Delone Carter was having flashbacks to last season. In spite of everything new surrounding Syracuse’s football program – coaching staff, mentality, expectations – the first half of Saturday’s spring game was eerily reminiscent of the last four years under former head coach Greg Robinson.

In its first three possessions of a red-zone drill, the Orange offense sputtered to three total points and set the tone for the afternoon. Penalties, dropped passes and sacks plagued the green uniforms during a brutal segment of offensive ineptitude. New head coach Doug Marrone looked on from midfield visibly upset. Carter, SU’s starting tailback, said the team was ‘shooting itself in the foot.’

After the third series, which ended with a stop inside the 1-yard line, Carter decided he needed to remind everyone that things are supposed to be different now. He tapped wide receiver Mike Williams, huddled his teammates around them on the sideline and sent a message with a subtext running deeper than just converting in the red zone.

”We can’t go back to our old ways,” Carter recalled saying to the group. ‘We have to come up out of this, stay positive, encourage the man next to you and come out of this strong.’

After Carter and Williams addressed the offense on the sideline, the red-zone play improved. The fourth possession of the drill ended with a 7-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Ryan Nassib to Williams. On the final play before halftime, Carter caught a short pass from backup quarterback Cameron Dantley and scooted into the end zone.

But the first three possessions resonated during the postgame interview session. When asked what he said to his team during halftime, instead of answering, Marrone just repeated one word: ‘bleep.’ The players acknowledged there is still a ways to go before the season-opener against Minnesota Sep. 5.

‘We have this mentality that every time we get it inside the 20, we gotta score,’ Nassib said. ‘It’s obvious (Marrone) was getting upset when we weren’t scoring, because that’s what we need to do. We can’t afford to kick field goals all the time.’

The first possession ended when two dropped passes, a false start penalty and a sack by Chandler Jones forced the offense out of field-goal range.

On the next try, kicker Austin Wallis managed to convert on a 35-yard field goal that barely cleared the crossbar and was partially blocked. Finally, backup tailback Averin Collier was stuffed inches from the goal line on fourth down, causing the red uniforms to burst in celebration and rush back to the sideline.

It was a fitting end to a frustrating stretch.

‘That’s unacceptable of what we do in the red zone from the standpoint offensively,’ Marrone said. ‘It’s almost at times we’re trying not to score by moving back with penalties, dropped footballs and those types of miscues.’

Play of the day

The highlight of Saturday’s scrimmage came from one of the most unlikely sources. Defensive end Zary Stewart, who did not play a single snap last season, returned a fumble 75 yards for a touchdown.

The turnover came in a short-yardage drill, in which the offense was practicing converting on 4th-and-1. Tight end Cody Catalina caught a pass for a first down, but linebacker Parker Cantey stripped the ball. Stewart picked it up on a bounce and ran the rest of the way.

‘Good for the defense. Poor job for the offense,’ Marrone said. ‘Stop them. It’s poor that we’ve turned the ball over, but let’s stop them and let’s make them play offense again and earn this touchdown.’

When Stewart reached the end zone, the entire defense erupted from the bench and mobbed him in the corner of the Carrier Dome field near the bleachers. Apparently, the celebration was on the coaches’ order.

‘We had to celebrate,’ Jones said. ‘Coach said, ‘If we got a defensive touchdown, I want the whole defense running down to the end zone.”

Kimmel to undergo surgery

Defensive end Jared Kimmel will undergo surgery on his left knee next week, according to a release by SU Athletics. There is no timetable for his return, and further details will be announced as progress warrants.

In a statement, Syracuse’s assistant athletic director for sports medicine Tim Neal said Kimmel reported discomfort and swelling in his knee after practice Wednesday. It is the same knee he had surgically reconstructed in 2007. An MRI Thursday revealed a tear of his medial meniscus.

jediamon@syr.edu

Published on April 19, 2009 at 12:00 pm