The Syracuse Orange beat the Northwestern Wildcats 13 - 7 on Saturday for the first win of their new head coach's career, but you would never know it from his post-game comments.

"We still have a lot, a lot of things to work on here. I think this might have been our worst of the three games we've played. I like what Ryan [Nassib] did today, but we have got to make things easier for him."

The coach was referring to the 7 sacks that the offensive line gave up to Northwestern, putting the Orange in difficult down and yardage situations for much of the game. The biggest play of the game came on one of those tough down and distance plays, as Nassib found Mike Williams in one-on-one coverage on a 3rd and 15. Williams beat his defender all the way to the end zone for a 70 yard touchdown to give the Orange a 7 - 0 lead with only one second left in the first quarter.

Nassib was excited about the biggest play of the Orange season thus far, but didn't want to take all the credit. "They were sending the blitz, and I knew I had to get rid of it quick. I figured it was 3rd and 15 anyway, and I saw Mike had his man beat, so I just threw it out there and gave it a shot. Mike made a great play to come down with it and get the score."

The Orange made it 10 - 0 after a field goal following an INT by DT Arthur Jones. Jones laughed about the INT, and said his teammates teased him when he got back to the sidelines, wondering why he didn't bring it to the house.

The rest of the game was a defensive tussle, as Northwestern managed only one score on the day, a 2nd quarter 8-yard option run by QB Mike Kafka. The Orange did not score again until late in the 4th quarter when Freshman Lichtenstein hit a 46-yard FG to make it 13 - 7.

"It wasn't our greatest game, but still, it should give these guys some confidence just to have one in the win column," said the Syracuse Head Coach. "Now they know they can win, so it's just a matter of figuring out how to do it on a regular basis, and how to develop that killer instinct to really put games away."

So far this season, all of Syracuse's games have been decided by 6 points or less. That should change next week when they face FCS school Maine, as they will look for the easy win to even up their record.