Perry Patterson has heard every possible question about losing. He’s well-versed on the art of reporters asking the same question 10 different ways because, well, when Syracuse has lost 11 straight games and you’ve been the starting quarterback for nine of them, there are more microphones and recorders stuck in your face than the mayor’s.

But Patterson won’t complain about the interviews where he’s asked to dissect why and how Syracuse has made a habit of finishing on the wrong side of the score. He knows there’s only one way of changing the questions: change the outcome.

Syracuse has a good opportunity to do that this weekend in the wake of a devastating 20-13 double-overtime loss to No. 14 Iowa. It was a game that, while difficult to lose, provides the Orange with a semblance of hope-especially considering Saturday’s foe is a far inferior Big Ten team.

The Orange travels to play Illinois on Saturday at noon at Memorial Stadium in Champaign, Ill. The Illini fell to Rutgers, 33-0, last weekend and is a program in a downward spiral similar to SU’s.

But there are no ties in college football. Someone will win and someone will lose, and while those results sound somewhat elementary, they’re important for two teams with a combined 4-22 record the past two seasons.

How SU can win: If the Orange can do what it did against Iowa-score early and control the football-it has a nice shot of beating Illinois.

There is a lot of good to take out of the Iowa loss, but the top statistic could be the possession time. The Orange had the ball for 33:20 in regulation, a sizable increase from only 24:51 against Wake Forest. Also beneficial was the turnover margin, which SU trumped with a significant plus-4. All were on interceptions.

That lends well for SU, considering Illinois’ starting quarterback Tim Brasic threw two interceptions against Rutgers, one of which was returned for a touchdown.

‘I think they have a chip on their shoulder,’ SU senior linebacker Jerry Mackey said about Illinois’ embarrassing loss to Rutgers. ‘We’re going into this game ready, prepared to get into it.’

The Illini primarily plays a shotgun offense and runs option variations off it. Head coach Ron Zook, who used to coach Florida, uses single-back sets, rotating between seniors Pierre Thomas, E.B. Halsey and heralded sophomore Rashard Mendenhall.

In terms of offensive sets, the system will look eerily similar to Wake Forest’s, which could help the Orange because it’s something it’s relatively used to.

‘We practiced a lot of different things that Wake Forest was going to do,’ Mackey said. ‘They came out and didn’t do much of it, but Illinois on the other hand does a lot of stuff we thought Wake Forest was going to do. It gave us a head start. I think the coaches are prepared and more precise in picking our defenses.’

How SU can lose: Illinois is favored to win, and while odds makers make mistakes, there is something to that. The Syracuse program and Illinois program are at similar spots right now, and in those situation, the home team has the advantage.

For the Orange, which last won a road game against Boston College in 2004 and has won only four road games the past four seasons, leaving the Carrier Dome has been difficult. While there are factors working in the Illini’s favor, Memorial Stadium might be the most advantageous.

‘If you have any intention of being a good football team, you must win on the road,’ Syracuse head coach Robinson said. ‘We went down there (to Wake Forest) and played a nip-and-tuck game against Wake Forest, but we came out on the short end. We need to grow and win on the road.’

There is also the possibility of a ‘let-down game,’ which doesn’t carry much validity with X’s and O’s, but is a concern. After an emotional game like SU’s loss to Iowa, teams sometimes fail to match the prior game’s intensity-especially when it’s an inferior team like Illinois.

This happened in 2004, when the Orange topped eventual Big East-champions Pittsburgh, 38-31, in double overtime at the Carrier Dome. SU was in good position to earn a New Year’s Day bowl, but had a huge let-down the following weekend to lowly Temple. It turned out to be last time Temple won a game and was a rallying cry for former head coach Paul Pasqualoni’s detractors.

But SU should be humble enough to realize that the team that trails Temple for the longest losing streak is the Orange.

‘We’re not going to think anything less of them because they lost,’ SU guard Carroll Madison said. ‘We haven’t won a game, so we don’t have a right to look down at anyone.’

Published on September 14, 2006 at 12:00 pm