SYRACUSE (AP) -- West Virginia and Syracuse are going to have to figure out ways to improve their offenses if they're going to catch first-place Pittsburgh in the Big East.
Neither offense was on track Saturday, and three interceptions from Mountaineers quarterback Geno Smith was the difference in the Orange's 19-14 win.
Syracuse's first win over the Mountaineers since 2001 helped the Orange (5-2, 2-1 Big East) match their best start since that season. Syracuse moved into second place in the conference, while West Virginia (5-2, 1-1) slipped into a four-way tie for third with Louisville, Rutgers and Cincinnati.
The loss also knocked the Mountaineers out of the Top 25 on Sunday after being ranked No. 20 last week.
West Virginia has scored three points total in the second half of its last two contests, managing only 99 yards after halftime against Syracuse. The Mountaineers must fix their mistakes quickly during a short practice week before playing at Connecticut (3-4, 0-2) on Friday night. The Huskies lost 26-0 at Louisville on Saturday.
Protecting Smith proved to be difficult. With Syracuse defenders flying around like bees, Smith made numerous poor decisions, overthrowing receivers and holding the ball too long that often resulted in sacks.
"Syracuse came out and hit us in the mouth," Smith said. "I don't think we were focused. I think we took a lot of plays off today, and I think that's something that really hurt us and will hurt us if we continue to do that.
"We can't lay down from here. We have to get back up and come back to win one next Friday.
All of Smith's interceptions came in the first half and more than doubled his total for the season. One of them came when he tried to force a pass into the end zone on first-and-goal late in the first quarter and was intercepted by Philip Thomas. Instead of leading 21-10, West Virginia watched Syracuse moved down the field for one of its four field goals.
Smith finished 20 of 37 for 178 yards and was sacked five times.
"I have to look at the tape, but clearly he had a rough day," said West Virginia offensive coordinator Jeff Mullen. "And I have to do a better job of preparing him for a football game. It's not his fault. It's my fault as his position coach. At times, he made a couple of good plays both with his arm and with his feet. You live by the sword, you die by the sword a little bit."
Syracuse had its own issues on offense. The Orange failed to find the end zone on four possessions inside the West Virginia 15 and were limited to 68 yards in the second half, when neither team scored.
"They did a nice job ... applying a little bit of pressure down in the red zone," said Syracuse coach Doug Marrone. "It was a chess match."
Ryan Nassib went 5 of 15 for 63 yards, including a 29-yard TD pass to Van Chew in the first quarter. Syracuse outgained West Virginia 183-106 on the ground but was held under 20 points for the third consecutive game.
At least Syracuse's defense rose up after allowing Pittsburgh's Tino Sunseri to throw four TD passes a week ago in the Panthers' 45-14 win.
The Orange mixed up its defensive formation from a week ago, going with three linemen more often. That allowed a host of linebackers and defensive backs to put pressure on Smith and help end West Virginia's 12-game home winning streak.
"We didn't show a lot of that last week and I think it rattled him," said Syracuse lineman Mikhail Marinovich. "He's a great quarterback but we just got after him and flushed him out of the pocket, made him run a little bit and came out with a 'W."'
The Orange head to Cincinnati (3-4, 1-1) next Saturday with the chance to move closer to becoming bowl eligible.
Marrone said he's been asked about significant wins after beating Maine, South Florida and now West Virginia.
He's just trying to keep a turnaround season in perspective.
"I think everyone else keeps trying to put labels on wins and signature wins and everything that you do," he said. "But we're just trying to win football games."
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