Syracuse had seen the play done many times before. Fake punting on forth down was its calling card. Something that was attempted and succeeded in each of SU’s past three games.

Antwan Cordy had just broken up a third-and-7 pass. The Syracuse defense celebrated on the way back to its sideline. Instead of punting, Ryan Winslow started to his right and down the field as soon as he received the snap. He stopped on the 40-yard line and harmlessly tossed it into linebacker Matt Galambos’ hands for a first down.

“We prepared for them,” Pittsburgh head coach Pat Narduzzi said. “We were locked in on what we were going to do on that play.”

The play extended what was eventually a game-ending drive for Pittsburgh. It started with 9:20 left in a 20-20 game. And 19 plays later, using every second it had, the No. 25 Panthers (6-1, 4-0 Atlantic Coast) had the lead last in a 23-20 win over Syracuse (3-4, 1-2). It was the fourth straight loss for the Orange, and the second straight on the game’s final play.

Saturday’s loss featured four lead changes and two ties. But timely mistakes and a struggling offense left Syracuse on the downswing of a see-saw game.

“It’s just one more play, here or there,”SU head coach Scott Shafer said. “Exciting games and we’d like to finish them with exciting wins.”

A two-play, 46-second, 75-yard drive started Syracuse’s day on offense. Dungey’s handoff to Jordan Fredericks put SU 55 yards from where it started. Then a screen pass to Ervin Philips, who juked past a defender into open space in front of the goal line put the Orange on top, 7-3.

After Pitt tied the score, 10-10, with 1:42 left in the first half, SU marched down the field again. Dungey hit Steve Ishmael on a 40-yard strike. He planted his feet and rose to make a play on a drive that culminated with his touchdown catch as well.

“The stats and everything don’t matter,” Ishmael said. “At the end of the day, we didn’t win…It’s really stressful that we didn’t pull it out.”

After the touchdown gave SU a 17-10 lead with 25 seconds left in the half, Ryan Norton’s short kickoff followed by a personal foul penalty put the Panthers in field goal range. Pittsburgh’s 30-yard chip shot three plays later was the result.

Then quarterback Eric Dungey missed a drive to get evaluated after taking a hit to his helmet. Then there was one interception up the middle the Galambos caught. Then, on his next play, there was another interception by Lafayette Pitts. The two will make it “hard to fall asleep tonight,” Dungey said.

Syracuse put up zero points in the third quarter.

In the second half, Pittsburgh had the ball for 19:26, while Syracuse had it for just 10:24. Pittsburgh converted on 6-of-10 third down conversions after the break. Syracuse was successful on only one attempt.

“We were slowing them down in their running game in the first half and through the third quarter,”linebacker Zaire Franklin said. “In the fourth quarter, they made the adjustments and that was the deciding factor.”

On the final drive, Pittsburgh was 4-for-5 on third down, and 1-for-1 on fourth. There was every chance to put Syracuse back on the field. The third-and-5 that Pitt quarterback Nate Peterman rifled to Dontez Ford for 17 yards on the first set of downs. The third-and-1 from SU’s 31-yard line that would have set up a long field goal with time for Syracuse to respond.

Instead, the roar of a 29,832 person crowd faded to silence as Chris Blewitt chipped a 25-yard field goal dead central through the uprights. The Syracuse players hummed through the school’s alma mater before re-entering the locker room, several in tears, Ishmael said.

“It’s not like we’re being outplayed and we’re not talented,”Franklin said. “We have some ballers out there. We just have to be able to find that play when we need it most.”

Published on October 24, 2015 at 5:54 pm

Contact Sam: sblum@syr.edu | @SamBlum3