During Syracuse football media day in August, first-year head coach Greg Robinson refused to predict a number of wins and losses for his team. Instead, Robinson said he wanted Syracuse to improve every day with the intent of winning as many games as possible.

Six games into the 2005 season, Syracuse is struggling to do either. After splitting its first two games, the Orange has lost four straight and is playing progressively worse.

Most SU fans expected a rebuilding season with a new offense, defense and coaching staff, but they also figured the team would improve. A winning season and a bowl game are nearly impossible now, so Robinson and his staff should continue focusing on what he’s stressed from day one: improvement.

All the Orange can do is throw out the dismal 1-5 record, insert a few younger players and hope the final five games provide a glimmer of hope for the future.

As SU moves to the second half of the season, here is a graded, position-by-position breakdown of SU’s first-half struggles.Quarterback

To say the SU offense has struggled would be an understatement. The unit has produced just 16 points in the previous two games and is averaging a little more than 12 points a game in SU’s five losses. Syracuse ranks 112th out of 117 Division-IA football teams in total offense. Only Utah St., Buffalo, Temple, Duke and North Texas are worse.

Leading the rickety ship is junior Perry Patterson, who’s struggled making the necessary field reads in the West Coast offense. Patterson locks onto his first receiving option too long and doesn’t scan the field. He’ll throw a great pass down the field one play and then overthrow a 10-yard route the next. After improving through much of last season, SU fans expected Patterson to do the same this season. He’s failed to do that.

Patterson needs to efficiently manage the offense and provide some semblance of a passing game. Since backup quarterback Joe Fields has struggled in his few possessions, Patterson will continue to get most of the playing time. Unless Patterson improves, Syracuse could start next fall with freshman quarterback Andrew Robinson on the field.

Grade: D

Running back

It’s hard to evaluate this part of the offense because Syracuse routinely faces defenses that crowd the offensive line, daring the Orange to pass. Until SU establishes a passing threat, starting tailback Damien Rhodes will see the same stacked defenses.

Rhodes’ numbers look good, with 559 yards on 125 carries and 5 TDs. They’re a bit deceiving, though, because 240 yards came against Buffalo. Take out his one stellar game against the Bulls and the senior is averaging just 3.28 yards per carry.

Grade: C

Wide receiver

Too many injuries, too many dropped balls, too much blah.

Injuries to Landel Bembo and Lavar Lobdell hurt and so far it’s been too much to overcome. Tim Lane has developed well and recently made a nice diving catch along the sideline against Rutgers. He leads the team with 18 receptions for 218 yards, but needs to improve on making the routine catch.

Freshman Nick Chestnut has provided speed since switching to offense from the secondary but he’s struggled making routine catches. Maybe freshman Bruce Williams emerges in the final five games.

Grade: F

Tight end

Joe Kowalewski looked like the answer to Syracuse’s receiving plight after a stellar seven-catch performance against Virginia. Then he injured his shoulder and sat out two games.

In his return against Rutgers, Kowalewski managed just one catch; but if Patterson and Kowalewski can manage more games like Virginia, then fans might forget about the problems at receiver. It would also give Patterson a reliable target across the middle of the field.

Grade: C-

Offensive line

The offensive line is a bit mystifying because at least two linemen have a realistic shot at playing in the NFL. Scouts often observe right guard Steve Franklin and right tackle Quinn Ojinnaka during games and one scout said in September that the line, both offensive and defensive, contained the best SU talent.

The results haven’t been as great. There have been too many sacks (21) and too few running lanes. There have also been numerous missed assignments as linemen adapt to more zone-blocking schemes. An injury to starting tackle Kurt Falke has also hurt.

Grade: D

Defensive line

Again, this is where a lot of SU’s defensive talent lies, so fans should expect solid play, too. But SU’s defense continues to give up a lot of rushing yards. Opponents are averaging 168 yards a game on the ground and 4 yards a carry, which places the rushing defense at No. 85 in the country.

Defensive end Ryan LaCasse has gone on an early tear, recording six sacks. Fellow senior James Wyche is third on the team in tackles but has just half a sack, which is not enough of an impact for a speed rusher.

It doesn’t help that the line and the rest of the defense are on the field for so long. As opponents build leads, they are going to rush the ball even more and wear the defense down.

Grade: C+Linebacker

Junior Kelvin Smith leads the defense in tackles with 49, including 4.5 for losses, and Kellen Pruitt is turning in a solid senior season, too. Junior Jerry Mackey is back as a starter after an injury to Tommy Harris and it’ll be interesting to see if the unit improves with Mackey’s return after he led the team in tackling last year.

Much like the play of the defensive line, the linebackers need to do a better job tackling and stopping the running the game to help the entire defense. More turnovers wouldn’t hurt, either, as the linebackers have no interceptions and only one fumble return.

Grade: C

Secondary

Syracuse has only allowed more than 300 yards of passing once (Florida State), which is one of the reasons the secondary is probably the best unit on this team. The secondary is allowing 171 passing yards a game, which ranks No. 15 in the country.

Anthony Smith is quietly turning in a great year with 33 tackles, two sacks, four interceptions and seven deflected passes. Steve Gregory and Tanard Jackson are doing solid jobs at cornerback, and Dowayne Davis has replaced Diamond Ferri quite well. But again, this unit spends far too much time on the field.

Grade: B

Special teams

After Ricky Krautman and Patrick Shadle struggled with place-kicking duties, Robinson went to walk-on freshman John Barker, who, despite missing one kick badly against Rutgers, looks good. Krautman continues to do well on extra points, though he hasn’t had to try one in a while.

Brendan Carney remains one of the best punters in the country and routinely places kickoffs into the endzone. Carney is No. 14 nationwide with a 44-yard punting average.

SU needs to improve its kickoff and punt coverages – which are among the worst in the country statistically – and stress ball security during returns. Kareem Jones is doing a nice job on kickoff returns with nearly a 27-yard average.

The times he’s touched the ball, Curtis Brinkley has shown urgency in kick returns. In fact, he may be a little too urgent in taking the ball out.

Grade: C

Coaching

Grading the installation of an entirely new offense and defense after just five games is a bit silly. Players need more time and the coaching staff needs to recruit better players. Robinson and his staff have a little less than four months remaining in the important recruiting season. It is here that Robinson should be graded on his ability to secure a solid recruiting class. If Syracuse goes 1-10 but lands several top recruits, then this year has been a success.

Grade: Incomplete

Team Grade: D+

Published on October 18, 2005 at 12:00 pm