PISCATAWAY, N.J. – The hallway outside the Syracuse locker room was starting to empty out. A handful of players scattered around the bowels of Rutgers Stadium to share their thoughts after the Orange’s 35-17 to the Scarlet Knights Saturday, now knowing SU once again was not going to a bowl game.

But the player the group most wanted to hear from wasn’t yet there. Most of the Syracuse players had already headed for the team bus before quarterback Cameron Dantley emerged from the visitor’s locker room.

Dantley probably knew what was coming. He oversaw three quarters of the Orange’s dismal offensive performance against Rutgers (4-5, 3-2 Big East) Saturday afternoon – a loss that officially eliminated Syracuse (2-7, 1-4 Big East) from the postseason for the fourth-straight year.

Everyone wanted to know why Syracuse looked so inept on offense. All Dantley could do was shake his head.

‘Everything wasn’t going well for us in terms of the defense they were running,’ Dantley said. ‘They were trying to bluff us a lot and trying to catch us on a lot of things they knew we would get out of. At times like that we have to make a couple plays, and we didn’t do that.’

After this loss – which ensures SU head coach Greg Robinson’s fourth losing season in four tries – the attention will likely turn to Robinson’s job security. In his postgame press conference, Robinson skirted around the issue. Two questions were asked. Robinson refused to answer any more after that.

But whether he wants to talk about it or not, the rumors will swirl again this week. All year long, Robinson has said his goal is to play in a bowl game. Now he may never get that chance at Syracuse.

‘I don’t think like that. I don’t think like that at all,’ Robinson said. ‘That is not something in my control. My job is to get this football team back on track, and get them to play better than they did today. That’s the bottom line.’

He’ll have a lot of work to do to make things right after Syracuse’s effort Saturday, especially on offense.

The Orange led, 14-0, at the end of the first quarter after Hogue’s long run and a blocked punt recovered in the end zone by Da’Mon Merkerson

It all fell apart from there. The offense managed 168 yards – 80 in the final three quarters – and seven first downs all game. That included tailback Doug Hogue’s first-quarter, 82-yard touchdown run, accounting for 48 percent of Syracuse’s total output. And SU was destroyed in the time of possession battle – Rutgers held the ball for 15:48 more.

Dantley struggled, going 3-of-12 for 19 yards before exiting with an ankle injury late in the third quarter. Backup Andrew Robinson didn’t fare any better, completing 2-of-7 passes for 16 yards. Even tailback Curtis Brinkley, Syracuse’s rock all season long, could muster only 67 yards on 18 carries.

Because the offense kept going three-and-out, the defense spent most of the game on the field trying to stop Rutgers quarterback Mike Teel, with little respite.

Teel finished the game 26-of-36 for 276 yards and three touchdowns. His primary target was Kenny Britt, who caught nine passes for 107 yards and a touchdown in the second quarter that tied the game at 14.

‘(In) the second half, we didn’t follow the plan,’ said cornerback Dorian Graham, who blocked the punt that Syracuse recovered for a touchdown. ‘They made adjustments, and we couldn’t answer what they were giving and throwing at us.’

It started so well, too. For 15 minutes, it looked like SU had turned a corner after its emotional win at the Carrier Dome last weekend over Louisville. The team was primed for another upset.

Then reality set in, like it always seems to do for this Syracuse team, and the momentum vanished. Despite the Orange’s auspicious start, the announced crowd of 42,172 ultimately saw the same old Syracuse.

‘Is it a setback? Yeah. I wanted to win one on the road, a Big East game on the road,’ Robinson said, smacking the podium as he spoke. ‘We needed to go in here and get these guys. I really believed that we had an opportunity to do that. It obviously didn’t work out.’

jediamon@syr.edu

Published on November 9, 2008 at 12:00 pm