Orange had red faces in ‘05

By Darrell Laurant  |   Monday, March 27, 2006  |  Comments( 0 )

Syracuse Orange
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Last year at this time, optimism was blooming like spring flowers around the Syracuse Orange football program.

There was no question that changes had to be made after the 2004 season. The team had settled into mediocrity under Paul Pasqualoni, and a 51-14 loss to Georgia Tech in the Champs Sports Bowl provided an even more public embarrassment.

Thus, out went Pasqualoni and in came Texas defensive coordinator Greg Robinson, who promised an "extreme makeover."

Have you ever watched that show "Extreme Makeover, Home Edition"? If so, imagine that the new house has been built, the crowd has gathered, and the lucky homeowners are brought in by limousine to marvel over the results. They step out of the limo, take one look at their dream castle ... and it collapses in a pile of rubble. That's what happened in Syracuse last year.

After a 1-10 season that was arguably the worst in school history, Pasqualoni's brand of mediocrity was starting to look pretty good.

One mistake Robinson probably won't make this year is to express undue hopefulness. Last year during spring practice, he told reporters that there was a lot more talent on hand than he had expected.

If that was the case, those 10 teams that beat Syracuse must have been great. And now Buffalo -- the only 2005 victory -- is off the schedule.

With most programs, it would be good news to have both quarterbacks returning. Syracuse fans aren't so sure. Last year, starter Perry Patterson completed 47.6 percent of his passes and threw just six touchdown passes. Backup Joe Fields' completion percentage was 32.1.

Moreover, Orange followers have been through the "two-headed quarterback" scenario before, back when Pasqualoni shuffled R.J. Anderson and Troy Nunes in and out with bewildering irregularity.

How bad was the 2005 offense? Syracuse was outscored 295-152 and outgained 4,100-2,831. Offensive line coach Bob Wylie accepted a big chunk of the responsibility for that disaster, noting before spring practice began: "I've got to go back to teaching everything as if they know absolutely nothing at all, and see how much better we can get doing it that way."

Last year, he added somewhat plaintively in an interview with the Syracuse Post-Standard: "I thought they knew what I was talking about."

So, can the Syracuse Orange be better in '06? Well, 1-10 isn't exactly a tough act to follow. There is a new offensive coordinator, Brian White, who had a good track record at Wisconsin. He should be smart, too, having graduated from Harvard.

Major Applewhite departed as quarterbacks coach, to be replaced by Phil Early. The bad news is, this will represent the third set of coaches Patterson and Fields have worked with in as many years.

Kareem Jones returns as the starting running back after a season in which he averaged 2.6 yards a carry as Damien Rhodes' backup. Of course, when the opposing team puts nine men in the box, as often happened last season, LaDainian Tomlinson would have been hard-pressed to do much better. The fact that Rhodes gained 900 yards should have earned him a Heisman.

All three of the leading wide receivers got hurt early last year, a partial explanation for the lack of a passing game. That trio (Rice Moss, J.J. Bedle and Levar Lobdell) is now healthy, and junior college transfer Taj Smith adds some much-needed speed. The line is -- if nothing else -- big, anchored by 321-pound Carroll Madison and 330-pound Eugene Newsome.

On defense, Syracuse returns its top two tacklers from last season, middle linebacker Kelvin Smith and DB Dowayne Davis. And under Robinson, who is an acknowledged defensive wizard, that unit actually wasn't that bad. Most games, the Syracuse "D" simply wilted from exhaustion after a long series of four-and-outs by the offense.

This spring, though, the flowers of optimism have yet to bloom. As folks in upstate New York have learned the hard way, it's never too late for a killing frost.
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