Pasqualoni feels sickened by loss to Miami, losing season
Even when a nightmare season finally ended Saturday afternoon, Paul Pasqualoni was in no mood for reflection.
‘I don’t feel relief at all,’ the Syracuse football head coach said. ‘I feel a sickness in my stomach to be honest with you.’
Pasqualoni has every right to feel nauseated. With Saturday’s 49-7 loss to No. 1 Miami (11-0, 6-0 Big East) before 45,679 at the Carrier Dome, the Orangemen (4-8, 2-5) concluded their worst season since they went 2-9 in 1982.
The Hurricanes racked up 565 yards against the SU defense, the sixth time this season the Orangemen have surrendered 500 or more yards. Last year, SU did that once.
‘Defense hasn’t played good all season,’ SU linebacker Clifton Smith said. ‘We expect to win the game on defense, and we just haven’t done it.’
Miami running back Willis McGahee rushed for a game-high 134 yards Saturday, and Miami quarterback Ken Dorsey threw for 345 and two touchdowns as the Hurricanes extended their winning streak to 33 games.
‘I don’t know if they have a weakness,’ Pasqualoni said.
The Hurricanes opened the scoring when McGahee broke loose for a 61-yard touchdown run with 13:08 left in the first quarter. After touchdown catches from Ethenic Sands and Andre Johnson, Miami was up, 21-0, before Walter Reyes’ 1-yard touchdown run with 39 seconds left in the first half cut the deficit to 14.
Reyes rushed for 110 yards Saturday, giving him 1,134 for the season, the fourth-highest single-season total in SU history.
After Reyes’ touchdown, the Orangemen never had another legitimate shot at scoring, ending five of their next seven drives in their own territory. In the third quarter, Miami got touchdown runs from Quadtrine Hill (2 yards) and McGahee (51 yards) to blow the game open, 35-7.
The day’s biggest drama came when most of the Dome crowd had left. With 5:45 left in the fourth quarter and the Hurricanes leading, 35-7, Miami punter Freddie Capshaw faked a punt and found defensive back Sean Taylor for a 47-yard touchdown. Thinking the ‘Canes were running up the score, the remaining fans booed.
Miami head coach Larry Coker explained afterward that he installed the fake as an automatic play before the game. Coker told Capshaw to throw the ball if SU moved two players inside – to blitz the punter – and left Miami’s gunners open. Coker said he forget to cancel the play before the punt team took the field.
Some SU players reacted to the fake punt – and a hit late in the game by Miami defensive lineman Thomas Carroll that injured SU quarterback Troy Nunes’ knee – as poor sportsmanship. ‘Personally, I think it’s BS,’ Smith said of the fake.
What’s indisputable is that Miami and Syracuse are headed in opposite directions. If the Hurricanes win against Virginia Tech next week, they’ll play in the Fiesta Bowl, the Bowl Championship Series title game. The Orangemen will sit home during Winter Break, finally awake from the nightmare season, left to wonder what went wrong.
‘I don’t think we will be able to digest this,’ Reyes said. ‘It’s so disappointing.’
