An extra point ended up being the difference.

All-American Aaron Donald broke free and stuck his hand up. He blocked the kick and kept SU’s lead at just 6-0 three minutes into the game.

And that deflected extra point, coupled with a 41-yard missed field goal by Ryan Norton in the fourth, kept Syracuse (5-6, 3-4 Atlantic Coast) from becoming bowl eligible. The Orange lost to Pittsburgh (5-6, 3-4) 17-16 at the Carrier Dome on Saturday afternoon.

When Norton made a field goal that would have tied the score at 10 had the extra point been converted, Syracuse trailed by one.

Terrel Hunt’s beautiful touchdown pass to Alvin Cornelius didn’t bump the lead to a full touchdown margin. It put Syracuse up six.

Then Pittsburgh took the lead on a touchdown run by Isaac Bennett and a good extra point after by Panthers kicker Chris Blewitt.

After a 5-yard pass to Ashton Broyld put Syracuse into field goal range, Norton had another chance — this one to give SU the lead.

But Norton missed the 41-yarder wide right and Syracuse lost by the point it failed to score all the way back in the game’s first three minutes.

“We all make mistakes,” Syracuse linebacker Lewellyn Coker said. “We’re all human. He wasn’t able to execute, but it shouldn’t have been that that determined if we win or not.”

Published on November 23, 2013 at 8:37 pm

Contact Trevor: tbhass@syr.edu | @TrevorHass