Syracuse had the No. 14 team in the country in double overtime. If that wasn’t an accomplishment within itself, it had first-and-goal from the two-yard line to even up the 20-13 deficit.

SU couldn’t punch it in.

Same thing on second down. Ditto on third down. Suddenly, SU was facing fourth-and-goal from the one-yard line with three hours and 45 minutes of an impressive – albeit improbable – performance against visiting Iowa on the line.

The call was a hand-off to running back Paul Chiara up the left side. But it was the Iowa defensive line, and not the SU offensive line, that was able to penetrate the line of scrimmage.

Chiara was stopped short and the No. 14 Hawkeyes (2-0, 0-0) charged the field, relieved to claim a 20-13 double-overtime win over SU (0-2, 0-0) in front of 37,199 at the Carrier Dome for the Orange’s home opener.

‘You make choices. If you get it done, it’s a great decision. If you don’t, it’s open up for questions,’ Syracuse head coach Greg Robinson said. ‘We had a little plan. We talked about changing the formation, going with different personnel and run the motion or a round play to get them to displace, but they didn’t. They did a good job.’

Few expected the game to even be remotely close, much less a double-overtime thriller. But Iowa’s star quarterback Drew Tate was announced out before the game, and the Hawkeyes’ offense wasn’t nearly as efficient.

Backup quarterback Jason Manson had a solid performance, but was mistake prone. The senior threw four interceptions – including two to SU cornerback Terrell Lemon – to stymie some of the Hawkeyes’ best scoring opportunities.

‘The second quarterback probably got caught off disguise,’ Lemon said. ‘I just made a play, point-blank.’

But besides SU’s inability to score on the goal line in the double-overtime and Tate’s injury, the story of the game was the Orange’s offensive production.

After last week’s 20-10 loss to Wake Forest, the offense was criticized for its inefficiency. But on Saturday, the Orange was able to move the ball better than expected.

Quarterback Perry Patterson silenced critics by completed 21-of-38 passes for 210 yards and a touchdown. The Orange was 9-for-20 on first downs, a major improvement and a signal of the offense’s growth.

Despite SU’s effectiveness, though, the loss still marks the 11th in a row for the Orange.

At this point, there’s no such thing is a moral victory. Robinson and the Orange simply want to win a game.

‘This team needs to win,’ Robinson said. ‘They need to be in that locker room and have a game that they feel great about that they won the game.’

Published on September 8, 2006 at 12:00 pm