KICK START: Marrone wins 1st game on last-second field goal
As the ball spun end-over-end toward the space between the uprights, the excitement in the crowd rose. The 40,251 in the Carrier Dome sensed what this tiny ball traveling between two yellow poles would accomplish.
When Ryan Lichtenstein’s 41-yard kick sailed through, fan eruption commenced in deafening fashion. Down on the field, the center of the gridiron became a stage of blue-and-orange uniforms mobbed together in celebration. Player after player, coach after coach, they all rushed the field.
This was victory.
‘This is the start of the Marrone era,’ cornerback Nico Scott said, in reference to head coach Doug Marrone. ‘This is his first win. He’s never going to forget this win, from the way it went down from beginning to the finish. It’s big, it’s major.’
Behind Lichtenstein’s game-winning field goal as time expired, Syracuse (1-2) delivered Marrone his first win at the helm in a thrilling 37-34 victory over Northwestern (2-1) Saturday night.
‘We haven’t won a lot in the last couple of years, and I think that kind of weighs on people, the older people that have been through it before’ Marrone said. ‘To come in and win a game like this, I think it helps chip away at something. You may have that monkey on your back or that chip on your shoulders of winners compared to losers, so I think we’re chipping away at it.’
Several players said they couldn’t envision a better way to win the game. In a manner eerily reminiscent to a loss two weeks prior, in which an overtime interception sealed the Orange’s fate against Minnesota, this time, SU was the benefactor of a late-game pick.
On a third-and-10 play from the Syracuse 47-yard line with more than a minute left and the scored tied at 34-34, Wildcats quarterback Mike Kafka dropped back to try and tear the Orange’s beleaguered defense apart one more time. He had methodically torched the SU secondary for 390 yards on 35-of-41 passing prior to that throw, so the odds seemed in his favor.
Syracuse wouldn’t let him get completion No. 36. Safety Max Suter intercepted the pass and returned it to the Northwestern 39-yard line with 56 seconds left. The SU faithful roared, and victory was within reach.
‘It felt so great,’ Suter said. ‘I have confidence in (quarterback) Greg (Paulus) every time he goes out there, and our receivers and running backs and offensive line, so I knew once I got that pick, I knew Greg was going to get the job done.’
Syracuse opened up shop at the NU 39-yard line. Paulus found wide receiver Mike Williams on the first play for an 8-yard strike to the 31. It marked Williams’ 11th catch of the day, totaling 209 yards (a career-high) and two touchdowns.
Meanwhile, Paulus having his best collegiate game (finished 24-of-35 passes for 346 yards and two scores). His last touchdown, a 13-yard strike to Williams with 6:07 remaining, tied the game at 34-34.
On second down, tailback Delone Carter moved the sticks with a 6-yard rush, and Syracuse took a timeout with 46 seconds left. The only thing separating the Orange from a victory was a field goal.
Syracuse ran three more plays before rushing Lichtenstein onto the field for the kick as time ran down. The official distance was 41 yards, but considering the circumstances, it may have been miles. Yet the freshman wasn’t nervous. Paulus had told him to expect this scenario.
‘I think it was during the third quarter Greg came over to me after a score and he’s like ‘This game is going to come down to you, and it’s going to be a game-winning kick by you,’ Lichtenstein said. ‘He said, ‘We have faith in you.”
So Lichtenstein lined up and kicked away. His third field goal of the game sailed through the uprights for the walk-off win. He couldn’t see the kick over the Northwestern defensive linemen, but he knew he had done his job when punter Rob Long picked him up. The players swarmed the field and engulfed Lichtenstein. He had delivered victory.
‘It was completely mind-numbing experience,’ Lichtenstein said. ‘I don’t have much recollection of what went on in those eight seconds. Completely unbelievable.’
Marrone downplayed the importance of the victory after the game, saying it’s all about the players and how he wanted to win one for the seniors. This win was a result of his promise to the team that this season wasn’t about rebuilding, and he owed it to the players to try and win now. Marrone told the team, ‘I want to do this for you.’
And on this night, he delivered the promise, handing the team a win over a Big Ten squad that made a bowl game last year. The players, though, didn’t deliver something famously associated with a coach’s first win: a Gatorade bath.
Even as Marrone spoke to the media at the podium after the game, his Syracuse polo shirt was clean of any energy drink stains – though his players are waiting anxiously for the right moment.
‘When we go to a bowl game,’ Scott said. ‘he’s definitely getting that Gatorade shower. Definitely.’
