Even Rutgers fans have to feel bad for Syracuse right now.

Add two more to the Orange’s season-over roll. Junior offensive tackle Jonathan Meldrum and senior defensive tackle Arthur Jones both tore the lateral meniscus in their left knees during Saturday’s loss to Pittsburgh. Both need surgery, both are done for the year and I think even Doug Marrone doesn’t want to bother with the math anymore. The first-year head coach said he had 55 scholarship players with him at Pittsburgh, Sunday he found out he lost two players to injury, Monday morning he decided to lift the suspensions of three others, and then later in the day, he found out he’d lost another two, to another two injuries.

His best offensive player (Mike Williams) quit on him last week, instead of facing a suspension. His best defensive player (Arthur Jones) is done, without getting that Big East win he so desperately wanted. He came to a team short on talent and depth, he’s had to work constantly to repair or re-forge relationships Greg Robinson never cared about and… the New Orleans Saints are undefeated.

Lest anyone forget, this time last year, Marrone was patrolling the Saints’ sideline. He was in his third year as offensive coordinator, he set up what’s been one of the NFL’s most explosive offenses (his 2007 group set an NFL record for completions and team records for passing first downs, passing touchdowns and passing completion percentage, and it led the league in fewest sacks allowed) and if he ever had a headache, it didn’t pound like these do.

Obviously Marrone’s wife would ask him, as the Saints were closing out their eighth win over the Panthers Sunday, if he missed New Orleans much.

“I really thought about that yesterday for a moment,” he said to the reporters on the Big East coaches’ teleconference, explaining that he had this very conversation with his wife. Repeating what he told his wife, he said, “You know what? I’m so thrilled for them and so happy for their success and knowing that somewhere along the line I was a part of that team. But I said (to my wife), ‘You know what? If I was at the Saints right now, I would wish that I was here.’ I can’t ask for anything more than that. This is exactly where I want to be.”

I can only hope, for his sake, it doesn’t take too long for that to start sounding believable.