'Cuse to revert to habit and do what everyone watching did when the first snap of the game sailed over Greg Paulus' head, bounced into the arms of a Gopher defender and wound up in the end zone two plays later for a 7-0 Minnesota lead: Hang its head, text they're friends "Here we go again" and start counting the losses on the rest of the schedule. Even Robinson's rock-bottom outfits rarely found themselves down before the shot clock ran out, and morale could have sunk even lower when the Gophers went up 14-3 a couple minutes later.
Instead, they ran off 20 straight points before the end of the first half and forced Minnesota into five punts and three turnovers going into the fourth quarter. For some context, Syracuse never averaged 20 points for a season under Robinson, and almost never held opposing offenses two entire quarters without a touchdown. At halftime, the Carrier Dome was legitimately rocking; even well into the fourth quarter, they looked destined to go over .500 for the first time since starting 3-2 in September 2006 -- right up until prodigal quarterback Greg Paulus decided to stick a whole new variety of dagger in their balloon.
As near as he was to walking out of the Carrier Dome the conquering hero, Paulus was playing with fire all afternoon: He regularly scrambled around and reversed field in the backfield like he was still in high school, threw across his body on the run and should have had at least three ill-timed passes picked off in regulation. It shouldn't have been a surprise, then, that all three caught up with him on the defining, devastating play of the afternoon, the wildly ill-advised overtime pass into a pack of Gophers in the end zone that effectively ended the game -- from there, Minnesota's game-winning kick was a mere formality.
Eventually, 'Cuse fans will probably feel okay about this game, maybe better than Minnesota fans who had to wonder where their offense disappeared to for two-and-a-half quarters --- the Orange may have been outgained by almost 100 yards for the game, but the first step in emerging from the depths is losing close instead of losing big. It's safe to say Marrone made good on his promise to make the team more competitive right away. Paulus played fairly well for a guy who hasn't worn a helmet or pads in a game in almost five years. But I still wouldn't want to be him after sending that whole beleaguered building through a trap door at the last possible moment.
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