Orange preparing for slipping Pitt
SYRACUSE, N.Y. — Syracuse nose tackle Anthony Perkins exuded a quiet confidence as he spoke about what it's like to wear Orange these days and sit atop the Big East.
"We would like to keep this streak rolling, if you can call it a streak," Perkins said. "We want to keep winning. It feels good. It feels great to go out to practice everyday, and you can see the excitement in guys' eyes. We're trying to turn everything around here"
Syracuse (4-1, 1-0 Big East), which has struggled for the past five seasons, carries a three-game winning streak into the Carrier Dome Saturday when it hosts Pittsburgh (2-3). It's the conference opener for the preseason favorite to win the league, and it couldn't have come at a better time for the Panthers. They're coming off a 23-17 loss at Notre Dame, and a fresh start is always nice.
"I've done it before where you put a drape up over the first half of the season. I've done all of that stuff," Pitt coach Dave Wannstedt said. "This is a huge week for us. Syracuse right now is playing with a lot of confidence. We are making some strides, but not as fast as what anybody would like. We need to go out there and find a way to get better and improve over what we did last week."
Syracuse has built most of its solid record on wins over two FCS teams and another over one of the worst FBS teams in the nation — Akron (0-6). The Orange suffered their only loss at Washington in September, but last week's 13-9 win at South Florida was an eye-opener because Syracuse was 0-5 against the Bulls and won on the road, scoring the winning points with an impressive drive in the fourth quarter.
"They've scored some points and rolled up some yardage this season, so it's going to be a good challenge for us," Pitt linebacker Max Gruder said.
