After a game like Saturday’s, most players say they just need to move on. Focus on next week’s opponent. Just one of those games they need to forget.

But R.J. Anderson forgot about more than just the game. What he forgot, no one can be sure.

Maybe he forgot what position he plays. Or maybe which game he just finished. Or which team he played for. Either way, judging by Anderson’s postgame comments, he surely missed something.

‘I don’t think I played all that bad,’ Anderson said. ‘Look at the stats yourself and decide.’

OK. Why don’t we. Anderson completed 8 of 17 passes for no touchdowns, two interceptions and 49 yards. He constantly overthrew or underthrew receivers. His longest completion came on a dumpoff to sophomore Rashard ‘Shorty’ Williams, who proceeded to run for most of the 16 yards the play produced.

Then again, maybe 49 yards isn’t all that bad. I mean, Kris Wilson had 49 yards, too, and he’s Pittsburgh’s tight end.

Between six punts, Andy Lee averaged 49.5 yards, and he’s considered one of the best punters in the game.

Anderson did gain 83 total yards, mind you, including his 34 rushing yards. That pushes him past Pitt’s No. 2 receiver, Princell Brockenbrough, who managed 64 yards receiving. Still, even with the rushing yards, Anderson fell short of Pitt’s No. 1 receiver Larry Fitzgerald’s 149 yards. But hey, he’s a Heisman contender, so you can’t expect Anderson to compete with that, right?

Eighty-three total yards is not a bad game after all.

Oh, wait. That’s right. Anderson’s a quarterback. Not a backup running back, for whom those stats would be acceptable.

So after a flurry of incompletions, relentless pressure and heavy hits, Anderson must have been confused.

‘I mean, 49 yards passing,’ Anderson said. ‘I can’t do anything about that. We just didn’t execute.’

Anderson can’t do anything about that? Really? (ITALICS)Nothing?(ITALICS) He is, after all, the quarterback. Although, considering how he’s apparently forgotten more than just this game, he may have looked at his stat line and thought he was Tim Washington, the backup to starting running back Walter Reyes. Because then Anderson’s stats – 16 rushing attempts, 34 yards, one touchdown – would be pretty good.

All year head coach Paul Pasqualoni preached about how Anderson made the right decisions and took the right chances.

Saturday, for the first time, that was clearly not the case. With 4:30 left in the first half, Anderson optioned left and, as defenders prepared to wrap the senior up, negligently pitched to running back Walter Reyes. The ball hit the ground, and Pitt linebacker Bernard Lay picked it up and scampered into the end zone, giving Pitt a 21-14 lead.

On SU’s next play from scrimmage, Pitt defensive back Shawntae Spencer broke Anderson’s remarkable string of 178 passes without an interception. Anderson rolled to his right and lobbed a 35-yard pass off his back foot into double coverage for wide receiver Johnnie Morant. Quite a way to break his streak. He couldn’t have done more wrong on that play.

To be fair, Pitt pressured Anderson as hard as any team this year. However, Anderson’s two turnovers weren’t a result of Pitt’s pressure. Anderson mistakenly tried too hard to make a play – something that handcuffed him in 2002 – and the Panthers capitalized on Anderson’s offering.

Of course, we should’ve expected something like this. All year Anderson has pogo-sticked from game-to-game. He has either shined or flopped.

He dominated – 20 of 27 passing, 288 yards total offense – against the Boston College Double Agents on Oct. 18. Then he had a break-your-TV-type effort – 8 of 23, 91 yards passing – against Virginia Tech.

We thought Syracuse might have regained Anderson 2001 after last week’s showing. Instead, Anderson only teased us with the performance, raising hopes of Syracuse fans everywhere that a 9-3 season was a legitimate possibility.

Coming into Saturday’s game, SU just needed to beat Pitt, Notre Dame and West Virginia – as well as Big East bottomfeeders Temple and Rutgers – and the Orangemen could’ve pulled a 9-3 rabbit out of their hats.

However, if Anderson plays as he did Saturday, wins against WVU and Notre Dame are unlikely. With gimmies against Temple and Rutgers, SU is looking at 6-6, more reflective of SU’s true skill level.

‘It wasn’t anything technical, wasn’t anything emotional,’ Anderson said. ‘We just didn’t play.’

More specifically, Anderson didn’t play. He failed to live up to his 62.2 completion percentage and Big East co-Offensive Player of the Week honors entering the game.

Now, Syracuse has an off-week before hosting Temple – which is more like having back-to-back bye weeks.

In that time, for Syracuse’s sake, Anderson must realize that 49 yards passing won’t suffice.

Scott Lieber is an assistant sports editor at The Daily Orange, where his columns appear regularly. E-mail him at smlieber@syr.edu.

Published on October 26, 2003 at 12:00 pm