For the past eighteen years, college football rivals Syracuse and Penn State have not faced each other on the gridiron. On Saturday, the two teams will finally meet on the field again, and if the Oranges want to win, they either need a miracle – or, a new head coach.

You see – the current Syracuse head coach, Greg Robinson, pales in comparison to Penn State’s Joe Paterno, who is a veritable coaching god amongst mere mortals.

Since taking command of the Oranges, Robinson has coached thirty-seven games and lost thirty of them, but for some reason, SU’s athletics director, Daryl Gross, refuses to fire him.

Luckily for Gross, Scott Pitoniak, a reporter for the Democrat and Chronicle, has already mapped out the proper course of action:

In an attempt to show the apathetic citizens of Orange Nation he's truly serious about reviving the 14th winningest program in college football history, Gross needs to be decisive.

 

Barring a miracle upset Saturday, he should fire Robinson, and replace him with offensive coordinator Mitch Browning for the remainder of the season.

 

Then, he should seriously investigate the possibility of luring East Carolina's Skip Holtz, Boise State's Chris Peterson or Buffalo's Turner Gill to SU for the 2009 season.

Each of these three candidates would be a perfect replacement for Robinson. (Still not better than JoePa, though.)

If by some unholy miracle SU should defeat PSU on Saturday, however, expect Gross to keep Robinson for a bit longer. But, considering Penn State is favored to win by about four touchdowns, don’t count on it.