SYRACUSE, N.Y. -- In a clash of quarterbacks last night, one ran forward and the other ran backward.
Guess which one won?
John Turman steered the University of Pittsburgh downfield to a tying touchdown and two-point conversion with 77 seconds remaining in regulation, the first with his arm and the second with his legs.
Troy Nunes skittered around Syracuse's Carrier Dome turf, bolting hither and yon, seemingly fleeing sideline to sideline, and twice completed passes on third-and-long plays for touchdowns.
And he's the one who won, 24-17, in this two-overtime, four-hour ESPN2 extravaganza.
"My heart was in my mouth," Syracuse offensive coordinator George DeLeone told reporters later. "When he was doing that [scrambling in the second overtime]. ... Thank God it worked."
Turman struggled to find words to describe the loss. It was the third time in Coach Walt Harris' four seasons that a Syracuse-Pitt game was decided by a touchdown or less. Syracuse prevailed each time. Nunes prevailed the past two.
For Nunes, it was a repeat of last season, when his pass off a botched field-goal snap produced the winning margin in a 24-17 Syracuse triumph.
He threw two passes to David Tyree on huge third-down plays on which he eluded Pitt rushers and heaved downfield just before getting sacked. The first came on a third-and-20 in the second quarter and gave Syracuse a 10-9 lead. The second came on a third-and-23 in double overtime and gave Syracuse the victory.
Nunes, much like he did at Butler, headed for the left sideline and throw for Tyree on a fire-drill pattern just before Pitt's Gerald Hayes belted the Syracuse quarterback. This came one play after he backpedaled and got sacked by Pitt's Bryan Knight for a 17-yard loss.
"It was a wild play," Knight said of the deciding touchdown. "That's all I can say."
Nunes finished 20 for 29 for 279 yards, the most in his two-year Orangemen career. He also finished with hosannas from a previously hostile Carrier Dome crowd and from Coach Paul Pasqualoni.
"We probably would have missed the field goal from that far," Nunes said of the 40-yard attempt Syracuse might have faced in the second overtime had he not thrown for the touchdown. Orangeman kicker Mike Shafer missed four of six field-goal tries. Reporters laughed when Nunes uttered that, to which he snapped, "It's really not funny.
"Like Coach P said to me, 'You're one lucky guy.'"
Pitt's Harris added: "Troy Nunes made the play of the game. Made two of them. The same kind of plays. Almost died by it, too. You've got to spread the net. You've got to not let him get outside."
Turman played all but the third quarter, when David Priestley entered for seven plays and just two series.
Turman returned in the fourth quarter and directed Pitt to the Syracuse 20. Nick Lotz then missed the first of his two hooked field-goal attempts. With 6:21 left, Turman took Pitt 48 yards in 14 plays -- including two pressure-packed, fourth-down completions -- for the touchdown and two-point conversion that sent the game into overtime.
"I think he stepped up," Harris said of the performance of Turman, who completed 20 of 44 for 228 yards.
"He's not perfect. But a tremendous competitor. A tough, tough guy. I'm proud of him. I thought he really played his butt off."
Turman's 18-yard touchdown run from the pocket and down the middle of the field in the first quarter was an option on the called pass play, and his quarterback draw for the tying two-point conversion also was an ad-lib of sorts. "He recognized a hole in the defense and just made an excellent play," Harris said. "That was huge."
"It was nice," Turman added with a tight grin.
In the end, Nunes was the quarterback who ran the other team into the Dome turf, and Turman was the one who went 0 for 2 on the final-overtime series when Pitt failed to score.
NOTES -- Antonio Bryant finished with seven catches for 135 yards, tying him for No. 20 all-time with 77 receptions (along with Pitt radio commentator Bill Osborn) and No. 13 with 1,325 yards. ... Lotz's first-quarter field goal moved him past Marshall Goldberg and into a tie for No. 24 on Pitt's all-time points list with 110, along with Dennis Ferris. ... Pitt defensive end Bryan Knight of Buffalo, N.Y., had two tackles and lots of mileage chasing Nunes. ... Right guard Bryan Anderson left with an undisclosed injury on that final, tying drive in regulation. ... Rod Rutherford entered for one play in the first half, but it was negated by a penalty. Priestley went 1 for 2 for 9 yards in a short, third-quarter stint. ... Pitt hadn't played an overtime in 27 games, dating to the memorable, triple-overtime victory at West Virginia that secured a bowl bid in 1997.
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