Congratulations, Syracuse. On Saturday, you won The Worst Game in the Country. How does it feel?

“It feels amazing,” cornerback Latroy Oliver said. “It feels like Syracuse is back.”

Whoa. Hold on a second. Back where?

“Back to the Syracuse of old,” Oliver said. “We’re back to dominating teams. We’re back where we belong.”

Well, Syracuse is back to sixth place in the eight-team Big East, if that’s what you mean. But is that really where it belongs?

Let’s keep things in perspective here. Syracuse is 2-6 with one win over a Division I-A team. It’s still off to its worst start since 1986. It won’t have a winning season. It won’t make a bowl.

Yes, on Saturday the Orangemen beat Rutgers, one of the country’s worst teams. And yes, Syracuse looked pretty good — but perhaps only compared to Rutgers’ incompetence. The Scarlet Knights fumbled six times.

But could a win like that really turn a season?

“With this win, we’re right back on track,” Oliver said. “We’ve got the confidence to win the rest of our games and make this an incredible year.”

OK. This is getting ridiculous. Syracuse just won a game and all of a sudden, Oliver and his teammates think, despite embarrassing losses to Pittsburgh, West Virginia and Temple, they’re ready to beat the likes of Miami and Virginia Tech? Come on.

A week ago, SU looked like it needed anti-depressants. The defense was exhausted. The offense was dormant. Cornerback Will Hunter questioned some of his teammates’ efforts.

“What happened in the past is in the past,” fullback Chris Davis said. “You’ve got to move forward. You’ve got eyes in the front of your head, not the back.”

But the brain, thankfully, spans both the front and back of the head. Sure, it thinks about the future. But it also remembers problems of the past, right?

“Yeah, you think about 2-6, but you don’t dwell on it,” defensive end Josh Thomas said. “It sure does feel like Syracuse is back.

“What this win does is turn your confidence around. All the sudden, we feel like we can do almost anything, beat just about anyone.”

Who knew a win over Rutgers could do so much? Just last year, beating Rutgers seemed a given for Syracuse. Now, it can be the cornerstone of a season.

“We needed this win,” safety Keeon Walker said. “We’ve been working all season for something like this.”

Wait a minute. Beating Rutgers might be a start, and a belated one at that. But is it really what Syracuse has been working for? That may be the greatest compliment Rutgers football has ever received.

“This team just feels so much more comfortable now,” Oliver said. “Rutgers is a pretty good team, and for once, we can go home from a game a little bit satisfied. Syracuse football is back.”

Buried in losing, Syracuse needed a win. That’s understood.

A win boosts confidence. That’s understood, too.

But Syracuse being back? Now that’s confusing. It should take more than a win over Rutgers to restore this program.

Eli Saslow is the sports editor at The Daily Orange, where his columns appear regularly. E-mail him at eesaslow@syr.edu.

Published on October 27, 2002 at 12:00 pm