NEW ORLEANS — Syracuse had its foot on Tulane’s throat, and the opportunity to stomp came halfway through the second quarter.

After giving up a touchdown on the Green Wave’s first possession, SU scored 24 straight points to open up a comfortable lead. Linebacker Dan Vaughan then forced a fumble that Marquis Spruill recovered with 8:15 left in the first half, and the Orange was in business again with a short field — only 52 yards from the end zone.

But the kill shot that could have come with another score never landed. Ryan Nassib overthrew an open Dorian Graham on third down, and SU was forced to punt after a three-and-out series.

‘That’s where we have to get better,’ head coach Doug Marrone said. ‘We have to get better when we have the lead, to keep extending the lead and keep playing throughout and put people away. We really haven’t done that.’

There’s no guarantee that a touchdown on that possession would have changed the outcome of the game. But it would have given SU a 24-point first half lead, would have been the second straight Tulane turnover that led to an Orange score, and would have made it 31 unanswered points for Syracuse.

Instead, the Orange failed — again — to put away its opponent. Tulane went 75 yards in four plays for a score on the ensuing possession, and for the third time this season, Syracuse could not deliver a decisive blow.

SU couldn’t do it in the seven-point win against Football Championship Subdivision opponent Rhode Island. It couldn’t do it last weekend against Rutgers, and it cost the Orange that game. And in SU’s 37-34 win Saturday, the Orange needed a last-second field goal to win a game it led by 17 points on two separate occasions.

‘We got lax,’ senior cornerback Kevyn Scott said. ‘At one point in the game, it looked like we had an evident blowout, and then we got relaxed. And that killed us.’

It wasn’t just that one point in the game. Syracuse answered Tulane’s score with a touchdown of its own to put the lead back at 17 with under three minutes left in the first half. But Tulane scored less than a minute later when Scott lost his man on a deep ball down the right sideline.

And what’s worse, SU went three-and-out on its next series and the Green Wave tacked on a field goal to pull within one score before the break.

Forget the knockout punch. By then, Syracuse had taken its foot off Tulane’s throat and helped the Green Wave to its feet, offering assistance.

‘I don’t think the intensity lagged,’ running back Antwon Bailey said. ‘We made a few mistakes here and there, but I don’t think the intensity lagged. We’re all out there competing and trying to win a game, and we just made some mistakes.’

Whether it was Syracuse relaxing like Scott said or just mistakes like Bailey said, SU did not do what it needed to do to pull away.

Fortunately for the Orange, it was able to salvage the win just as it did against Rhode Island. But as evidenced by the loss to Rutgers, failure to ‘put the dagger in an opponent,’ as Scott described it, can prove very costly.

And with no more FCS or Conference USA opponents on the schedule, Syracuse needs to figure out how to put the dagger in teams. Six Big East games remain, starting against West Virginia in two weeks.

The good news is that SU seems to recognize a problem exists. The bad news is it’s not an easy one to mend. It sure hasn’t been fixed yet.

The knockout blow, putting the dagger in, stepping on the throat — whatever analogy you prefer — it’s about having the attitude to do it.

‘I think those are the things that you really have to get the mindset about,’ Marrone said. ‘That’s what good football teams do. Real good football teams have the ability to do that.’

Syracuse is not ready to be placed in that group.

Zach Brown is a staff writer at The Daily Orange, where his column appears occasionally. He can be reached at zjbrown@syr.edu or on Twitter at @zjbrown13.

 

Published on October 9, 2011 at 12:00 pm