Syracuse Defeats Northwestern: Postmortem

Hey, did you hear?  We won!

First up, let's watch that again, shall we?  Say it with me...LICHTENSTEIN!!!!!!!

Northwestern QB Mike Kafka completed 35-of-42 passes for 390 yards with three touchdowns against Syracuse.  That SU was able to win the game in spite of that performance is impressive enough as it is.  Of course, a big reason for that was Max Suter, who intercepted Kafka's pass with less than a minute left to set up the game-winning field goal.  And who knows if that interception would have even been possible had Northwestern's kicker not missed a gimme extra-point just minutes earlier.

Yeah, it was one of those games.

The Orange overcame terrible snaps from center Jim McKenzie, Greg Paulus-fumbles, Northwestern trickery and a 2nd quarter in which Kafka led the Wildcats to 21 unanswered points.

The heroes on the day? 

• You have to start with Mike Williams.  Held scoreless last week, Williams exploded for 206 yards and 2 TDs on 11 grabs.  Mike's re-coming out party to the nation was glorious.
• Delone Carter muscled his way to 87 yards and a TD on 18 carries.  He also gained 20 yards on two catches. Carter also became the 39th player in Syracuse history to rush for 1,000 yards during the contest.
  
• Greg Paulus, who had his shaky moments, but cemented his part as this team's leader with a 24-35, 346 yards, 2 TD, 1 Int performance. Paulus and Williams earned a Helmet Sticker from Rece Davis for their troubles.
  
• LB Derrell Smith who nabbed eight tackles and two sacks to lead the SU defense.
  
• SHAMARKO! Thomas, who introduced himself to Orange faithful with 7 tackles.
  
• Max Suter, for his game-changing interception that turned the tide when it mattered most.
• And finally, freshman kicker Ryan Lichtenstein, who proved to have ice-water in his veins and made Syracuse fans wonder "Shane-who?" with his game-winning kick.

By the way, if Doug Marrone could sum up Greg Paulus' performance in one word, I wonder what that word would be...

"I think Greg had a tremendous game. Statistically, he had 346 yards, 24-of-35, and the interception. It’s always amazing to me and I think we take it for granted because he was such a tremendous high school player and a tremendous basketball player, that here’s a player who’s only been playing football for seven or eight weeks now, and he can go out in a Division I football game against a team that returned eight out of 11 starters and won nine games last year, granted, they had some people who were injured today, and throw for more than 300 yards is really tremendous.

Bud Poliquin has but one question for you...Caaaaaan Youuuuuuuu Diiiiiiiig Iiiiiiiiiit???

Well, do you believe now? Do you believe things have changed around here? Do you believe that this new sheriff in town, this Orange son named Doug Marrone, has breathed life into what had been a carcass lying on the side of the college football road?

Couple post-game videos for you.  First up, The Marrone celebrates the only way he knows how...tremendously.

Bud Poliquin in his Saturday-finest talks about the extraordinary things he saw in the Dome.

Finally, CitrusTV's Amy Johnson sums up the victory: