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Syracuse suddenly is playing for more than its first bowl since 2004.
With Pittsburgh's loss to Connecticut on Thursday night, Doug Marrone and his Orange (6-3, 3-2 Big East) are a loss behind the Panthers in the race for the conference title heading into Saturday's game at Rutgers (4-4, 1-2).
Not bad for a team picked to finish next to last in the preseason conference poll.
However, the conference has been very competitive and things can change quickly. Rutgers, after all, looked like it was on the road to a sixth straight bowl berth a couple of weeks ago after a win over Army. But it has dropped consecutive games to Pittsburgh and South Florida and now faces the prospect of needing to win two of its final four games to become eligible.
Syracuse still needs to win a game to become eligible since two of its wins in Marrone's second season were vs. FCS opponents. The Orange missed a chance to do so last week, dropping a 28-20 decision at home to Louisville.
''It is on everyone's mind, but I don't think there's as much talk as there was last week,'' Syracuse defensive tackle Andrew Lewis said. ''I don't want to say we took our eyes off the prize, or that we forgot what was important, but, really, we just want to win. If we handle a win this week, a win next week and the week after, then a bowl game is inevitable. That's just the mindset that this team has right now.''
Syracuse's schedule after Rutgers is not easy, with Connecticut and Boston College at home.
''There's no doubt in my mind that we're going to get that seventh win,'' Orange linebacker Doug Hogue said. ''We've just got to make sure we play harder. We just didn't get the job done (against Louisville).''
Syracuse has won all three conference road games this season, beating South Florida, West Virginia and Cincinnati. The Orange's lone road loss was a bad one - 41-20 at Washington - in the second game. But they also won at Akron in the season opener.
Rutgers has struggled at home, losing to North Carolina and Tulane. The Scarlet Knights even sputtered against Norfolk State for a half in the season opener.
While the Scarlet Knights have beaten Syracuse three straight times at home, the Orange snapped a four-game losing streak against Rutgers last season with a 31-13 win at the Carrier Dome.
Syracuse sacked then-starter Tom Savage nine times, tying a school record. That does not bode well for current starter Chas Dodd, who replaced an injured Savage four games ago. Rutgers has allowed 35 sacks this season and is ranked last in the NCAA for sacks allowed per game.
After watching cutups of last year's game, Dodd knows Syracuse is going to blitz ... a lot.
''It's just a matter of preparing mentally for it,'' said Dodd, who has spoken with Savage about dealing with the pressure, ''and knowing what you have to do and what to look for.''
Rutgers coach Greg Schiano said the Orange blitz as much as 60 percent.
''They believe it. They do it,'' Schiano said. ''They don't care what you are in. Certainly, we experienced it last year, not very successfully for our part. We are trying to prepare for that.''
Syracuse's last bowl was the Champs Sports, where they lost 51-14 to Georgia Tech on Dec. 21, 2004. Coach Paul Pasqualoni was fired after the season and replaced by Greg Robinson, who posted a 10-37 record in four seasons.
But Marrone is on the verge of making all those painful memories disappear.
''It's like night and day, night and day,'' Lewis said. ''I can't really put my finger on just one thing, but the biggest thing that stands out is the collectiveness of the team. We all come together as one. That's different from years past.''
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AP Sports Writer John Kekis in Syracuse contributed to this report.
