TAMPA, Fla. — Marcus Sales picked a good time to make his first catch of the season.

There he was, all alone in the middle of the end zone, soon to be mobbed as the recipient of the catch that culminated a game-defining drive. Perhaps season-defining. Perhaps program-defining, in a new era. With 7:15 left on the clock, quarterback Ryan Nassib — lying on the ground after getting knocked down — pumped his fist in excitement.

It was a drive in which the SU offense went 98 yards in 14 plays, finally ending on first-and-goal from the three-yard line when Nassib watched Sales lose his defender and dart in, eventually finding him in the middle of the end zone.

Catch No. 1. Did Sales understand the magnitude? What this win, the first for SU in six tries against South Florida, meant for the Syracuse football program?

‘(We’re) a different Syracuse team,’ Sales said.

That drive, and that catch, propelled Syracuse (4-1, 1-0 Big East) to a 13-9 win over South Florida (3-2, 0-1 Big East) Saturday in front of 41,917 at Raymond James Stadium. The Orange’s 4-1 start is its best since 1999.

After a game full of penalties and mistakes for the Orange, that drive was seamless and almost flawless. SU’s only sustained drive without a penalty came at the most opportune time. When it needed to happen.

‘We just said we have one quarter to do this,’ running back Antwon Bailey said. ‘I was walking around telling everybody, ‘We have one quarter to be great. You know? We have one quarter. That’s all we need. All the work that we put in up to this point, we have one quarter to show it.’

‘We did just that.’

Just that came as SU started the game-winning drive at its own two-yard line, where USF had just downed the ball on a punt. Methodically, it moved down the field with mostly short passes and some long runs by Delone Carter and Bailey.

Adam Harris for six. Bailey for five. Carter for eight.

The drive was so systematic, Bailey didn’t even realize how lengthy it was.

‘It was a long drive,’ Bailey said. ‘I just heard it was a 98-yard drive. I didn’t even know while we were doing it that it was a 98-yard drive.’

Before the game-winning drive, the contest had been full of Syracuse mistakes and missed opportunities. SU penalties — 12 of them in total — killed the team’s own drives and elongated USF drives. Missed opportunities prevented SU from taking command of a winnable game.

One of those missed opportunities prevented Syracuse from taking the lead going into the half. Ross Krautman, who made a field goal from 35 yards earlier, waited on the sidelines while Marrone called timeout to discuss his options on a fourth-and-one situation from the USF 20. Marrone decided to go for it, giving Harris just his third carry of the year. He fell just short of a first down, a call that was upheld by a measurement and Syracuse challenge.

So this time, there was apprehension that a mistake could cost SU again. But Marrone saw the confidence building throughout the game.

‘I thought we were getting stronger,’ said Marrone, who choked up at points during his postgame press conference. ‘I really did. You watch the line of scrimmage, and you get two yards, you get three yards. But all of a sudden, you’re seeing a little bit more push. … I thought we started to get stronger as the game went on.’

That push, and that peak of the progression, finally started to come as those five- and six-yard runs turned into a 31-yard scamper from Bailey that brought the Orange all the way to the Bulls’ 30-yard line. Bailey rushed for another 12 yards two plays later.

Carter got Syracuse to first-and-goal with three bruising runs in which he fought for all 11 yards he gained.

And then, Nassib to Sales.

It was a turn of events for Sales, who had fallen out of favor with the coaching staff, gotten a chance with injuries to the receiving corps and then made the game-winning catch. It was a turn of events for the SU offense, which had yet to post a complete drive up to that point.

And, perhaps, it signaled the turn of events for a football program overall.

‘It feels real good,’ Sales said. ‘We came out and made a statement today.’

bplogiur@syr.edu

Published on October 8, 2010 at 12:00 pm