Mention that Brigham Young running back Marcus Whalen rushed for 140 yards on 19 carries Thursday night and Syracuse free safety O’Neil Scott only shrugs his shoulders.

“He wasn’t spectacular,” Scott said.

Remind him that Whalen, a first-year starter, ripped off a 58-yard, second-quarter scamper that set up a first and goal from the SU 1-yard line and Scott only reinforces his point.

That’s because on that run, when the Orangemen tried multiple times to haul down the 6-foot, 206-pound running back, they tried to do so leading with their shoulders and arms flailing. The Orangemen failed to properly wrap up and drag down Whalen — or any other BYU player for that matter — in yielding 615 yards of total offense in a 42-21 loss.

“We just didn’t execute, didn’t tackle,” Scott said. “(Whalen) wasn’t a phenomenal player or anything like that. We just missed tackles. We had him, but we missed the tackles.”

And with that, Syracuse missed an opportunity to steal an early-season victory. Consider this: Scott contributed to 10 Orangemen tackles. But he appeared in more than 100 plays.

Also, Scott and Will Hunter, the starting safeties, combined for 21 tackles, only one less than the starting linebacker trio of Clifton Smith, Rich Scanlon and Jameel Dumas. Smith, playing healthy for the first time since the 2000 season, recorded seven tackles — only three solo.

For Syracuse, fingering the cause of the problem proved as difficult as making the tackles. Scott, who made his first career start Thursday, pointed to first-game jitters as the leading culprit.

Syracuse recognized the lack of experience at free safety combined with BYU’s complicated offense could cause problems. To help Scott with his play recognition, SU started Hunter, a sixth-year defensive back, instead of Keeon Walker, who continues to nurse a strained left groin.

“(Scott) was a little shocked,” Hunter said. “The game speed was a little too fast for him. What you’ve got to learn is to take a deep breath and do what you do best.”

Syracuse head coach Paul Pasqualoni suggested that an inability to settle down may have been a problem for the entire defense.

The Cougars seemingly lined up with a new formation each play. To confuse the defense, BYU huddled close to the line of scrimmage and snapped the ball quickly. By the time the defense recognized the offensive formation, the Cougars had already snapped the ball.

“We could’ve done a better job of getting in position,” Pasqualoni said. “It’s very hard when you’re out of position, turned the wrong way, against kids who are very athletic. Half the problem was not being where we should’ve been.”

Said Walker, who finished with three tackles: “When you go out there and you try to get the play in, and all of a sudden the ball is snapped, you’re trying to do all of this thinking. But at the same time, the ball-carrier or the running back is coming at you.”

BYU also threw off Syracuse’s defensive rotation. Because of the high altitude, the Orangemen hoped to rotate players in and out frequently. But because the Cougars huddled so quickly, Syracuse could not make the proper substitutions.

That combined with an 10:04 time-of-possession advantage for Brigham Young caused several players, including Scott and Hunter, to play over 100 plays. In the altitude, that leads to cramps — which befell several players, including Smith — and fatigue.

“You have a guy that’s been out there for 50 plays, then there’s another guy who’s been out there for 100. He’s going to be a little bit (slower),” Walker said. “That helped them a little bit. It contributed to a lot of the (missed) tackles.”

The disadvantage became obvious in the fourth quarter. Syracuse held a field-position advantage in each of the first three quarters, but in the fourth, the Orangemen’s average starting field position was their own 29-yard line. The Cougars started on the Syracuse 44.

The result: A 15-0 BYU fourth-quarter advantage and exhausted SU defense.

“We try to get a rotation, so we can get every guy in there for at least a play or two,” Walker said. “At the end of the game, that might be a difference between 60 plays and 45 plays. We’re going to try to do that next week (against North Carolina), so we’ll have guys a little fresher toward the end of the game.”

Published on September 2, 2002 at 12:00 pm