Syracuse Shocker: A Win, Against A D-I Team Even

Andrew Robinson threw four touchdown passes and Max Suter returned a kickoff 93 yards for a score, as Syracuse pulled off one of the biggest upsets in Big East history with a 38-35 victory over 18th- ranked Louisville at Papa Johns Cardinal Stadium. Robinson completed 17-of-26 passes for 423 yards and connected on touchdown throws of 79, 42, 60 and 17 yards. Taj Smith hauled in two of those scoring tosses and finished with four catches for 173 yards in the victory. Syracuse (1-3, 1-0 Big East) entered the contest as more than a five-touchdown underdog after dismal performances in its first three games. The Orange had been outscored 118-32, including a 35-0 loss in the first road game of the season at Iowa two weeks ago. Robinson, though, threw a 79-yard touchdown pass to Smith on the first play of the game and Syracuse never trailed. Robinsons passing total was the second best in Syracuse history, trailing only the 425 yards set by Marvin Graves against Rutgers in 1992. Brian Brohm threw for 555 yards on 45-of-65 passing for Louisville (2-2, 0-1), which was coming off a 40-34 setback at Kentucky last week. The Cardinals had a 20-game home winning streak stopped, losing in Louisville for the first time since November 15, 2003 against Memphis. Harry Douglas caught 12 passes for 205 yards and one score in defeat. The Cardinals pulled within 38-28 when George Stripling scored on a two-yard run with 3:41 left. Syracuse appeared to have sealed the contest when Robinson hit Mike Williams with a 42-yard pass to convert 3rd-and-11, but the quarterback dropped the ball on the next play and the Cardinals took over on their own 16 with 2:14 to play. Brohm quickly drove the Cardinals down the field and tossed a five-yard touchdown pass to Patrick Carter with 56 seconds remaining to make it a three- point game. Louisville then completely bungled the onsides kick, as Art Carmody barely made contact with the ball and it only went about four yards, giving Syracuse possession. The Orange were able to run out the clock and pull off, perhaps, the biggest Big East Conference upset since Temple went into Blacksburg and knocked off an undefeated Virginia Tech squad in 1998. Syracuse, meanwhile, beat a ranked opponent for the first time since November 27, 2004 against Boston College. The Orange came out firing on the first play from scrimmage, as Robinson found Smith behind the Louisville secondary for a 79-yard touchdown. It marked the first lead for Syracuse since a 3-0 edge over Washington in the first quarter of the season-opener. Louisville tied it just two minutes into the second quarter when Brohm hit Scott Kuhn with a four-yard scoring pass to cap an eight-play, 80-yard drive. It took Syracuse just one play to answer, as Suter returned the ensuing kickoff 93 yards for a score. He spun off a pile early and ran virtually untouched down the left side into the end zone. The Orange defense then recovered a Louisville fumble on the first play after the next kickoff, but could not take advantage of the field position at the Cardinal 48 and punted it away. Louisville drove into Syracuse territory late in the second quarter, but a fourth-down pass at the Orange 31 fell incomplete. Syracuse again used the big play on its next possession and increased the lead to 21-7. Robinson found a receiver behind the Louisville defense, as DaMon Merkerson was left alone and hauled in a 42-yard touchdown pass with just under four minutes to play in the half. The Orange defense came up with another fumble on Louisvilles first series of the second half, as Jameel McClain knocked the ball loose from Mario Urrutia after a reception and Ben Maljovec recovered near midfield. Again Syracuse could not take advantage of the short field and punted it away. The Cardinals pulled within 21-14 with 6:27 left in the third quarter on a 35- yard touchdown pass from Brohm to Douglas, but Syracuse followed with another big play to regain momentum. After Smith hauled in an 11-yard pass on the first play after the kickoff, he caught a middle screen, broke a tackle and raced 60 yards to the end zone to give the Orange a 14-point bulge. McClain then picked off a Brohm pass and was headed to the end zone before being tackled from behind at the Louisville 13. The Cardinal defense stiffened and forced a 26-yard field goal from Patrick Shadle, giving the Orange a 31-14 advantage with just over three minutes to play in the third. Brohm then engineered a 12-play, 66-yard drive and capped it with a two-yard touchdown pass to Gary Barnidge just over three minutes into the fourth quarter to pull Louisville within 10. Syracuse again followed a Louisville score with one of its own, but this time went 72 yards in eight plays. A 23-yard pass to Smith ignited the march and a 17-yard toss to Williams finished it to give the Orange a 38-21 cushion with 10:13 remaining. Brohm was picked off by A.J. Brown on the next Louisville series, but the Orange turned it over with just over six minutes to play when Robinson failed to handle a snap cleanly. Game Notes Douglas was hurt late in the fourth quarter after a reception and had to be helped off the field...Brohm set school records for attempts and completions and his yardage total was the second-most in school history. Chris Redman holds the Louisville mark with 592 yards passing in a 1998 game against East Carolina, and also held the previous records for completions and attempts with 44 and 63, respectively.