In many ways, Syracuse’s 42-30 win over Connecticut on Saturday just didn’t make sense.

After all, it’s hard to play a game as sloppy as Syracuse did and win. You just don’t give up 35 first downs – the most SU has given up in 131 games – 566 net yards, 445 passing yards, allow your opponent to control the ball for 36:12 or allow your opponent to convert six of 13 third downs and expect to win football games.

But somehow, Syracuse did all those things and still won.

It was far from the Orange’s most glamorous performance of the season. But it seems these days in the Big East, it doesn’t take sparkles or glitter to win.

In fact, SU’s performance was strikingly similar to the way the defense played in the Orange’s 41-31 victory over Rutgers on Oct. 2 – its first Big East win of the season.

In that game, the Scarlet Knights chewed apart the SU defense for nearly 500 yards, but the defense made key stops when it needed to.

Against UConn, the defense, save the defensive line, played even worse. Huskies quarterback Dan Orlovsky ripped the Orange defense apart like a butcher chops up his meat. Along the way, he completed a school-record 39 passes.

‘I wouldn’t have thought (we’d win giving up this many yards),’ safety Troy Swittenburg said. ‘(Orlovsky) threw what we gave him, and we tried to eliminate the deep balls.’

The Huskies averaged a respectable 6.6 yards per play, and Orlovsky’s longest throw – the Huskies’ longest play of the game – went for 30 yards.

Still, though, you got the feeling Orlovsky could have picked apart the defense for 6 yards a play on a 200-yard field if not for costly turnovers.

It started on the Huskies first drive when safety Diamond Ferri made a one-handed pick on a throw across the middle. The next play, running back Walter Reyes danced 50 yards into the end zone.

Then, with 48 seconds in the half, Ryan LaCasse sacked Orlovsky, forcing a fumble. James Wyche recovered, setting up Perry Patterson’s Hail Mary to Andre Fontenette.

On UConn’s first drive of the second half, Anthony Smith picked off Orlovsky, returning it for a touchdown.

Two other second-half fumbles led to an additional seven Syracuse points. Overall, 28 points on five UConn turnovers.

When it should have gotten dominated by a quarterback that head coach Paul Pasqualoni ranked among the best he’s seen, SU ran away with the game – easily.

‘It’s just a lot of hard work and dedication,’ Ferri said. ‘Turnovers win games and everyone went out there and played very hard. The defensive line did a good job, the linebackers were key and the safeties did really well.’

Even with the five forced turnovers, SU’s defensive line may have saved the game. Syracuse equaled its season sack total (five) in just one game. Wyche led the way with three sacks and LaCasse and Julian Pollard each added one.

In addition, the line spent a majority of the day in Orlovsky’s mug. It forced a pocket passer out of the pocket.

‘They had a great game today,’ Smith said. ‘It was their best game all year. They got pressure on the quarterback and forced him out of the pocket, which allowed us to chase him down a little bit.’

In other years, against other teams, the type of football SU displayed Saturday probably wouldn’t work. But a few timely defensive plays coupled with offensive conversions made SU’s brand of football work.

It’s surprisingly entertaining, yet ugly at the same time. And don’t be surprised if we see a few more games like this one before the season ends.

In this year’s Big East, it seems like the final outcome doesn’t always make sense.