SYRACUSE, N.Y. (AP) -Doug Marrone wants Syracuse to focus on one thing for its final home game of the season – No. 25 Rutgers.
“We’re still going out there to win games, not to give people experience for next year,” the Orange coach said. “It’s not next year until the last game is over.”
Winning will be a difficult task for Syracuse against the surging Scarlet Knights, who have won seven of eight and cracked The Associated Press Top 25 this week for the first time this season.
Rutgers (7-2, 2-2 Big East) is coming off a 31-0 win over South Florida last Thursday and is hoping to pad its resume for a bowl game. Syracuse (3-7, 0-5) flubbed an extra point and lost 10-9 at Louisville last weekend on a 15-yard touchdown pass in the final 90 seconds, eliminating any chance of qualifying for its first bowl game since 2004.
using any discussion about redshirt freshman Ryan Nassib starting Syracuse’s final two games.
Paulus faces a Rutgers team which has only lost to top-10 schools Cincinnati and Pittsburgh. The Scarlet Knights also have the nation’s best turnover ratio, forcing 29 while committing only eight.
“Offensively, we’re taking care of the football,” coach Greg Schiano said. “We put a premium on taking care of the football. Defensively, the kids have just done a tremendous job of taking it away.”
Freshman quarterback Tom Savage has contributed to Rutgers’ favorable margin with only two interceptions to go with 10 touchdown passes.
Syracuse hasn’t had the same success holding onto the ball.
Paulus, the former Duke point guard, is playing football for the first time since high school when he was one of the most coveted quarterback prospects in the country. He is on the verge of setting a new school record for completion percentage, but has thrown 14 interceptions – two shy of the school’s single-season mark – versus 10 touchdowns.
The Orange are No. 97 in the nation in turnover margin at minus-7 overall.
go into it.”
Syracuse has been hampered by injuries this season and Schiano is wary of his team overlooking the struggling Orange, especially on the school’s senior day.
“I’ve been on the other side of the stick when we’ve had guys banged up and we’ve been able to come out and play a tremendous football game,” Schiano said. “All that stuff, I think you throw that out the window. We know we’re going on the road, and playing in the (Carrier) Dome is never easy.”
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