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The Daily OrangeFB | Blown away: Iowa rolls over Syracuse with dominating first half
By Zach Schonbrun
Posted: 9/9/07, 12:30 AM EST Section: Sports
IOWA CITY, Iowa - Curtis Brinkley summed up Saturday's game with three words: frustrating, embarrassing and disappointing.
A 35-0 loss to Iowa, earmarked by one total Syracuse yard in the first half and 290 yards allowed through the air, and SU fans could probably find a few more words to describe what happened at Kinnick Field.
For the second game in a row, the Orange was outrun, outpassed, outscored and outperformed, this time on the road against the Hawkeyes in front of 70,505 gold-clad Iowa fans on a raucous Saturday night.
Syracuse started off its second game precisely where it left off its first: in pursuit.
Instead of chasing running backs and quarterbacks as with Washington, though, the Orange found itself off the heels of wide receivers and tight ends, cut open by Iowa quarterback Jake Christensen who hit everyone in stride and with room to run.
The sourest cynic would not have seen this coming. They might not have wished it either.
"Obviously there's something in there that isn't going right," Syracuse head coach Greg Robinson said. "That's what we got to continue to evaluate."
Whereas SU played its first half tough against the Huskies last week, the Orange collapsed quickly to Iowa. By the end of the first quarter, Iowa had a 14-0 lead and the look of a team just starting to get rolling. And they were-the Hawkeyes added two more scores less than five minutes later.
Iowa's fourth touchdown of the game, with 9:55 left in the second quarter, saw Christensen scramble to his left, elude sack attempts by both defensive linemen Jameel McClain and Nick Santiago, set up and fire a completion to a wide open Moeaki in the right corner of the endzone. It was exercise in Syracuse futility and an example of the degree of separation between the two teams: Iowa could mess up brutally and still recover; Syracuse couldn't stop it from happening.
"It's frustrating because you work so hard," SU safety Joe Fields said. "Going into these games, you don't see the outcomes coming out like this."
A 35-0 loss to Iowa, earmarked by one total Syracuse yard in the first half and 290 yards allowed through the air, and SU fans could probably find a few more words to describe what happened at Kinnick Field.
For the second game in a row, the Orange was outrun, outpassed, outscored and outperformed, this time on the road against the Hawkeyes in front of 70,505 gold-clad Iowa fans on a raucous Saturday night.
Syracuse started off its second game precisely where it left off its first: in pursuit.
Instead of chasing running backs and quarterbacks as with Washington, though, the Orange found itself off the heels of wide receivers and tight ends, cut open by Iowa quarterback Jake Christensen who hit everyone in stride and with room to run.
The sourest cynic would not have seen this coming. They might not have wished it either.
"Obviously there's something in there that isn't going right," Syracuse head coach Greg Robinson said. "That's what we got to continue to evaluate."
Whereas SU played its first half tough against the Huskies last week, the Orange collapsed quickly to Iowa. By the end of the first quarter, Iowa had a 14-0 lead and the look of a team just starting to get rolling. And they were-the Hawkeyes added two more scores less than five minutes later.
Iowa's fourth touchdown of the game, with 9:55 left in the second quarter, saw Christensen scramble to his left, elude sack attempts by both defensive linemen Jameel McClain and Nick Santiago, set up and fire a completion to a wide open Moeaki in the right corner of the endzone. It was exercise in Syracuse futility and an example of the degree of separation between the two teams: Iowa could mess up brutally and still recover; Syracuse couldn't stop it from happening.
"It's frustrating because you work so hard," SU safety Joe Fields said. "Going into these games, you don't see the outcomes coming out like this."
Viewing Comments 1 - 5 of 6
david speer
posted 9/09/07 @ 1:36 AM EST
Could we be any worse??? What has happened to the football program at the Cuse? Robinson could not call an effective offensive game plan if his life depended on it. (Continued…)
Larry Spector
posted 9/09/07 @ 3:25 AM EST
Syracuse 2007 football season so far--oy vay!!!
roger
posted 9/09/07 @ 3:41 AM EST
In Zach Schonbrun's coverage of the Syr/Iowa game he quotes both coach Greg Robinson and quarterback Andrew Robinson. By the end of the story he gives attribution to "Robinson. (Continued…)
Matt
posted 9/09/07 @ 10:02 AM EST
"Obviously there's something in there that isn't going right," Syracuse head coach Greg Robinson said. "That's what we got to continue to evaluate."
I thought the time between last years terrible season and the beginning of this year would be enough time to evaluate. (Continued…)
mcneebus
Scott McNealus
posted 9/09/07 @ 2:20 PM EST
After last weeks debacle against Washington, Greg Robinson said his team would "play better" this week.
I'm not sure how much more "better" football I can take. (Continued…)
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