[Quality88]

A little more than three weeks ago, the University of Louisville football team was clinging to its goal of playing in the national title game.
Right now reaching any bowl game might be considered an accomplishment.
The No. 18 Cardinals' season is in tatters after just four games. They lost for the second straight time yesterday when previously punchless Syracuse pulled off a 38-35 upset in both teams' Big East Conference opener, snapping U of L's 20-game winning streak at Papa John's Cardinal Stadium.
"There is a sense of shock," junior center Eric Wood said. "With the talent we have, there's no way we should be sitting at 2-2. There's absolutely no way."
There also was no way to predict that the Orange (1-3), which had scored only 32 points all season, would rack up 465 total yards and grab 31-14 and 38-21 leads in the second half before a stunned crowd of 40,922. Or that Louisville's powerful offense would manage only seven points in the first half and need two late touchdowns to make the score close. The Cards were 37-point favorites, according to oddsmakers.
"If you give any team a sense of hope that they can win when they're an underdog, you're going to be in for a long, hard fight," said quarterback Brian Brohm, whose career-high 555 yards passing and four touchdowns went to waste.
Hope arrived on the first play from scrimmage for Syracuse. Quarterback Andrew Robinson faked a toss to his left, and U of L safety Brandon Heath -- a redshirt freshman making his first start -- bit on the play-action. That left Taj Smith wide-open down the middle of the field, and he took Robinson's pass 79 yards untouched for the touchdown.
U of L coach Steve Kragthorpe called that play "very deflating," especially since his staff had worked all week on defending the deep pass after the Cards' failures against Kentucky last weekend.
"We were in the right spots and had the perfect coverage," Kragthorpe said. "We were in a four-deep zone, and they still threw the ball over our heads. Some of that is inexperience, but it's my responsibility. Either you're coaching it or letting it happen, and obviously I'm not doing a good enough job at coaching it."
Defensive tackle Earl Heyman said that based on U of L's film study, that was the first time this season that Syracuse had thrown the ball out of that formation. But the Orange obviously saw the Cards' season-long struggles on defense and looked to exploit them in the passing game.
Robinson later threw a 42-yard touchdown pass to true freshman Da'Mon Merkerson, and Smith took a screen pass and bounced away from tacklers for a 60-yard scoring play. Robinson, who threw for a total of 476 yards and one touchdown in the first three games, was 17 of 26 for 423 yards and four scores yesterday.
Syracuse led 21-7 at halftime, and U of L didn't score its second touchdown until about 6½ minutes were left in the third quarter. Despite 628 total yards, the Cards stopped themselves with penalties (12 for 105 yards) and turnovers (two lost fumbles and two Brohm interceptions).
"They were kind of sitting back deep in a cover-two zone," said Brohm, who completed 45 of 65 passes, both school records. "They were giving us everything underneath. We moved the ball. We just couldn't keep drives going consistently."
They also were sloppy in special teams. Corey Goettsche had punts of 11 and 8 yards before being pulled in favor of Todd Flannery, and U of L gave up a 93-yard kickoff return to Max Suter for a touchdown after their first TD.
"We made way too many mistakes that maybe at times around here in the past we didn't make," Wood said. "We've got to get those things corrected."
The Cards mounted a late comeback even though star receiver Harry Douglas, who had 12 catches for 205 yards and a TD, was carted off with an apparent leg injury and wideout Mario Urrutia was benched for two personal-foul penalties.
They converted two Robinson fumbles in the final five minutes into touchdowns. Brohm's 5-yard pass to Patrick Carter with 56 seconds left brought them within a field goal.
But then came the final mistake of an error-plagued day. They attempted an onside kick on which Art Carmody slipped in front of regular kicker Flannery. Carmody botched the kick, failing to get the ball anywhere near the required 10 yards.
Robinson just had to kneel down a couple of times to clinch Syracuse's second Big East victory in three years. The Orange hadn't beaten a ranked team since knocking off No. 17 Boston College on Nov. 27, 2004.
The Cardinals are about to exit the Top 25 for the first time since October 2005. A season filled with high hopes is now in jeopardy after just four games.
"I'm very upset and very disappointed that we're not playing better than the way we are right now," Kragthorpe said. "We've got to find a way to get it done and get better. The buck stops with me, because I'm in charge of this program. If you want to blame anyone for this loss, blame me."

Fall of the House of Cards