CHAMPAIGN, Ill.-Greg Robinson walked down a bright orange tunnel to conduct his first winning postgame press conference in 371 days.

After reaching the field, he readied himself for the first question.

Then he took a detour.

‘Where’s the wife, wait a minute, is the wife here?’

He located Laura standing off to his left and gave her a kiss and a hug.

Now that’s a winning combination.

Minutes earlier, Robinson’s men emphatically ended a school-record 11-game losing streak with a dominant 31-21 win over Illinois in front of 40,657 at Memorial Stadium. With three straight home games next and a relatively weak schedule overall, the Orange (1-2) positioned itself-seriously-for a shot at a bowl game a season after going 1-10.

‘We needed it in the worst way,’ Robinson said.

Some players already had confidence, others didn’t. But a blowout win is a blowout win. That Illinois (1-2) is a program suffering just as much doesn’t matter.

‘I think we needed that win to give everyone confidence,’ linebacker Kelvin Smith said. ‘I know we’re good, I just want everyone to know that. I knew coming into this game that we were the better team.’

Quality of opponent aside, Syracuse improved for the third straight game-particularly on offense. The Orange attack has now increased its production from 136 to 280 to 369 yards and found the endzone three times Saturday, one more than its season total entering the game.

Perry Patterson only completed 9-of-18 passes, but two went for touchdowns against just his first interception of the season. Taj Smith cemented his status as the offense’s No. 1 threat with 106 yards receiving and two long touchdowns (one on a fumble return). Finally, Curtis Brinkley (18 carries, 69 yards) and Delone Carter (19-63) emerged as a rhythmic 1-2 punch at running back.

‘Our confidence has always been there, it’s just the chirps outside we’re trying not to let get to us,’ center Justin Outten said. ‘Basically we just put our minds to it this week. It wasn’t a high-powered defense like Iowa was. It was something where we could get our technique going and get that offensive flow going.’

Only touchdown passes of 76 and 69 yards in the fourth quarter for the Illini made the final score respectable.

After Illinois tied the game at 7-7 early in the second quarter, Syracuse scored 24 unanswered points in a surge unseen since its last win-Sept. 10, 2005 at home against Buffalo, 31-0. SU’s last road win came Nov. 27, 2004 against Boston College.

The Orange took the lead for good at 14-7 on a 65-yard touchdown pass from Patterson to Taj Smith four plays after the Illini tied the game. The secondary bit on Patterson’s play fake to the right, leaving Smith a good 10 yards behind the defense down the left sideline.

‘The corner bit hard-he bit real hard,’ Smith said.

On the second play of the second half, Jameel McClain stripped Illinois starting quarterback Tim Brasic on an option right. Jerry Mackey returned the fumble 15 yards for a 21-7 lead.

Perry Patterson sealed the outcome when he found tight end Tom Ferron on a perfect, arching 17-yard touchdown pass to the back of the endzone on Syracuse’s next possession for a 28-7 advantage.

‘That pass to Tommy Ferron was about as pretty … There was a guy bearing in on him and he didn’t blink,’ Robinson said. ‘He put it out there and it was on the money. It was a beautiful pass. He made several passes that were great. All in all, Perry is developing into a real good quarterback.’

Syracuse took an early 7-0 lead for the second straight week-this time in bizarre fashion. Illinois defensive back Kevin Mitchell crushed Patterson on a third-down scramble and jarred the ball loose. It bounced right to Smith, who was credited with a 48-yard touchdown run.

The Orange hardly qualifies as an offensive juggernaut, but two solid games against Big Ten teams means respectability.

‘They needed to feel a sense of accomplishment,’ Robinson said of his players. ‘You play football out here and you’re battling your tail off and you lose two football games that you could’ve very easily won, this team, they’ve given too much, they needed to reward themselves for their hard work and their preparation.’

Robinson got his reward in the form of a kiss and a hug. The players?

‘Guys are going to feel good walking on campus,’ Patterson said.

Published on September 16, 2006 at 12:00 pm