Week 13: Cincinnati at Syracuse

Cue Jim Morrison.

This is the end.

The end of a long, brutal season for the Syracuse Orange and their fans. The only question left: Is this the end as well for SU coach Greg Robinson, 7-27 overall and 3-26 against BCS conference teams?

It’s not looking good for the coach, although athletic director Daryl Gross said he’ll still consider the performance of the Orange in this one. Syracuse has lost six of its last seven games – the lone win in that span a 20-12 nailbiter against Buffalo. In the last two games, SU fell to South Florida by 41-10 and to Connecticut 30-7.

Syracuse’s sports information department is so desperate to find positives, this is one of its pregame notes: “Longtime Syracuse head coach and current Orange broadcaster Dick McPherson spent four years as an assistant at Cincinnati (1961-65).” It’s that bad.

SU is No. 114 (of 119 teams) in total offense, No. 117 in rushing offense and No. 118 in scoring offense. On the other side, the Orange is No. 109 in rushing defense and No. 110 in total defense. All are last in the Big East.

The only positive has been the play of special teams return man Max Suter and that of sophomore wide receiver Mike Williams, who has caught a touchdown pass in a school-record eight consecutive games.

Cincinnati, meanwhile, is smarting after its 28-23 home loss to West Virginia that knocked the Bearcats from the Big East title race and BCS bowl chase. Coach Brian Kelly called the WVU loss and the win over Connecticut “elimination” games. So now that UC is “eliminated” it will be interesting to see how the team responds.

Still, though, Kelly’s team is in a much better position to win this one at the Carrier Dome. Despite the loss to West Virginia, UC is still ranked No. 24. Plus, they have the motivation of playing for a decent bowl. The Bearcats could play in the Sun, Meineke Car Care or PapaJohns.com bowls.

“We’d better win,” Kelly said. “I don’t think we deserve anything unless we beat Syracuse.

“Obviously we’re going to be in a bowl game. What we deserve is based on how we play against Syracuse.”

Also, at 8-3, Cincy has a chance to match its highest win total in 54 years. The school’s current record is the best since Tim Murphy’s 1993 club went 8-3.

Although UC lost to West Virginia, Kelly seemed satisfied his program is on the right track. The Bearcats had won four straight against Top 25 opponents before falling to the now-No. 3 Mountaineers.

“We’ll be fine,” Kelly said. “We’re going to be able to get to the level where we feel like we can compete nationally. I needed to see West Virginia. I needed to see the game as a head coach in the Big East and find out where we are... I’m excited about where we can go and finish this year.”

Quarterback Ben Mauk and receiver Marcus Barnett provided some of that excitement with their play last week. Mauk threw for 323 yards and Barnett had 10 catches for 210 yards and two scores.

Look for Cincinnati to roll against the Orange.

Cincinnati by 20