Reyes, Syracuse Add to Notre Dame Woes

Walter Reyes wasn’t about to lose that big grin after leading Syracuse to a season-ending victory over Notre Dame. Neither were his teammates -- or his beleaguered coach.

“What a great win!” Reyes said Saturday after rushing for 189 yards and five touchdowns to lead Syracuse to a 38-12 victory.

“It just showed a lot of character and heart. For the program, we wanted to come out here and show the nation that Syracuse football is still here.”

It was the first meeting involving the teams in 40 years and the outcome was a bitter disappointment for the Irish (5-7). Instead of extending their winning streak to four games, they finished with their third losing season in five years, something that had never happened in the storied history of the program.

“We felt that this game could have been a good springboard into the off-season,” Coach Tyrone Willingham said. “This could be a very difficult loss, but we can’t allow it to be.”

It could have been very difficult for Syracuse Coach Paul Pasqualoni if the Orangemen had lost. He has been heavily criticized since last year’s team went 4-8. Instead, the Orangemen (6-6) ended a three-game losing streak and averted another losing season.

Athletic Director Jake Crouthamel said after the game that he would sit down with Pasqualoni today for an evaluation and make an announcement later in the week.

Pasqualoni, 101-53-1 in 13 seasons, basked in the happy aftermath of the victory and declined to speak about his job status.

“We love that man,” said tackle Christian Ferrara, who had five tackles for losses. “If something does go bad like that, I think it’s the biggest mistake this university will ever make.”

“He ain’t going anywhere. I hope he doesn’t,” said Reyes, who has a school-record 38 rushing touchdowns, three more than Floyd Little in his career, and also finished the season with a record 134 points. “He’s done so much for us. If he does, it will be heartbreaking.”

The victory ended a difficult week for the Orangemen. Not only did they have to forget last week’s embarrassing 24-7 loss at Rutgers, they had to deal with the prospect that Pasqualoni’s job was in jeopardy.

“This whole week ever since the drama was going on about him being fired, I think he did a great job. He didn’t really care about that,” said Reyes, who had his first 100-yard game since the fourth game. “He wants to beat Notre Dame, and the players fed off that.”