Ryan Nassib shredded several Syracuse single game records and came close to setting a couple more in the Big East during Saturday’s 42-41 loss to Northwestern.
Nassib completed 44 of 65 passes for 470 yards (all three were single game school records) to go along with four touchdowns. The fifth-year senior fell one completion short of the Big East record and tied the record for attempts, both held by Louisville’s Brian Brohm.
“Ryan can handle a lot,” Syracuse head coach Doug Marrone said. “I don’t worry about Ryan Nassib being able to handle anything.”
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Nassib broke the Syracuse record shared by Marvin Graves and Andrew Robinson at the end of the third quarter when he found Jeremiah Kobena for a 50-yard touchdown. The completion, his 30th of the game, pulled Syracuse to within 35-27. Nassib would throw two more touchdowns in the fourth quarter, but the Orange allowed a Northwestern touchdown with 44 seconds left for the final margin.
“When you have good receivers and good offense lines it makes my job easy,” Nassib said. “The coach had me in the right spot getting some good throws. I was fortunate enough to connect on some plays. But I definitely missed a couple key throws that I wish I could have had.”
One of those throws that Nassib wishes he could have back came in the second quarter with the Orange at the Wildcat 30. Nassib threw low to receiver Marcus Sales and the ball was tipped in the air. Chi Chi Ariguzo picked the ball off and ran down to the 21 yard line before Nassib forced him out of bounds.
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“He was getting open and that one pick was my fault because I put him in a corner,” Nassib said. “But I was really happy with how we connected today.”
Northwestern head coach Pat Fitzgerald will be happy not to have to play Nassib anymore.
“He’s a pretty savvy kid,” Fitzgerald said. “It’s not like you are going up against a first-time starter. He had a great understanding of what they were trying to do and how they were trying to accomplish it.”
Still, Nassib was frustrated with the outcome of the game. Despite coming back from a 35-13 deficit, the Orange will start the season 0-1.
“We started clicking,” Nassib said. “Unfortunately, it was too late for us to take over the game.”
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