Eight days. That was all it took for Syracuse to audible from a team that throttled No. 11 West Virginia to one failing to capitalize on opportunities against Louisville, sparking a five-game tailspin to end the season 5-7.

Time after time, the Syracuse offense tried to take shots downfield to counteract blitzes from the 15th-ranked defense in the country. The Cardinals’ pressure left plenty of one-on-one opportunities for SU’s playmakers on the outside, but quarterback Ryan Nassib failed to connect consistently with his receivers all game long.

“Against West Virginia, they had no negative-yards plays, whether it was running the ball or sacks,” Louisville head coach Charlie Strong said after the game. “We were able to get the sacks, throw for losses and our defense just played excellent today.”

It all added up to a 27-10 Louisville win in front of 44,817 at Papa John’s Cardinal Stadium. The game pushed Louisville back to 0.500 and jump started a five-game losing streak for Syracuse.

Louisville sealed the win in the fourth quarter with an option play to the left. Running back Victor Anderson saw space in front of him as he started to round the corner. SU strong safety Shamarko Thomas was all that stood between Anderson and the end zone 61 yards away. Thomas dove and swung his right hand at Anderson’s leg. He missed and Anderson scampered in for the game-clinching touchdown.

The SU offense had proven incapable of mustering any rhythm all day.

Nassib overthrew Van Chew on a deep route along the right sideline when the receiver beat coverage early in the second quarter. Later, Nassib gunned a pass well out in front of an open Jarrod West in the end zone. Syracuse settled for a field goal.

“You can go back, you can look at, we had some guys open early,” SU head coach Doug Marrone said. “When I say open, I’m talking about touchdown open.”

Syracuse’s missed chances resulted in no pass plays of more than 20 yards. Nassib connected on a 20-yard touchdown to Jarrod West with 1:31 remaining and Louisville up by 24 points. The play was Nassib’s longest completion of the entire game.

“We made plays last week, and we didn’t make plays this week,” Nassib said. “Me particularly. I definitely wasn’t accurate enough this week, didn’t make enough throws where guys were open. And those missed throws I made really cost us the game.”

The Louisville defense appeared to make Nassib and the SU offense uncomfortable all day. The Cardinals collected 14 tackles for loss and sacked Nassib four times during the game.

Coming into the game, the Orange planned to make big plays downfield early in each offensive series. It didn’t work out that way, as Nassib completed only eight of 14 of his passes on first down with an average of 5.25 yards per completion. That resulted in several third-and-long situations that SU failed to convert. Instead of notching first downs, Nassib dumped the ball off to running backs and tight ends.

And three of the four Louisville sacks came on third down to end Syracuse drives. For the Syracuse offense, the game was riddled with short drives that ended in disappointment.

With Louisville leading by 14 early in the fourth quarter, the offense trudged off the field after a six-play, 11-yard drive. The next time Syracuse took the field wasn’t much better. The Orange went 36 yards into Louisville territory before Nassib overthrew a wide-open David Stevens on fourth down. Stevens was behind the Cardinals defense and could have scored easily had the pass been on target.

Against Louisville, Syracuse looked disoriented and borderline confused. It was in stark contrast to the performance against West Virginia in the Carrier Dome eight days earlier.

Said Nassib: “We play so well a week prior, and then we come out and lay an egg.”

—Compiled by Jon Harris, asst. sports editor, jdharr04@syr.edu

Published on November 9, 2012 at 12:17 am