Pittsburgh – Thirty-one rushes, 30 yards.

That was Syracuse’s rushing output Saturday against the Pittsburgh defense, less than one yard per carry, in the 20-17 defeat to the Panthers at Heinz Field Saturday afternoon.

Making his first start ever, true freshman running back Doug Hogue looked dismal. On 12 carries, he achieved 10 yards.

‘It was real tough,’ Hogue said. ‘We were just stopped short. We had to battle for every yard. It was a tough game.’

One week removed from an 83-yard performance in a victory over Buffalo, Hogue struggled to do anything productive against the Pitt defensive line.

Instead, the best performance in the backfield came from a player who had been positioned in the defensive secondary until last week. Max Suter, a running back in high school, dashed for 27 yards on six carries. A 12-yard scamper by Suter provided the only rush of the game to go more than 10 yards for the Orange.

‘It felt good,’ Suter said. ‘I hadn’t done it in a while; I was a little nervous at the beginning of the game. As soon as we go that first carry, first play, I felt like I was back at home.’

Suter, who earned the switch back to running back due to his quickness and ability to hit the hole immediately, demonstrated exactly that ability Saturday.

Overall, the dreadful Syracuse offensive line might deserve as much blame as the SU backfield. The line allowed six sacks, resulting in minus-22 yards for the running game. The line had trouble creating space for the runners, and the Orange was left to air it out as it attempted to rally from a 10-point fourth-quarter deficit.

The Western Pennsylvania-native, Suter, might be competing for carries for the rest of the year. Suter, also SU’s primary kick returner, insisted he has no idea where he’ll be playing next week. SU head coach Greg Robinson said he expects to keep Suter in the mix.

‘He gives you flat-out speed,’ Robinson said, ‘which is something that we don’t have a lot of elsewhere.’

Panthers get stuffed

The Syracuse rush defense, the most-criticized unit on the SU defense, had to stop Pittsburgh’s best offensive player from gaining one yard, and putting the Orange in a 7-0 hole in the first quarter.

The Orange did it – twice.

Syracuse made an impressive goalline stand, including stopping true freshman running back LeSean McCoy twice at the 1-yard line.

On fourth-and-one, linebacker Vincenzo Giruzzi broke into the backfield and grabbed McCoy as the rest of the Orange swarmed in to help with the tackle. Pitt started with first-and-goal at the five yard line.

Fullback Conredge Collins took a handoff to the 1-yard line. Conredge drove into the pile on the next, but was stuffed again. McCoy, who finished with 140 yards on 31 carries, was stuffed on the next two plays.

‘That was rough when we couldn’t convert on that goalline situation,’ Collins said. ‘You have to forget about it, though, or it will bug you the rest of the game.’

The defense also came through in stopping McCoy on a fourth-and-one in the game’s final minute. The turnover on downs gave Syracuse one last shot to try to tie the game, which ultimately ended up falling short.

‘I really liked the way the defense stepped up and was able to give our offense a chance to get back into the game,’ Robinson said at his Sunday press conference. ‘I thought they were really competing.’

Williams sets record

While falling out-of-bounds and fighting off pass interference, Mike Williams made a leaping one-handed grab.

Definitely an impressive way to break a Syracuse record set by an NFL Pro-Bowler.

The catch marked Williams’s sixth consecutive game with a touchdown reception, breaking an SU record held by current Indianapolis Colts star Marvin Harrison. The touchdown also cut the Orange’s fourth-quarter deficit to 20-17 with just under a minute remaining.

Published on November 4, 2007 at 12:00 pm