CINCINNATI — For Ryan Nassib and Delone Carter, two different kinds of 100 percent keyed Syracuse’s win over Cincinnati Saturday.

Coming off a subpar five-completion performance against West Virginia last week, the 100 percent came in the completion percentage column for Nassib. The quarterback started the game 7-for-7 and helped Syracuse jump out to an early 17-point lead by the midpoint of the second quarter.

For Carter, returning from an injury to his hip that kept him out of the second half of last week’s upset over West Virginia, he said he was 100 percent health-wise all game. Carter finished the game with over 100 yards, helping the Syracuse offense to 31 total points.

Continuing with the theme for Syracuse all day, for Carter and Nassib, the outputs were all the Orange needed to do.

‘Yeah, I mean,’ Carter said when asked if he felt 100 percent during the game, ‘I guess so, that was enough.’

For each, it was a game in which they showed up after taking respective steps back last week. It wasn’t a game about huge numbers, as Carter rushed for 109 yards and Nassib threw for just 125. But the duo carried SU’s offense.

‘We were just trying to get the game rolling,’ Nassib said. ‘Trying to get the ball, trying to create a drive, just trying to complete each ball.’

Carter started the game after promising all week that he would play. For Syracuse, it was the opposite situation to Cincinnati’s, as the Big East’s best statistical quarterback in Zach Collaros couldn’t play after warming up with the team.

Carter could go. And the senior running back had another performance that is beginning to become expected. It’s becoming the classic Carter output under the Doug Marrone-Nathaniel Hackett offensive system. And Saturday, Carter had Carter-like numbers.

There were just 109 yards, 19 carries and no touchdowns. But there were 5.7 yards gained on average every time Carter took a handoff. That is the number the Orange has been able to rely on all season coming from Carter. Whether it was straight north-to-south or east-to-west, Carter was trying to keep the chains moving. And with SU nursing at least a 10-point lead from early in the second quarter on, he was trying to keep the clock moving. But it all started with him and Nassib managing Marrone-instilled game plan from the get-go. Even if Carter was hurt.

‘It’s just playing through the pain and focusing on the goal,’ Carter said. ‘You just have to want to win bad. Absolutely, (we) wanted to come out and start playing. That’s something we have to do on the road, and we did that.’

That is exactly what Nassib did as well. Carter was the clock-churner and the back eating up yards, and Nassib played the role of the primary manager. More important than that, he played the role of soother for the offense and manager in crucial situations early. On multiple third downs, Nassib used the patience afforded by his pocket to find secondary options, such as tight end Jose Cruz and wide receiver Alec Lemon, for short slant-route conversions to get needed first downs.

A week after only completing two passes in the first half, Nassib managed short routes with ease. Even if it was apparent he couldn’t hit the intermediate and long routes against one of the country’s worst pass defenses.

But it was enough. Just like it was for Nassib and tight end Nick Provo on one of the game’s biggest plays that led to SU’s first points of the game. It was fourth-and-three on the Cincinnati 36-yard line as the first quarter became the second quarter. With the Orange switching ends of the field and going into the wind instead of against it, Marrone decided to sit SU kicker Ross Krautman for a would-be 53-yard field goal attempt.

Nassib trotted back onto the field, found Provo in the seam and converted another first down in his 100 percent start to the game.

‘I was happy with coach giving me the ball,’ Nassib said. ‘I felt (Provo) hit a great route, he got open and I hit him.’

aolivero@syr.edu

Published on October 31, 2010 at 12:00 pm