MOUNTAIN HIGH: SU upsets West Virginia for marquee road victory
MORGANTOWN, W. Va. — Chandler Jones glanced up at the scoreboard. Eight years of waiting, and Syracuse was on the cusp of something big. Through the first 59 minutes, the Orange had played arguably its most impressive game of the season to this point.
But with just a minute remaining, No. 20 West Virginia was driving.
‘I looked back at the clock and there was one minute and three seconds left, and I was like, ‘This is it, the game is on our shoulders,” Jones said.
Hanging onto a narrow five-point lead, SU wouldn’t budge. Twenty yards from the end zone, the Orange rejected three consecutive attempts to gain any positive yardage by the explosive WVU offense. And on fourth-and-22, with just 49 seconds remaining, Jones, Anthony Perkins and a blitzing Shamarko Thomas reached West Virginia quarterback Geno Smith for SU’s fifth sack of the game.
Just like that, in front of 58,122 at Milan Puskar Stadium, eight years of Mountaineer domination came to an end. Led by a stout defense that allowed just 99 yards of total offense and zero points in the second half, the Orange (5-2, 2-1 Big East) crashed West Virginia’s Homecoming with a 19-14 victory over WVU (5-2, 1-1 Big East) — its first since 2001.
With the win, Syracuse brings back the Schwartzwalder Trophy, given to the winner of this game each year.
‘We weren’t playing to (preserve) the win,’ junior defensive end Mikhail Marinovich said. ‘We were playing to attack, attack, attack. … That’s the mindset we went out with.’
After allowing WVU to score touchdowns on two of its first three possessions to start the game, the SU defense clamped down. What started with a Phillip Thomas interception at the goal line, with the Orange trailing 14-10, ended with SU celebrating at midfield after holding the Mountaineers scoreless for the final three quarters.
Thomas’ interception proved to be pivotal, as were the two interceptions by linebacker Doug Hogue. Overall, with the three turnovers, five sacks, and point total and yardage allowed, the performance was easily SU’s most impressive defensively. Especially after allowing 45 points to Pittsburgh just a week ago inside the Carrier Dome.
‘Last week, we were very disappointed,’ senior middle linebacker Derrell Smith said. ‘We went down to South Florida two weeks ago, got a win and maybe there was a relaxed feeling. But we took care of it fast after that Pittsburgh loss.’
After a Hogue interception on WVU’s first possession set up a Syracuse field goal, the Orange grabbed some initial momentum. The next three possessions all ended in touchdown celebrations — two by the Mountaineers and one for the Orange.
But with Thomas’ interception, the Mountaineers missed an opportunity to go up 21-10, and the Orange kept pounding the ball and taking points. Kicker Ross Krautman made four field goals, the longest of which came from 33 yards out.
The Orange also implemented a few packages that defensive coordinator Scott Shafer had been keeping in his back pocket for such an occasion. That allowed SU to put pressure on Smith and neutralize such an explosive offense — one that entered the game ranked third in the Big East in total offense.
‘West Virginia is a great football team,’ SU head coach Doug Marrone said. ‘There is no plan or anything to beating a West Virginia football team. The only way is you go out there and you play your heart out. … And at the end of the day, you hope you can execute better and take advantage of maybe some miscues. And we were able to do that.’
With the win, the Orange surpassed its win total from last season, Marrone’s first on the job, and it allows SU to take one step closer to its first bowl bid since 2004. It also puts the Orange in second place in the Big East after eight weeks.
Until now, beating West Virginia was something the players and coaches had only dreamt about. But stopping a driving WVU offense in the final minute changed all that. And the final sack secured it.
‘There was a lot of pressure to keep them out of the end zone,’ Hogue said. ‘But it was amazing. We just played solid football, stayed disciplined and got the job done.
‘It’s still settling in on me. It’s just a great feeling.’
