Orange Loses to Cincinnati, 22-16

SYRACUSE, N.Y.— Syracuse’s last-minute comeback attempt fell short in its 22-16 loss to Cincinnati in front of 42,457 fans at the Carrier Dome. The Orange began its final drive at its own one-yard line with 3:16 remaining in the game, trailing by six, 22-16. Quarterback Perry Patterson moved the offense down the field, completing 4-of-9 passes for 65 yards, to the Cincinnati 38 yard line with 47 seconds left to play. On fourth and 17, Patterson’s pass Tim Lane over the middle defelected off Lane’s hands and SU turned the ball over on downs. Cincinnati an out the final 41 seconds for the win.

Syracuse began its final drive at its own one-yard line with 3:16 remaining in the game. During the final drive Patterson got the Orange out of trouble when he found Alex Shor for a gain of 21 to move the ball to the SU 28-yard line. On third down, Patterson found Joe Kowalewski to extend his streak of games with a catch to eight. On fourth and six, Patterson found Rice Moss for a gain of nine to move the chains for an SU first down. On the next play, Patterson went to the air again, this time finding senior Damien Rhodes for a gain of 27 to move the Orange to the Bearcats 31 with just more than a minute to play. With the Orange threatening late, Patterson was held to a short run and threw incomplete before being sacked by Tony Carvitti for a loss of 10 yards. On the final offensive play for the Orange, Patterson's pass deflected off of Lane.

Rhodes scored two touchdowns and became SU’s all-time leader in receiving yards by a running back.

Syracuse took the lead early, scoring on the opening drive of the game. Kareem Jones opened the game with a career-long 52-yard kick return to put the Orange in Cincinnati territory at the 48. Rhodes gained 12 yards to move SU to the Cincinnati 26 yard line. Two plays later, starting quarterback Joe Fields completed his first pass attempt of the game to Lane for a gain of 12 yards, moving the Orange to the 12-yard line. After a pair of stuffed runs, Fields ran the ball 11 yards to the 4-yardline where the Orange converted a fourth and inches play with Rhodes rushing for a touchdown to put SU on top, 7-0, with just less than 11 minutes left in the first quarter. It was Rhodes’ 23rd career touchdown, which tied him with Jim Brown for seventh all-time at SU. The SU drive was nine plays for 53 yards.

Cincinnati started its first drive at its 20-yard line but quickly moved the ball down field on a pair of receptions by Earnest Jackson. The Bearcats continued to move the ball through the air when quarterback Dustin Grutza completed a pass to Derick Ross for a gain of 18 before finding Bill Poland on the very next play for a gain of 10 to put Cincinnati at the SU 17-yard line. Grutza found Poland in the end zone with just more than seven minutes to play in the opening quarter, evening the score, 7-7. The Cincinnati drive was 10 plays for 80 yards.

Cincinnati came out in the second quarter with a strong running attack with Grutza, Bradley Glatthaar and Moore each gaining positive yards on the ground to lead to a two-yard Grutza touchdown run to give the Bearcats their first lead of the game, 14-7, with just more than 12 minutes to play in the first half. The Cincinnati drive was 17 plays for 80 yards.

Perry Patterson came in at quarterback to start the second quarter for the Orange and completed his first pass attempt to Alex Shor for a gain of seven. SU would be forced to punt as Brendan Carney pinned the Bearcats inside the 20 for the second time with a 46-yard punt to the Cincinnati 14-yard line.

The field position wouldn’t be enough to keep Cincinnati in its own end as the Bearcats got a pair of solid runs from Butler Benton before Jackson had a pair of big gains through the air. SU was able to stop the Cincinnati drive at its own 20-yard line as Cincinnati’s Kevin Lovell missed a 37-yard field goal attempt.

With just more than five minutes remaining in the first half SU started a drive at its own 20-yard line. On a second down play, Patterson and Rhodes hooked up for a 70-yard gain on a screen pass to bring the Orange to the Cincinnati two-yard line. The play made Rhodes the school’s all-time leader in receiving yards by a back. From there, Rhodes found the end zone for the second time on the day on a two-yard run up the middle. It was his 24th career rushing touchdown, which ranks seventh in SU history. Ricky Krautman missed the PAT leaving SU down by one, 14-13 with 3:06 remaining in the half.

Syracuse started its second drive of the third quarter at its own 1-yard line. On the first play of the drive, Fields found Tim Lane open down the sideline for a gain of 42. After a short run play, Fields scrambled from two tacklers to find a wide open Moss for a gain of 50, putting the Orange at the Cincinnati 11-yard line. It was Moss’ longest career reception. John Barker successfully split the uprights, converting on a 27-yard field goal to give SU its second lead of the game, 16-14, with 3:09 remaining in the third quarter.

SU came out in the fourth quarter and turned the ball over when Fields was hit by Anthony Hoke, who forced the ball loose as Kevin McCullough picked up the fumble and ran it into the end zone to put Cincinnati back on top. The Bearcats converted a two-point conversion to take a 22-16 lead with 13:00 left to play.

Syracuse has a bye week on November 5, but returns to action on November 12 for its final home game of the season against South Florida. The number 44 will be retired during a halftime ceremony at that game. Tickets can be purchased by calling the Carrier Dome Box Office at 1-888-366-3849 or 315-443-2121 or via the internet at suathletics.com.

Syracuse University Athletics

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