 "Photo: Andrew Howard / Photography Editor")
SYRACUSE, N.Y. — Damaso Munoz strapped on his helmet while chasing after Syracuse tailback Antwon Bailey on a second-quarter, 17-yard Orange gain after a timeout.
The Orange snapped the ball before the Rutgers football team’s defense even lined up for a play that epitomized the 25th ranked Scarlet Knights’ game.
They were always a step behind.
“They caught us off guard,” Munoz said. “But we have to fix that, play better and not let them catch us off guard like that.”
In the third quarter, trailing by 14, there was an injury timeout. With a stream of RU players running on and off of the field, the Knights called a timeout of their own.
The Orange changed quarterbacks 21 times, but — whether it was senior Greg Paulus or sophomore Ryan Nassib — they kept a rhythm to total 424 yards. They ran more options and reverses than usual and made the Knights look unprepared
Head coach Greg Schiano took the blame for the performance, but his players disputed that.
“You can’t put everything on coach,” said senior linebacker and captain Ryan D’Imperio. “We’re the players and we have to make the plays.”
The defense tightened up in the second half, but it was too little to late as they were already trailing by 14.
A 60-yard, fourth quarter touchdown run by Syracuse’s Averin Collier sealed the Knights’ fate in the 31-13 loss at the Carrier Dome.
Senior wideout Tim Brown set a Rutgers school record when he caught a 38-yard touchdown pass from freshman wideout Mohamed Sanu. It was Brown’s 18th career receiving touchdown, placing him first on the all-time RU list.
But on the first play of the second half, Brown injured his ankle when run-blocking. Anthony Davis, the 6-foot-6, 325-pound junior left tackle, fell on Brown, who is listed at 5-foot-8, 165 pounds.
“I could run straight, but the cutting hurt,” Brown said. “Once I stopped that’s when the pain started coming. I’ll get treatment and we’ll see.”
Brown is day-to-day.
The Rutgers loss, coupled with Connecticut’s double-overtime victory over Notre Dame, throws a monkey wrench into the Big East Bowl situation.
With the Fighting Irish set to finish their season at ranked Stanford, it is most likely Cincinnati and Pittsburgh will take the Bowl Championship Series Bowl and the Gator Bowl.
The best possibility for the Knights is the Meineke Car Care Bowl, but if it loses to West Virginia, a pre-Christmas trip to St. Petersburg is most likely in the cards.
Sophomore kicker San San Te injured his leg when a Syracuse player ran into his fully extended leg following a field goal attempt in the final minutes of the first half.
Te returned to make a 25-yard attempt with 11:41 remaining in the half, but his future status is in doubt.
Freshman wideout Mark Harrison did not travel with the team after failing to recover, as expected, from an injury suffered against South Florida.
Harrison emerged as the third wideout, so junior Julian Hayes and redshirt freshman Keith Stroud played significant minutes in his stead.
The Knights travel to Louisville Friday to take on the Cardinals.
It is the third short week of the season for RU, but it could not come at a better time to put the Syracuse loss out of mind.
“We have to do what we have to do to move forward,” Munoz said. “We can’t dwell on this loss, we have to move forward and get ready for Louisville.”
Louisville is 4-7 on the season, with its lone Big East win coming against Syracuse in a 10-9 game. Both Will Stein and Adam Froman play quarterback for the Cardinals.
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