Delone Carter lives in Akron country. His hometown is a short 15-minute drive from campus. The Zips recruited him heavily.

So of course when he returned home after Syracuse’s embarrassing loss to Akron last year, there were plenty of townies just waiting. Insults in tow.

‘I heard a lot about that going home last year,’ said Carter, biting his lip.

This year, Carter will be the one smiling when he returns to Copley, Ohio.

Without wide receiver Mike Williams, Syracuse (3-4, 0-2 Big East) pounded away with Carter early and often to outmuscle Akron, 28-14, in front of 36,991 fans at the Carrier Dome Saturday. The junior running back mashed through the Zips’ defense for a career-high 170 yards on 30 carries with three touchdowns.

Williams was suspended for the game by head coach Doug Marrone, who declined to offer specifics. Marrone said Williams will play next week.

But for one game, this was Carter’s team. Carter – not Williams – was the heartbeat of Syracuse’s offense. The bruising senior gained chunks upon chunks of yardage after the initial contact to set the tempo for Syracuse. As a team, the Orange piled up 234 yards on the ground.

For Carter, this was long overdue. Before Saturday, he had one 20-carry game all season. He had been supplementary. With Williams out, plans changed. Carter got stronger as the game progressed, and the Orange was not victimized by Akron like it was in last year’s 42-28 shocker.

‘It was a chance I’ve been waiting for to put the game on my shoulders and show what I can do,’ Carter said.

The passing game was secondary, mostly a mixed bag of bubble screens and safe rollouts. One game after getting benched, quarterback Greg Paulus completed 12-of-17 passes for 105 yards and a touchdown to receiver Marcus Sales.

Through the six previous games, Syracuse had only run the ball 49 percent of the time. Against the Zips – with Williams M.I.A. – the Orange milked Carter. Syracuse ran 71 percent of the time, sprinkling in a reverse to Donte Davis here and a handoff to Mike Jones there.

At the forefront was Carter. Before Saturday, Carter’s yards-per-carry (then 3.6) ranked dead last among starting Big East running backs. An assumed strength was handicapping the offense.

Running behind a retooled offensive line, Carter blew up Saturday.

‘What can you say about him?’ Marrone said after the game. ‘It’s almost like he ran with a sense of urgency today or something that might have been a little bit different. I want to say it was the guys up front. I’ve been on them quite a bit, and they did a nice job.’

Not that the win was a thing of beauty. For a while, the loudest cheer in the Carrier Dome was for a marriage proposal over the big screen.

In place of injured center Jim McKenzie, Ryan Bartholomew catapulted several shotgun snaps over the quarterbacks’ heads. His first wayward snap in the first quarter was recovered by Akron, and two plays later, quarterback Patrick Nicely hit Andre Jones for an 11-yard touchdown.

After a pair of Carter touchdowns gave SU the lead, Akron answered to start the second half. Dashan Miller raced 98 yards for a touchdown to knot the game at 14.

From there, Carter took over. Of his 170 yards, 101 came in the second half.

Saturday was reassurance that his burst is still there. Carter, with that season-ending hip injury from 2007 and injury-marred 2008 hanging over his head, finally got to the second level. With SU leading, 21-14, in the fourth quarter, Carter took the inside handoff and bulled into a crowded elevator of Akron defenders. Instantly, he pinballed off two tacklers and broke free for 53 yards – the longest run of his career.

This was something players said they’ve been talking about all week – get Carter to the next level. From the sideline, wide receiver Donte Davis watched.

‘He looked like a little man-child,’ said Davis of the long run. ‘Delone is a strong guy, so he can break those tackles.’

Two plays later, Carter blasted over the goal line for his third touchdown on the day. This was life without Mike Williams.

Against No. 5 Cincinnati next week, Williams will be back. He is the one who headlines every opposing team’s gameplan. Not Carter. The Orange will probably diversify more next week.

But if need be, Carter would relish another 30-carry marathon, another chance to get into a groove. At the podium after the win, he quickly denounced the notion that 30 carries was too much.

‘Nah,’ Carter said sharply, shaking his head. ‘Not at all.’

thdunne@syr.com

Published on October 23, 2009 at 12:00 pm