T
hree jet drive, X shallow cross.
A simple play drawn up in the midst of the 2008 training camp. Nothing special. Syracuse ran it numerous times throughout the season, sometimes with success, other times not so much. The play wouldn’t lead the Orange to a national championship, bowl game or winning season. It wouldn’t erase a 2-8 record or a one-conference win season.
Cameron Dantley was supposed to look at his first read on three jet drive, X shallow cross and pump the ball. His first and second reads were both tightly covered, so he pivoted his hips and fired to the middle of the field, where he saw Donte Davis ahead of his man in the middle of the end zone.
“You couldn’t end a drive any other way,” Dantley said.
Three jet drive, X shallow cross wouldn’t save Greg Robinson’s job. He was fired at the end of the season. Defensive end Arthur Jones and several others went on to play in the NFL, but 2008 — a relatively lost, forgettable season in SU history — stands as the last time the Orange beat Notre Dame, who’s headed to the JMA Wireless Dome on Saturday.
Since taking over the Orange in 2005, his first and only head coaching job, Robinson’s tenure had been marred with NCAA violations, close defeats to teams that had no business playing close with Syracuse and blowout losses. It might have been Robinson’s playcalling, the inexperienced roster, two quarterbacks or a combination of it all that led a 2-8 Syracuse into South Bend.
That team was close, Jones said, and their record doesn’t reflect how tightly knit the group was. Heading into the game, Jones, who ended with a career-high 15 tackles in a game that “put (him) on the map,” was contemplating leaving for the NFL Draft.
“We just wanted to send him off the right way, getting that win,” Jones said.
Robinson still had more energy than he’d ever had, according to linebacker Jake Flaherty. During practice that week, Robinson lowered his shoulder into Averin Collier’s chest on a scout team drill. After the win, Jones said the locker room felt like they’d just won the Super Bowl.
“That was our bowl game,” he said.
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The game itself, a grueling defensive battle prompted by the wind and snow, was “tough sledding,” Dantley said. Jones compared it to a heavyweight boxing match, each defense delivering blow after blow. But the Orange, who’d given up 42 points to Akron, 55 to Penn State, 45 to South Florida and 39 to UConn, wasn’t going to be denied. Jones finished the game with four tackles behind the line of scrimmage and had 1.5 sacks.
Prior to the game, the Fighting Irish’s offensive line said they didn’t need to put two blockers on Jones. Jones heard the audio clip, and took it as “such an insult.” Coaches further motivated Jones in practice by saying that the opposing line was going to “single block you” and “kick your ass.”
“I was licking my chops for the time to run out for us to play Notre Dame,” Jones said.
Before SU’s final drive against the Fighting Irish, head coach Charlie Weis opted to send out placekicker Brandon Walker for a 49-yard field goal. The wind chill in South Bend, Indiana, that day dipped below 20 degrees. Fans had to brush snow off of the bleachers to sit down. Dantley was confident Walker would miss. Almost everyone on the sideline, who’d battled to a 23-17 deficit against the Fighting Irish, was confident. After a good week of practice, the Orange knew they could win.
Flaherty watched as the kick came up just short. He hugged safety Paul Chiara as 80,795 fans in South Bend went quiet. Only a few boos broke the silence.
“We deserved the win,” Flaherty said. “We were busting our ass just like these guys.”
Syracuse was down by just six points in the waning minutes of the fourth quarter when Dantley rounded up the offense on the sidelines. He told them that if they got down the field and made a few big plays, they’d be in a good position to win. After the first 49-yard missed field goal, Syracuse had terrific field position and four minutes and 58 seconds to take the lead.
Freshman running back Antwon Bailey began the drive with a 20-yard rush up the left side of the field, followed by two more runs for nine yards. Then on a 3rd-and-1 out of the I-formation, Dantley targeted tight end Mike Owen on a post route to the far sideline. As he extended for the ball, a Notre Dame defender tripped him up, drawing a pass interference. Then a nine yard completion to Tony Fiammetta set up the Orange for the game-winning pass.
“I have to say that we approached the game like every other game, it wasn’t like, win one for the Gipper or anything like that,” Flaherty said.
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Dantley bolted back to the sidelines after the touchdown pass and told Jones to do whatever he could to prevent quarterback Jimmy Clausen from winning the game.
The Orange forced three incomplete passes, setting up a 4th-and-10 from the Irish’s own 25-yard line. Then, Clausen rocked back and rifled a pass to Golden Tate, who turned around and grabbed the ball to move the Fighting Irish to the 35-yard line. Walker, this time from 53 yards away, again had the chance to seal the game for the Fighting Irish.
Flaherty said they’d already outplayed Notre Dame. They’d already come back from trailing 23-10 and put together a go-ahead drive. Dantley could win at his father’s alma mater in the stadium he’d always dreamed of playing in. Walker’s kick sailed right and was short. For once in Robinson’s tenure, a break benefitted the Orange. Boos — and snowballs — rained down on Syracuse as they piled on each other at the 15-yard line.
“I really just remember giving my teammates a hug when he missed the field goal and said, ‘Let’s take it back to Marshall Street y’all,’” Flaherty said.
Published on October 26, 2022 at 10:55 pm
Contact Anthony: aalandt@syr.edu | @anthonyalandt
