For many Syracuse football fans, Saturday’s annual Spring Game was the first extended chance to see the new head coach.

They saw him at halftime of a men’s basketball game. They watched him on television ads urging them to buy season tickets.

But the place fans really wanted to see Greg Robinson was on the sideline. They finally got their wish Saturday when Robinson roamed the Carrier Dome sidelines. The SU offense played the defense in a scrimmage with the defense dictating play and winning, 34-30, under a modified scoring system.

Syracuse’s play didn’t keep many of the 6,029 fans in attendance after the game. The coach did.

‘I am just proud to be here and be a part of this thing,’ Robinson said. ‘I can see with the community and the school working together, it is powerful stuff.’

As reporters asked Robinson questions in the end zone after the game, fans kept moving closer. A small circle of security guards kept most of the people away but it didn’t stop the fans from trying. They all just wanted to shake Robinson’s hand and give him a few words of encouragement.

‘We really did appreciate the crowd out here today and the support we have had all spring,’ Robinson said. ‘We are going to keep working and I promise you that we are going to have a heck of a football team come this fall.’

Robinson wasted no time showing fans how vastly different he is from his predecessor, Paul Pasqualoni.

A staff member handed Robinson a microphone before the game and urged him to use it once and a while. He spoke to the crowd before the game and then forgot about it until the end.

After an offensive penalty negated a Matt Hale touchdown pass late in the second half of the scrimmage, Robinson declined the penalty and pulled out the microphone.

‘We don’t want the penalty there,’ Robinson shouted.

A moment later, he announced his intentions for an onside kick. It didn’t matter that kickoffs only included two return men and no blockers. Robinson still wanted an onside kick to spice things up. When the two return men then moved closer to field the try, Robinson moved them right back.

After Hale connected a long touchdown pass to pull the Orange offense within three points, Robinson announced a change to the crowd – the two point conversion would become a three-point try.

‘They handed me that thing before the game and I said, ‘what the heck,” Robinson said. ‘I threw a little something in there. I forgot about it for a while. I probably didn’t even use it as much as I should have.’

It didn’t really matter that Robinson’s offense flat-lined for most of the afternoon. Syracuse’s two quarterbacks, junior Perry Patterson and sophomore Joe Fields, managed just one touchdown and two field goal drives between 16 combined possessions.

Robinson didn’t dwell on his dominating defense or sub-par offense. He’ll let the coaching staff and players analyze the film. Preseason camp in August will provide an additional chance to evaluate new players and implement a game plan, beginning with West Virginia on Sept. 4.

Robinson instead spoke about the future and how his team needs to work this summer to be competitive next fall.

‘We’re progressing. We’ve got to keep working,’ Robinson said. ‘The summer months are the most important because that’s where football teams can make a jump on other football teams. Coaches can’t coach, but it’s all about the leadership ability of the football team working together and making progress.’

Robinson listed a slew of requirements for the summer:

‘They’ve got to lift. They’ve got to run. They’ve got to study. They’ve got to go out and throw at night. They’ve got to work together, the offensive line and the defensive line,’ Robinson said. ‘They’ve got to do it and that’s the exciting thing.’

As Robinson called for Syracuse’s leadership to assert itself, Patterson described his plans for the summer, eerily in sync with Robinson’s cry.

‘Getting everybody together, keeping everybody close,’ Patterson said. ‘Making sure everyone stays up during the summer working out and working on the things we need to work on.’

Patterson said it’s expected the team’s quarterbacks take charge and lead the team this summer. Robinson hopes that’s exactly what happens. He’ll focus on recruiting in the immediate future, attempting to fuse new talent into the program.

The players will have to take charge and continue the momentum that Robinson started. The fans in the Carrier Dome on Saturday saw a little bit of that excitement.

‘I hope (the fans) see coach Robinson’s energy and how it rubs off on us,’ Fields said. ‘I hope they see the energy and the effort that we are putting out in both quarters.

‘Right now we feel like we can beat everybody on our schedule. And our coaching staff has not even coached one game. Right now we are just trying to show the effort and keep getting better.’

Published on April 24, 2005 at 12:00 pm