Academic casualty Williams leaves a hole in Syracuse offense

By Darrell Laurant  |   Wednesday, June 04, 2008  |  Comments( 0 )

Syracuse Orange
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Just like that, the lone bright spot in the Syracuse University offense has turned into a black hole.

Monday, the Syracuse Post-Standard reported that junior wide receiver Mike Williams, who scored nearly half of the Orange touchdowns in 2007, had left school because of academic issues.

"Because of privacy laws," head coach Greg Robinson said, "I can't go further than to say that he is no longer enrolled."

A second-team Big East choice last season, the 6-foot-2, 205-pounder out of Buffalo caught 60 passes for 837 yards and 10 touchdowns last season. Taj Smith, who left early for the NFL and signed a free-agent contract with Green Bay, scored five times. Syracuse managed only 24 TDs as a team.

Williams was also working on a string of nine straight games with a touchdown reception, best in the nation, and was considered a mid-level pro draft choice in 2009.

The third and fourth best receivers from 2007, tight end Jawad Nesheiwat and wideout Rice Moss, are gone. Da'Mon Merkerson, the No. 5 pass catcher, has been moved to safety. The top returning wide receivers, now that Smith and Williams are gone, are LaVar Lobdell (eight catches, 86 yards) and Dan Sheeran (four for 24).

Considering that the running game averaged 2.0 yards per rush in 2007, this is not encouraging. Without Williams and Smith to stretch the field, opposing defenses should be able to stack the line even more.

Lobdell was highly regarded out of high school but has been a disappointment so far. The Orange did recruit a trio of potentially productive wideouts in Trey Fairchild, Deandre Preaster and Marcus Sales, but their learning curve will be stiff.

Robinson couldn't say whether there was any chance that Williams could make himself reappear by the fall.

Ironically, the school announced on the same day that the home game with Penn State on Sept. 13 will be televised on ABC.

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