Syracuse confident visiting Louisville
There are some games that never seemed winnable for the Syracuse University football team this fall.
At Penn State. At Pittsburgh. Home vs. Cincinnati. All three were nationally ranked at the time. All beat SU handily.
Today is a winnable game. The Orange visits fellow Big East cellar-dweller Louisville at noon. Both teams are 3-6 overall and 0-4 in conference play.
SU hasn’t owned many teams in recent years, but the Cardinals are on the short list. The Orange stunned the Cardinals 38-35 in 2007, knocking Louisville out of the Top 25. Last year, SU won again, 28-21 in the Carrier Dome.
The Cardinals haven’t won a Big East game since, and third-year coach Steve Kragthorpe is aware his days may be numbered. Two weeks ago, a record-low crowd of 21,000 watched Louisville’s win over Arkansas State at Cardinal Stadium.
“I know there’s people that don’t like me, don’t like the way I do things, if they don’t want to come support me, that’s fine,” Kragthorpe said. “But I think they need to come and support these players.”
Despite SU’s record, coach Doug Marrone says he still has six wins — and a chance at a bowl bid — in his sights.
“It starts off with concentrating on Louisville,” he said. “Here we are sitting at 3-6. The way we prepare, the way we practice, the way we work with each other, the way we encourage each other during a period where there is some type of frustration between coaches and players, that’s where we have to really show who we are.”
Marrone is ready to face a competitive Louisville team, one that held tough in a 17-9 loss at West Virginia last Saturday.
The Cardinals rank last in Big East scoring, averaging just 19 points. That’s half of their average three years ago. They’ve started three quarterbacks and are still looking for a spark.
Quarterback Will Stein managed just 100 yards passing last week, and Louisville is averaging just 6.9 yards per pass.
The SU offense also is struggling with just 310 total yards per game. The Orange also has committed 23 turnovers — including 13 interceptions by QB Greg Paulus.
SU continues to fight a losing battle with the injury bug. This week, it was announced that standout defensive tackle Arthur Jones, offensive tackle Jonathan Meldrum, strong safety Max Suter and tight end Cody Catalina will miss the final three games with injuries.
Jones is an NFL prospect with 38½ tackles for loss, the most in SU history by an interior lineman and third on the Orange’s record list.
JMAND@DemocratandChronicle.com
SU at Louisville
When/where: Today at noon at Cardinal Stadium in Louisville, Ky.
TV/radio: Time Warner Channel 26, WHAM-AM (1180).
Records: Both teams are 3-6 overall, 0-4 in Big East play.
Line: Louisville by 71/2.
Series: SU leads 5-3.
