Plainedge's Dan Villari leads Syracuse past Pittsburgh at Yankee Stadium

There was Dan Villari, standing ramrod straight and facing the visiting bullpen while being mobbed by his teammates.

It was a moment. It was his moment. And the former Plainedge High School standout was going to revel in it.

Because he had sacrificed so much for it.

“It’s very satisfying,” Villari said after carrying Syracuse to a 28-13 win over Pittsburgh Saturday at Yankee Stadium.

Villari, who transferred from Michigan to Syracuse in 2022, set career highs in carries (17), yards (154), and rushing touchdowns (1) in a game in which the Orange rushed 66 times for 382 yards.

According to coach Dino Babers, Syracuse (5-5 overall and 1-5 in the ACC) reconfigured its offense in order to be more physical against Pittsburgh (2-8, 2-5).  

It may have also had something to do with an undisclosed injury to starting quarterback Garrett Shrader suffered in the Virginia Tech game last Thursday.

So Babers and the coaching staff implemented a ground-and-pound attack. 

Syracuse only attempted eight passes, completing four for 17 yards and a score.

Shrader, who did play, was 1-for-2 and connected with tight end Maximilian Mang for a 5-yard TD pass to open the scoring. Villari, to go along with his career rushing performance, was 3-for-5 passing for 12 yards. 

And the irony was not lost on Babers, who asked him to change positions from quarterback to tight end once arriving at Syracuse.

“Dan came here as a quarterback,” Babers said. “We looked at him. We evaluated him. And we thought we had some guys that could do some other things and asked him to do something that a lot of quarterbacks don’t do: change the position.”  

Against Pittsburgh, though, Villari routinely set up in the backfield and took direct snaps. 

Such as the one that for all intents and purposes put the game out of reach 41 seconds into the fourth quarter. Villari took the snap, burst up the middle and sprinted 27 yards into the end zone virtually untouched to stretch Syracuse’s lead to 28-13. 

“I’m used to running the ball [in the] Wildcat [offense],” said Villari, who noted he had 75 family members and friends in attendance for the game. “I was confident.”

So, too, were the Orange, according to Babers, even though they trailed 13-7 at halftime.

Their collective belief paid off with two touchdowns in the third quarter.

Syracuse took a 14-13 lead on Shrader’s 21-yard touchdown run down the right side with 7:31 left in the third. Syracuse’s nine-play drive began at its 48 yard line after Jayden Bellamy recovered Christian Veilleux’s fumble.

Syracuse had a chance to extend its lead, but Pittsburgh stopped Shrader at the 1 yard line on fourth-and-2.

It didn’t matter. Because two plays later, Bellamy picked off Veilleux and returned the interception 23 yards for a touchdown.

“It was a cover-2 call and I was doing my assignment,” Bellamy said. “The opportunity came so I took it and ran with it.”

Ben Sauls’ 35-yard field goal with 1:19 left in the first quarter got the Panthers on the board. They took a 10-7 lead with 2:30 left in the first half on Veilleux’s 10-yard touchdown pass to Konata Mumpfield. Sauls’ 33-yard field goal at the end of the first half extended Pittsburgh’s advantage to 13-7.

The Orange have two games remaining this season — Nov. 18 at Georgia Tech and Nov. 25 against Wake Forest — and need to win just one to become bowl eligible.

Should Syracuse do just that and find itself playing in late December, Villari will have played a vital role for the Orange in their heretofore most important game of the season.