Oh boy did those praying Syracuse football team players look different minutes later, after the chains crashed down and the game officially ended.

A celebration erupted, and fans engulfed SU after it beat Pittsburgh, 38-31, in double overtime Saturday before 37,211 at the Carrier Dome. The win saved any realistic shot SU had of reaching a bowl.

‘It’s a feeling of overwhelming excitement,’ SU center Matt Tarullo said. ‘It’s almost indescribable.’

Credit Damien Rhodes, whose 36 yards on six carries in overtime carried SU.

Credit Malcolm Postell, whose pass interference penalty on a third-and-15 in the first overtime handed Syracuse a first down and an eventual touchdown.

Credit prayer.

Back at the end of regulation, SU huddled together on the sideline, begging for Josh Cummings’ 51-yard field goal to sail off. (It did, wide left.)

A much different look minutes later, when officials measured the fourth-and-1 play – a sweep left to Pitt running back Raymond Kirkley. The referees measured, and after they confirmed SU had stopped Kirkley, the players – and then the fans – rushed the field in jubilation.

The stop, made by linebacker Tommy Harris, came on the same play Florida State used in its Oct. 9 win over SU. Then, with 2:41 left in the third quarter, FSU back Leon Washington broke through a hole and rumbled 21 yards to tie the score at 10.

The Orange calls the play a 29 Toss, and it used the same defensive set as it did against the Seminoles. On Saturday, SU nailed the back.

Harris’ stop put Syracuse (5-4, 3-1 Big East) in far better position to reach a bowl game for the first time in two years. Had SU lost, it would have needed to win each of its final two games – against Temple and No. 24 Boston College – to be bowl eligible. Even then, it wouldn’t be guaranteed a slot.

But now, SU just needs to defeat lowly Temple next week to reach the six-win mark. A victory against BC would be more of a luxury now than a necessity.

‘Don’t even talk about that yet,’ Tarullo said. ‘Don’t say the B word. No talk about that until after the next win.’

All Tarullo wanted to talk about was the back-and-forth game, which saw storylines unfold faster than a daytime drama.

Running back Walter Reyes waved goodbye to the Carrier Dome, rushing for 123 yards on 17 carries. But his day ended early when he left the game with an injury in the third quarter.

Enter Damien Rhodes, who rushed 23 times for 103 yards, including 70 after the third quarter ended.

Syracuse looked dead in the first overtime, facing a third-and-15 and needing a touchdown. When quarterback Perry Patterson zipped the ball to wide receiver Andre Fontenette over the middle, Postell popped the wide-out before the ball, resulting in an automatic first down. Patterson eventually ran it in to tie the game at 31.

Then three tosses to the left for Rhodes, and SU jumped on top, 38-31.

Then Harris’ stop.

Syracuse’s seniors wallowed in the victory. After the game, players awarded the two game balls to the coaches. One was split between head coach Paul Pasqualoni, offensive line coach George DeLeone and defensive coordinator Steve Dunlap.

The other went to the head and assistant strength and conditioning coaches, William Hicks and Hal Luther, respectively.

‘Because if we didn’t have them,’ Tarullo said, ‘we’d be dead by the overtime.’

Instead, SU escaped with a victory – and a shot to reach a bowl game after a two-year layoff.

‘I don’t know if many teams can come back,’ DeLeone said, ‘from the embarrassment at Purdue (a 51-0 loss), the tragedy against Florida State (a 17-13 loss) and a sound defeat against West Virginia (a 27-6 loss) and lay it all on the line against a quality Pittsburgh team like our kids did. It says a lot.’

Published on November 5, 2004 at 12:00 pm