CINCINNATI — The inconsistency of Ross Krautman, which seemed to have evaporated when he connected on all four field goals against Connecticut, has resurfaced.

Krautman went just one for three in Saturday’s 35-24 loss to Cincinnati on Saturday, with one of his misses pulled to the left and the other blocked for the second time this season. It dropped his season average to a lowly 55.6 percent, tied for 10th worst in the country among kickers who have enough attempts to qualify for the rankings.

Afterward, Krautman said he planned to go back and look at the film in practice to determine if there was anything wrong with his mechanics. But he insisted that head coach Doug Marrone believes in him, and that he has confidence in himself as well prior to each kick.

“Wherever on the field should be the same thing as long as you line up right,” Krautman said.

Like the game against Rutgers, Krautman saw one of his kicks blocked as a result of terrific penetration by an opponent. This time it came from the left side, as defensive lineman Brandon Mills surged forward and got his right hand on the football, which appeared to have a low trajectory from the start.

The kick would have pulled Syracuse to within 14-13 early in the second quarter.

“You miss a field goal, which is really on me,” Marrone said. “I drilled it all week. I just kept hammering home. If you don’t feel comfortable, then you have to make some changes. And that’s coaching. I knew exactly the way they were coming, and we worked on it all week and they couldn’t execute it.

“The block is like a turnover in my mind.”

Later in the game, Marrone sent Krautman onto the field to attempt a 42-yarder early in the fourth quarter. Syracuse trailed by 11 at the time, and Krautman’s kick would have made it a one-possession game. But he pulled his kick to the left, sealing a Bearcats victory.

“The snap and the hold was fine; I just missed the kick,” Krautman said.

Marrone OK with officiating

There were two plays in Saturday’s game that drew the on-field ire of Doug Marrone. He fumed, yelled, cast aside his headset and implored the officials to rule on Syracuse’s favor.

The first was an apparent fumble by Cincinnati tailback George Winn on a read-option play by Munchie Legaux. SU linebacker Dyshawn Davis emerged from the pile with the football, parading toward the sideline in celebration as he and his teammates believed the Orange offense would take over inside the Bearcats 20 yard line.

But after the play was reviewed, it stood as called with Winn ruled down by contact.

“Upstairs, they say it was a fumble. Down on the field, they didn’t really have it,” Marrone said. “They didn’t really know about the recovery issue. Again, the guys worked hard, and as long as they communicate and tell you what’s going on, I’m fine.”

Later, Legaux took a quarterback keeper on a first-and-goal from the 5 yard line and raced toward the front right corner of the end zone. He fumbled inches shy of the goal line, with the ball bouncing backward into the field and then out of bounds inside the 1 yard line.

Marrone and his players craved a touchback call from the officials, thinking the ball had gone over the goal line and out of bounds through the end zone.

But once again the replay confirmed that a close call would swing in Cincinnati’s direction following an official review and explanation.

“I thought the officials — it was a great crew, they do a great job, they did a great job of communicating,” Marrone said. “I don’t have any problems with the calls and what they’ve done.”

Smith continues to shine

For the third straight game, Syracuse running back Jerome Smith topped 100 yards to carry the offense. He carried the ball 21 times on Saturday for 116 yards and scored his first touchdown of the season.

Smith was stopped short of the goal line on consecutive running plays from inside the 5 yard line midway through the third quarter. But on the third try he leaped up and over the offensive line to give the Orange a 24-21 lead.

In his last three games, Smith has run for 376 yards and boosted his total to 731 yards on the season.

Published on November 4, 2012 at 11:29 pm

Contact Michael: mjcohe02@syr.edu | @Michael_Cohen13