SEATTLE — Doug Hogue tried to find the words to explain the frustration. Of course, Jake Locker was a Heisman Trophy candidate. Of course, SU wasn’t expected to win on the West Coast. These were things Hogue and his teammates heard all week.

But to get blindsided by two of Washington’s other guys really killed him. Shaking his head outside of the Syracuse locker room after the game, he finally found something to describe the missed opportunities that led to the Washington rout.

‘Washington played good,’ Hogue said. ‘I thought they came out with a good game plan for us. A lot of times, we shot ourselves in the foot.’

Hogue and the Syracuse defense spent the last week focused on Locker. If one player was going to beat Syracuse on Saturday, it sure wasn’t going to be Locker.

But with the focus on the Heisman candidate all week, the rest of the Husky offense made the most of an opportunity to take advantage of a shaky SU defense, ultimately leading Washington to a decisive 41-20 victory in front of a crowd of 62,418 at Husky Stadium.

Wide receiver Jermaine Kearse and running back Chris Polk each took turns torching the Syracuse defense time and time again. When the final seconds ticked off the clock, the pair had abused the proud SU defense through the air and on the ground, to the tune of 298 yards and four touchdowns.

Adding salt to an open wound, Locker still provided his own stamp on the game. Though the SU defense properly neutralized his ability to run the ball, he finished the game 22-for-33 for 289 yards and four touchdowns.

‘They did a nice job,’ SU head coach Doug Marrone said. ‘They made plays, and I thought their quarterback played well. We gave up some big plays and missed tackles.’

Early on, it appeared as though Syracuse would pick up where it left off last weekend at Akron. Quarterback Ryan Nassib led the Orange to two scoring drives to open the game, and the defense kept Locker and Co. pinned back in their own territory.

Just when the Orange appeared to have control of the game, things started to slip out of control. The momentum shifted on Washington’s first scoring drive, and the Orange was unable to get it back for the rest of the game.

‘Defensively, I thought we were aggressive,’ Marrone said. ‘But when we were in the position to make plays, we didn’t make (them).’

Leading up to the matchup against the Huskies, Syracuse strong safety Max Suter referred to the pass defense as ‘lights out’ when it didn’t allow a single touchdown pass a week earlier against Akron. It was the first time in over a year the Orange had accomplished the feat.

But Saturday, the tables were turned. This time, it was the defensive secondary’s inability to stop the big play that served as the weak link in a defense that looked much different from just a week earlier.

‘The wide receivers did a good job,’ SU defensive end Chandler Jones said. ‘They did a good job of getting yards after the catch, and that’s what hurt us the most.’

Whether it was Shamarko Thomas and Mike Holmes both going after what could have been an easy interception or letting Polk slip away for a 52-yard touchdown run after he was pinned in the backfield, SU’s defense let what could have been a close game become an onslaught.

For a squad entering the game with so much pride and optimism, it was a disappointing performance. Syracuse’s defense gave up four plays of more than 25 yards in the second half alone Saturday.

‘It’s not how you start,’ SU linebacker Derrell Smith said. ‘It’s how you finish. We’ve just got to finish the game.’

Once the Husky defense started making stops, the offense followed. As the Husky defense tightened up after allowing the game’s first 10 points, Locker’s offense kept the SU defense on the field for long, demoralizing scoring drives.

Washington went on to score 27 unanswered points and cruised to victory. By the time the Orange finally scored again, in the fourth quarter, half the stadium had already started heading for the exits. The game was over.

With so much promise coming into the game, Marrone was visibly distraught with the outcome. But after letting off some postgame steam, and despite the overall frustration, Marrone was still able to think somewhat positively.

‘We’re going to need to fight and scratch every day in practice,’ Marrone said. ‘And we’ll fight and scratch every day in a game, and we’ll be fine.’

aljohn@syr.edu

 

Published on September 12, 2010 at 12:00 pm