The quarterbacks walked into the cafeteria at the Syracuse football complex about 10 minutes apart Tuesday. Cameron Dantley came in to face the media first, then Andrew Robinson. Starter first, backup second.

Syracuse head coach Greg Robinson confirmed as much Tuesday. Robinson said Dantley will start, two days after Robinson said he would use both quarterbacks in Saturday’s game against Connecticut (6-3, 2-2 Big East) at 7 p.m. in the Carrier Dome. Robinson reiterated that each will play. Saturday will be Senior Day for the Orange (2-7, 1-4 Big East).

Robinson played coy Tuesday – ‘I have considered it,’ he said. ‘There is that possibility.’ But the coaching staff told each quarterback they would get time.

Robinson had said at his Sunday press conference that both could get in.

‘It’s not something that I’m big on,’ Robinson said. ‘I do think that Andrew deserves a chance to go into a game where he knows he has a chance to possibly go in.’

Dantley and Andrew Robinson both played in Saturday’s 35-17 loss to Rutgers. Neither played well. Dantley went 3-of-12 for 19 yards. He was sacked four times and fumbled. Robinson replaced Dantley after the starter’s ankle was injured. Robinson threw for 12 yards on 2-of-7 passing.

They don’t know how the rotation will work. They know they will play.

For Dantley, Saturday is a chance to solidify himself as a starter. He has completed 52.4 percent of his passes this year and averages 134.9 yards a game. But play bottomed out Saturday against the Scarlet Knights.

‘I just think we struggled, just in terms of offensively, collectively as a whole,’ Dantley said. ‘The passing game obviously didn’t get going at all, so that really made us struggle. We just didn’t seem to ever pick it back up.’

For Robinson, the game against UConn is a chance to reclaim his place. Last year, Robinson threw for 2,192 yards and 13 touchdowns as a sophomore starter. But he struggled all through camp. His mechanics worsened. After an ugly opening-game showing against Northwestern, Robinson was benched and, save for a garbage-time appearance against Penn State, didn’t play again until Saturday.

‘I’ve been on the bench for about two months now, and it’s given me time to really step back and observe things from a different perspective than I’m used to,’ Robinson said. ‘I’ve gotten some value of it. And I think that it can help me going forward from the last three games.’

Of course, the method will be a little different for each. Dantley said he’s grown comfortable as the starter. Robinson wants to get back to where he was last year. The rotation is a whole new world for both.

‘I’ve never been in a two-quarterback system either,’ Greg Robinson said.

Said Dantley, ‘I mean, we don’t hang out all the time, but in terms of on the field, just how we watch film together and how we talk, we have a good rapport, really.’

Delone still waiting

After a devastating hip injury in 2007, Delone Carter waited more than a year to get back on the field. After a nagging hamstring pull this season, Carter waited more than a month to get healthy.

But now that he’s full strength, he’s still waiting. Carter has been healthy the past two games. He has not played a down.

‘It’s hard for me not to have a temper about it,’ Carter said.

Carter rushed for 139 yards on 21 carries before he got hurt. He averaged 6.6 yards a carry.

But Curtis Brinkley has wrecked the predicted running back rotation, rushing for 966 yards this year. Both freshman Antwon Bailey and sophomore Doug Hogue have gotten time in Carter’s place.

ramccull@syr.edu

 

Published on November 11, 2008 at 12:00 pm