Associated Press
SOUTH BEND, Ind. ó Syracuse couldn’t pull off a big win in time to save coach Greg Robinson’s job. The Orange did nothing to help Notre Dame’s Charlie Weis in the area of job security, either.
Cameron Dantley, son of one of Notre Dame’s basketball greats, threw an 11-yard touchdown pass to Donte Davis with 42 seconds left to lead Syracuse to a 24-23 victory Saturday against the stunned and disheartened Irish.
Fifth-year Irish senior linebacker Maurice Crum Jr., who spent a year playing under Tyrone Willingham, said it was the worst loss of his career.
“Every loss hurts, but there’s something added to it, being the total situation,” Crum said.
The Orange trailed 23-10 in the fourth quarter before rallying as Notre Dame struggled mightily on offense. The Irish (6-5) came away with just six points after starting four times inside the Syracuse 23-yard line, including three times in the third quarter when they settled for a field goal.
“I really don’t know why that happened,” said Notre Dame’s Jimmy Clausen, who threw two TD passes.
The victory allowed Syracuse (3-8) to avoid a third 10-loss season in four years under Robinson, who was fired last week, effective the end of the season.
For the Irish, losing to a 191/2-underdog ranks among the worst losses in school history and leaves Weis with a 28-20 record in four seasons. Weis’s 58.3 winning percentage is the same that Bob Davie was fired with after five seasons and Willingham after three. Weis has seven years left after this season on a 10-year contract.
Weis, who appeared to get past all the talk about his job being in jeopardy a week earlier by hanging on for a 27-21 victory over Navy, now finds himself the target again. For the most part, Weis declined to talk about what the loss means for his future, saying he needed more time before commenting. But he said he is not worried.
“Fortunately or unfortunately, whichever way you look at it, that’s just my makeup,” he said.