‘New Beginning’ for SU
As Syracuse’s football players strolled through the Iocolano-Petty Football Wing, orange flyers met them at every turn.
The signs bore a simple message — Discipline Yourselves, and No One Else Will Have To.
For a few weeks, an avalanche of losses buried the message. But as the Orangemen prepare to travel to Central Florida for tomorrow’s 7 p.m. game at the Florida Citrus Bowl, the mantra is back.
“If you can’t do it and need someone else to egg you on,” offensive guard Erik Kaloyanides said, “it just doesn’t give me a whole lot of confidence in what’s going to happen. We really take that saying to heart.”
Syracuse (2-6, 1-3 Big East) gained a measure of confidence with last Saturday’s 45-14 win over Rutgers. The SU defense, which sacked three Scarlet Knights’ quarterbacks eight times, is starting to resemble last year’s dominant unit.
“Now the ‘new beginning,’ has taken place,” Kaloyanides said. “We can turn this thing around. You can kind of stir some things up in the Big East by ending on a positive note.”
The SU secondary was the source of accountability questions, when, after a 34-7 loss at West Virginia on Oct. 19, cornerback Will Hunter questioned his teammates’ heart.
At Central Florida (3-4, 2-2 Mid-American) this weekend, the secondary — which has allowed 253.1 passing yards per game — will look more like what it should’ve all season.
Free safety Maurice McClain returned from a broken left leg last Saturday, relieving the struggling O’Neil Scott. Now, the Orangemen’s all-senior secondary has Keeon Walker at strong safety and Latroy Oliver and Hunter at cornerbacks.
“The confidence (McClain) brought to the kids in the secondary was something we’ve been missing,” defensive coordinator Chris Rippon said.
Still, Rippon admits he’s concerned with Central Florida’s vaunted passing attack, which racks up 293.9 yards a game.
“What’s surprising is that they’re not getting the number of points you’d expect them to get with the number of yards they have,” he said. “That’s the scary part — they can explode.”
The Golden Knights’ spread offense is led by quarterback Ryan Schneider (16 touchdowns and 286 passing yards a game), along with wide receivers Doug Gabriel and Jimmy Fryzel (642 and 473 yards, respectively).
In last year’s 21-10 SU win at the Carrier Dome, the Orangemen hit Schneider 24 times, by Rippon’s count, and knocked him out of the game with an ankle injury.
“Ryan Schneider is the toughest quarterback we’ll face — bar none,” Rippon said. “He makes plays because he’s got the guts to stay in the pocket.”
Schneider did that last year against SU, throwing for 140 yards in a game in which many of his teammates left with cramps and sought intravenous fluids afterward.
“We owe them from last time,” Central Florida head coach Mike Kruczek said. “We wilted a lot in the fourth quarter. They just mowed over us.”
But in the first half of that game, SU quarterback Troy Nunes gave the Golden Knights plenty of chances. Nunes threw an interception before halftime, and Central Florida converted the turnover for a touchdown to go up, 10-7, at halftime.
R.J. Anderson took over in the second half and led SU to the win.
Nunes will face the Golden Knights again this weekend. He took over for Anderson as starter last week, throwing for 117 yards in the win over Rutgers.
Against the Scarlet Knights, after weeks of shrugging shoulders and shaking heads, the Orangemen’s old accountability message returned.
“(When we started 1-6), everyone had a little sense of embarrassment,” tight end Joe Donnelly said. “It got to the point where everyone said, ‘This is ridiculous, let’s put it upon ourselves.’ ”
