Time flies. It wasn’t so long ago when Doug Marrone stood at the podium on Ernie Davis Legends Field, first revealing the holy grail for his 2011 Syracuse team.

The goal was to ‘compete for a Big East championship.’ That’s what Marrone said at SU’s media day Aug. 5 and repeatedly after that. Players concurred.

‘That’s what we’re expected to do,’ he said at media day.

Friday’s obliteration at the hands of South Florida ended the Orange’s campaign to compete for the Big East title. Not only did the Syracuse team on the field fail to compete with a USF team on a four-game losing skid, but the loss also gave SU a 1-4 last-place record in conference play.

At this point, the season is a failure.

The Orange is eliminated from Big East title contention. Three straight losses have SU in last place in the Big East, a conference weaker than Conference USA this year. Based on the goals put forth verbally by the team itself, even if Syracuse makes a bowl game, it doesn’t make this year successful.

To make matters worse, an anxious, uncomfortable press conference following SU’s 37-17 defeat made the Orange out to be a broken team.

‘I think a lot of it has to do with leadership on this team,’ quarterback Ryan Nassib said. ‘We really have to have some guys step up. Not accepting any little failure. Not waiting on a route in practice, dropping a pass in practice or missing a tackle in practice. All those little things we can’t have anymore. It has to be unacceptable.’

Is Nassib saying those things have been let go in recent weeks? Who knows.

But just three weeks ago, the last time the Orange played in the Carrier Dome, the team was on cloud nine after whooping West Virginia to move to 5-2.

Time flies.

Marrone, like he has in each of SU’s losses, took full responsibility for the Orange’s failure. But he stepped it up a notch on Friday. No matter who the question was about or what play it was in the game, the third-year head coach said everything was a personal shortcoming.

If a wide receiver ran a route, was delivered the ball and flat out dropped it? Marrone’s fault. A USF player comes in unblocked because the offensive line has a miscommunication? That’s on Marrone.

His players think otherwise.

‘Of course he’s going to take the blame, he’s the head coach of the football team,’ center Macky MacPherson said. ‘But I think as a player, we all know it’s on us.’

Echoing Marrone’s preseason thoughts, MacPherson said after Friday’s game the objective this season wasn’t to make another bowl. In Marrone’s first year, the Orange made progress off the field. Last season, it was on the field, culminating in a feel-good Pinstripe Bowl win to close out his second season.

This year, the plan was to take it a step higher. That didn’t happen.

And stumbles against a two-loss Cincinnati team and at Pittsburgh in a December game to close out the season would make this year a true step backward.

On Friday, though USF quarterback B.J. Daniels made smart decisions on his zone reads, leading to a solid running game between he and running back Demetris Murray, Syracuse’s composure dissipated.

 

A Shane Raupers kickoff went out of bounds, and Jeremiah Kobena hit kick returner Lindsey Lamar anyway, resulting in a penalty. Those two penalties put USF in Syracuse territory before the offense jogged on the field. Phillip Thomas and USF receiver Andre Davis got in a spat away from the ball on a punt.

It’s the ‘flashes of immaturity’ Nassib mentioned in an ill-at-ease press conference.

Yet the Orange didn’t pack up early. Down 23-10, SU moved the ball to the Bulls’ 7-yard line on the final play of the third quarter.

In between quarters, the Dome speakers played Journey’s ‘Don’t Stop Believin’,’ with the volume sliding down when the chorus came on. The 41,582 in attendance took over for Steve Perry, singing and living those words, transitioning into a charged ovation when SU returned to the field.

The pieces were in place for an epic fourth quarter. But SU was stopped on four plays inside the 10.

Once South Florida scored another touchdown, to make the score 30-10, that once-buoyant crowd hustled home. The final five minutes felt like a spring game.

And Marrone, 100 days after making his proclamation that the goal was to compete for the Big East championship, admitted SU was not successful in its endeavor.

Time flies.

‘I definitely feel that we are not succeeding in those goals,’ Marrone said, ‘and I feel that it is my fault.’

Mark Cooper is an asst. sports editor at The Daily Orange, where his column appears occasionally. He can be reached at mcooperj@syr.edu or on Twitter at @M_Coops_Cuse.

Published on November 13, 2011 at 12:00 pm

Contact Mark: mcooperj@syr.edu | @mark_cooperjr