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The Daily OrangeFB | After last year's disappointment, Dantley gets another shot at Pitt
By John Clayton
Posted: 9/25/08, 11:13 PM EST Section: Sports
Cameron Dantley remembers last year's match-up with Pittsburgh. How could he forget? After all, it was the former walk-ons first extended look at quarterback - a second half cameo in place of an injured Andrew Robinson.
It was also almost his first win. After an impressive second half showing, Dantley's last-second prayer eluded former SU wide receiver Mike Williams, and the Orange settled for a 20-17 loss.
The situation is completely different this year. Dantley will make his fourth consecutive start Saturday at noon when Syracuse opens its Big East schedule against the Panthers at the Carrier Dome. He'll have a full four quarters this time to avenge last year's near-miss.
"That was my real first big experience in a game," Dantley said. "Playing at Pittsburgh in an NFL stadium and coming into a situation in the second half where we had a chance to win. It really tested to see how I was going to handle the situation against them."
For the most part, Dantley passed that test. On his second possession, he connected with Taj Smith for a 56-yard touchdown pass to tie the game at 10 - the first of his two touchdown tosses in the game.
The junior quarterback ended up completing 15-of-27 passes for 189 yards. He injected some life into a Syracuse offense that stagnated in the first half (50 total yards) and lacked any semblance of a running attack all day (30 yards on 31 carries).
Syracuse had the ball and a chance to win in the waning seconds, but Dantley's last second heave to Williams was batted away.
"We've all looked at that play lots of time, coaches and players," Dantley said. "It was kind of heartbreaking, but we did the best we could to come up with a big play in that situation."
Syracuse will need a similar performance from Dantley this week if it's to produce an upset in its conference opener.
If anything, this year's match-up is more critical. Syracuse's loss last year dropped the team to 2-7 - the season was already lost before Dantley's failed heave. This time, the Orange has a chance to win its Big East opener for the first time in the Greg Robinson era. That's something that could prove vital if Robinson is to engineer a turnaround and strengthen his tenuous hold on SU's head coaching job.
It was also almost his first win. After an impressive second half showing, Dantley's last-second prayer eluded former SU wide receiver Mike Williams, and the Orange settled for a 20-17 loss.
The situation is completely different this year. Dantley will make his fourth consecutive start Saturday at noon when Syracuse opens its Big East schedule against the Panthers at the Carrier Dome. He'll have a full four quarters this time to avenge last year's near-miss.
"That was my real first big experience in a game," Dantley said. "Playing at Pittsburgh in an NFL stadium and coming into a situation in the second half where we had a chance to win. It really tested to see how I was going to handle the situation against them."
For the most part, Dantley passed that test. On his second possession, he connected with Taj Smith for a 56-yard touchdown pass to tie the game at 10 - the first of his two touchdown tosses in the game.
The junior quarterback ended up completing 15-of-27 passes for 189 yards. He injected some life into a Syracuse offense that stagnated in the first half (50 total yards) and lacked any semblance of a running attack all day (30 yards on 31 carries).
Syracuse had the ball and a chance to win in the waning seconds, but Dantley's last second heave to Williams was batted away.
"We've all looked at that play lots of time, coaches and players," Dantley said. "It was kind of heartbreaking, but we did the best we could to come up with a big play in that situation."
Syracuse will need a similar performance from Dantley this week if it's to produce an upset in its conference opener.
If anything, this year's match-up is more critical. Syracuse's loss last year dropped the team to 2-7 - the season was already lost before Dantley's failed heave. This time, the Orange has a chance to win its Big East opener for the first time in the Greg Robinson era. That's something that could prove vital if Robinson is to engineer a turnaround and strengthen his tenuous hold on SU's head coaching job.
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