You won’t recognize Luther Green on Saturday.

Granted, you probably don’t know Luther Green from Luther Vandross.

But to differentiate between Green and his Rhode Island football teammates, you’ll have to buy a program for Saturday’s 3:30 p.m. game against Syracuse at the Carrier Dome.

That’s because the Rams don’t have names on the backs of their jerseys, and they haven’t for four years.

“We try to make people remember us by what we do on the field,” said Green, a running back, “not by the names on our jerseys.”

The Rams, a Division I-AA team, also stand out because of their triple-option offense. The Orangemen haven’t faced an option team since Army in 1996, SU head coach Paul Pasqualoni said.

“We have always had tremendous respect and concern for that style of offense,” Pasqualoni said, “and understand you can’t fool around with it. We don’t want to play Rhode Island’s kind of game, where they’re able to hold onto the ball and move the chains.”

Freshman quarterback Jayson Davis, who has 170 rushing yards, leads the Rams’ attack, which relies on three running backs.

Rhode Island is the first I-AA team the Orangemen have faced since 1987. Three tell-tale signs of URI’s small-time nature: The Rams beat up on Division II Bryant, 28-0, in their opener. They got crushed last week by I-AA’s Hofstra, 37-19. And to get to SU for Saturday’s game, the team will endure a six-hour bus ride.

“Yeah, but we have three buses,” Green said, “so it should be pretty comfortable.”

So should SU’s defensive backfield. Rhode Island’s leading receiver, Curtis Horne, has just seven catches.

The Syracuse secondary, which got torched for 284 passing yards last week against North Carolina, will replace Latroy Oliver at left cornerback with redshirt freshman Steve Gregory.

The defensive backs have had trouble jelling. With O’Neil Scott moving to safety this year, the cornerbacks are still working on intra-unit communication.

“We have a young guy in O’Neil Scott, and sometimes we have to work with him,” Oliver said. “(As cornerbacks), we have to be more reliant on ourselves.”

The Orangemen will likely have to count more on younger players on the defensive line, too. Defensive end Josh Thomas is doubtful with torn muscles in his left foot, and nose tackle Christian Ferrara just began coming back this week from a knee injury.

Ryan LaCasse and Brian Hooper, who both played last week, will likely step in.

“(LaCasse) did an excellent job spying on the quarterback (last week),” Pasqualoni said.

On offense, SU quarterback R.J. Anderson will try to spark his dormant passing game, one that’s produced just 12 completions, 199 yards and no touchdowns.

Damien Rhodes and Walter Reyes — who are 1-2 in SU’s rushing statistics with 145 and 144 yards, respectively — will likely split carries.

Largely because of their inability to produce on third down, the Orangemen are 0-2 for the second straight year. And with a bye week next week, a loss to a I-AA team would be devastating.

“We need to have a good week,” Pasqualoni said, “to get this thing going.”

“We can’t look past (URI),” Oliver said, “because we’re 0-2. We’re going to be really focused for this game.”

Green and the Rams are simply approaching the game as a chance to “execute plays.”

Per habit, Green will bring his Bible and discman with him when he boards the charter bus this morning.

He might need the former because nobody thinks URI has a prayer.

“A lot of people don’t think we really have a chance,” he said. “We’re not going to come out timid.”

Published on September 12, 2002 at 12:00 pm