Steve Ishmael climbed into the air to snatch the ball over the head of Pittsburgh’s Avonte Maddox, whose momentum carried him out of bounds along the sideline. With extra space in front, the 6-foot-2 Ishmael ran away from the 5-foot-9 Maddox and toward the middle of the field.

After the 40-yard gain that gave Syracuse the ball on Pitt’s 10-yard line, Ishmael spun the ball when he got up and high-fived a teammate following the longest catch of his career day.

“Just trying to get as many yards as possible,” Ishmael said of that catch. “The ball was up in the air, I had to jump at the highest point.”

It propelled a drive that featured him three times and ended on a 4-yard quick slant with 26 seconds left in the first half for his fourth touchdown of the season. Ishmael finished with seven receptions and 114 yards, topping his previous career highs of six catches and 97 yards, which both came in last year’s matchup with the Panthers.

Despite Ishmael’s performance, Syracuse (3-4, 1-2 Atlantic Coast) lost, 23-20, to No. 25 Pittsburgh (6-1, 4-0) on Saturday afternoon in the Carrier Dome. In the past four games, Ishmael has racked up 20 catches and three touchdowns in the best stretch of his one-and-a-half-year-old college career.

“He’s a baller,” quarterback Eric Dungey said. “He’ll go up and get a ball.”

Early in the second quarter, Syracuse faced a third-and-12 on Pitt’s 35-yard line. Guarded by Maddox, Ishmael ran straight down the left sideline. Maddox pushed him down around the 10-yard line and was flagged for pass interference, a 15-yard penalty.

Ishmael turned around and trotted back to the huddle as Maddox stared at the referee along the sideline.

The play — one that won’t show up in Ishmael’s stats — gave the Orange an automatic first down and kept alive a drive that resulted in a field goal.

“There were opportunities against this defense that we thought we could take advantage of,” SU head coach Scott Shafer said, “and Stevie did a nice job coming up strong.”

The Panthers often played their safeties inside the hash marks, so when Ishmael had one-on-one coverage on the outside, they couldn’t get to the sideline quick enough. With the 5-inch height advantage that Ishmael had over Maddox, the matchup was a favorable one.

But with about 10 minutes left in the game and trailing by three, Ishmael had one bad play in a game filled with positive ones. On second-and-7 from Pitt’s 27-yard line, he dropped a pass over the middle of the field. SU only gained 5 yards on third down and kicked a field goal on fourth. The drive stalled in the red zone and gave Pittsburgh the chance to win with a field goal of its own.

“For as many as he caught, it’s going to happen,” offensive coordinator Tim Lester said of Ishmael’s drop.

At the start of the season, Ishmael was expected to be a key player for the Orange’s offense. In the seventh game of the season, he finally broke out.

And though Pitt won on a last-second field goal, it may not have been that close, that late, if not for Ishmael.

“I’m confident every week,” he said. “… We didn’t pull it out so the stats and everything don’t matter.”

Published on October 24, 2015 at 5:47 pm

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