Big East lauds SU’s Krautman
When preseason camp began, Ross Krautman was trying to find his place within the Syracuse football program. Ten games into his freshman season, the walk-on is the one who secured the Orange’s first winning season since 2001.
Krautman was named the Big East’s Special Teams Player of the Week Monday after his game-winning field goal against Rutgers sealed up Saturday’s victory. Krautman converted the 24-yarder with 1:07 left to play, giving SU a 13-10 victory and allowing the Orange to become bowl eligible for the first time since 2004.
This marks the fourth time in a row Krautman has been named to the Big East honor roll.
‘We expect that from Ross,’ Syracuse head coach Doug Marrone said after the win Saturday. ‘He has been playing that way all year, so I don’t even think about that. He has been doing it for us all year, credit to him, he has been doing a nice job.’
Against the Scarlet Knights, Krautman nailed two field goals, including a career-long 48-yarder in the third quarter. He has converted on 15-of-16 field goals on the year and has made 13 straight dating back to Sept. 11 against Washington.
Krautman is the most accurate kicker in the Big East and third in the country among those with at least 14 attempts, converting at an impressive 93.8 percent clip. He’s also converted on 26-of-27 extra point attempts.
With two regular season games left to play, there’s no longer any question about Krautman’s place on the team. Both he and senior punter Rob Long appear to have a good chance of earning first-team all-conference honors at season’s end.
And going back to Saturday’s game-winner, Krautman is quickly becoming Syracuse’s clutch performer.
‘I just went up to him and told him, ‘You have done a great job all year, and we are going to treat this one like any other field goal, like we do in practice every day,” Long said Saturday.
Syracuse goes undefeated on the road in Big East play
When Syracuse put the finishing touches on Rutgers Saturday, it secured its first winning season since 2001 and became bowl eligible for the first time since 2004. The Orange can now chalk up the best season it has ever had on the road in the Big East.
With its regular season road schedule completed, the Orange secured itself an undefeated Big East slate when playing away with wins at South Florida, West Virginia, Cincinnati and Rutgers. SU had gone undefeated on the road in the conference three times previously (1996, 1992, 1991), but this season marked the first time SU has gone 4-0 on the road in the conference.
Marrone said that record is a representation of the character of the 2010 team at his weekly press conference Monday.
‘I’ve said it all along, I loved this team from the beginning,’ he said. ‘This team is a team of high character and high core values, and I’ve talked about that before.’
Largely due to that road record in the conference, Syracuse is still inthe running to win the conference and capture a BCS bowl bid. That’s something the Orange hasn’t been able to do since 1998.
Part of the difference, players say, is the change in culture Marrone has brought to the program. Players and coaches are communicating, and there is a sense of togetherness that hasn’t been around in awhile.
‘We have players that are all looking the same direction, are all on the same page,’ senior center Ryan Bartholomew said. ‘Previously I couldn’t always say that. But now I can.’
SU’s final two regular season games will be inside the Carrier Dome, where the Orange is 0-2 in conference games. With games against Connecticut and Boston College looming, the seniors see this as an opportunity to not only increase Syracuse’s win total but also go out strong.
‘We’re just trying to go out on top,’ Bartholomew said. ‘For us seniors, it’s our last time playing in the Dome, and we’re going to go out and do our best to win these two games.’
— Asst. Sports Editor Tony Olivero contributed reporting to this article.
