Listen to the sound reverberating through the Carrier Dome and you might hear it. Listen closely. Because now, it’s just a murmur.

What’s that? Syracuse might actually be good? Really?

The Syracuse football team’s been claiming it all year. Saturday, the Orangemen demonstrated it.

The Orangemen didn’t just beat Central Florida, 38-14, Saturday in the Carrier Dome, they handled them. Offense, defense, special teams, Syracuse outplayed UCF in every facet of the game. Granted, the Golden Knights are not Pittsburgh – or, for that matter, Toledo, which beat the Panthers on Saturday and visits the Dome this Saturday – but they are a competent team.

UCF quarterback Ryan Schneider is capable of throwing for 500 yards. The Orangemen held him under 300 and picked him off three times. The game was supposed to be a shootout, a battle of two of the worst pass defenses in college football. It couldn’t have been more different. The SU secondary shut down Schneider, limiting him to a bevy of screen passes and dump-offs. The offense, meanwhile, was too busy riding running back Walter Reyes to take advantage of UCF’s NCAA-worst pass defense.

Don’t get caught up in the hype just yet. Let it marinate until next week when SU plays a Toledo team that out-slugged Pittsburgh, 35-31. We could get caught up in enough Humanitarian (Bowl) Insight (.com) to fill a Voltaire journal, but wait.

The test comes soon. If the Orangemen can survive a formidable Virginia Tech, Boston College and Pittsburgh sandwich, then we’ll talk. For now, the Orangemen will do it for you.

‘All the seniors were pretty fired up,’ senior linebacker Rich Scanlon said. ‘Before we expected things to happen. This time we realized we have to go out and take it.’

It will take a little while for the fans to get excited, particularly the students. Naturally, only five months removed from a national championship in basketball, it’s tough to get pumped for an SU-Toledo game. It’s like going from Beef Wellington to SPAM slathered on some Wonder Bread.

But much like the SU offense, it does the job.

It’s shown it can put up points. Reyes, a bull in the backfield, has rushed for 519 yards and eight touchdowns. Quarterback R.J. Anderson has thrown for 650 yards, and most importantly, no interceptions. He’s not going to be a superstar, but Anderson’s been solid this season. Saturday, all he had to do was hand the ball off to Reyes. But so far, he’s completed more than 60 percent of his passes.

‘We just want to come in here,’ Anderson said, ‘and have one game where everybody does their job in all phases of the game and we just play.’

Saturday, the Orangemen had their day. The defense was stingy and the best SU has played all season. Though Central Florida blocked a Brendan Carney punt, the special teams play was still strong. Cornerback Steve Gregory made key hits on punt returns, often leveling UCF players in the open field.

It was an exciting day, though only 35,000 people were at the Dome to see it. If anything else, the win was a confidence-builder for the Orangemen, the coaches and the fans.

‘We were confident after last week,’ Anderson said. ‘It wasn’t like Louisville came in here and took it to us. They didn’t come here and take it from us. We were confident coming into this game. My confidence has been there for a while.’

Anderson can hear the murmurs. Now it’s his turn to spread the word.

Published on September 21, 2003 at 12:00 pm