To be without your best defensive player against Rhode Island is one thing. To be without him against Southern California is a whole different dilemma.

On Monday, Syracuse head coach Doug Marrone announced that defensive end Chandler Jones would miss the Orange’s game against USC. It is the second consecutive game that Jones will miss with what has only been described as a lower-body injury.

And going into a matchup with ‘maybe the best program in college football,’ the continued absence of Jones is a big blow to SU.

‘Chandler Jones is not going to play this week, so we’ve lost arguably our best defensive player,’ Marrone said in his press conference Monday.

In addition to the loss of Jones, Syracuse will also be without safety Olando Fisher. He missed the game against Rhode Island with a lower-body injury as well, and Marrone said he won’t be suiting up against the Trojans.

One bright spot for the Orange is the potential return of cornerback Ri’Shard Anderson. Named the starter for the season opener against Wake Forest, Anderson played only 15 snaps before leaving the game with an upper-body injury. He didn’t return and missed the game against the Rams last week.

Though Marrone could only say that Anderson ‘might’ play against USC, the possibility of his return to the SU secondary is certainly encouraging. Especially since the Orange defensive backs face the mammoth challenge of defending Trojans’ wide receiver Robert Woods, who is averaging 139.5 yards per game and 1.5 touchdowns per game.

‘(Woods) is probably the best player in the country at his position,’ Marrone said Monday.

In terms of the future, Marrone said Jones and Fisher will be evaluated again next week. He said he is hoping for a ‘good report’ and that those two players will be allowed to return to the field.

Freshman Kobena impressive in return game

Jeremiah Kobena’s prediction proved false, but the freshman kick returner for the Orange remains just one block, one seam or one alley away from reaching the end zone.

‘We think he has the potential to break one at any given time,’ SU assistant head coach John Anselmo said last week.

Leading up to Syracuse’s game against Rhode Island, Kobena predicted he would take a kick off all the way back for a touchdown against the Rams. Though he was just one game into his collegiate career, the freshman already had a certain confidence in his breathtaking speed.

‘I’m kind of confident I’ll break one this next game,’ he said prior to the game against Rhode Island. ‘I’m very confident because what (SU running backs coach Tyrone) Wheatley put together, it’s basically the same thing (as last week), but we have a great feel for it now with repetition.’

With each game, Kobena becomes more comfortable with his 10 teammates on special teams. Kobena and Anselmo both said that special teams is the most difficult unit to have all 11 players on the same page.

If any one player misses a block, a member of the opponent’s kick coverage gets a free run at Kobena for an easy tackle.

That said, Kobena has one limitation as SU’s returner.

‘He’s allowed one cut,’ Anselmo said.

After that, Kobena must take off, ‘100 miles per hour,’ as Anselmo put it. He and the SU coaching staff don’t want the young returner spending any unnecessary time moving laterally.

Through two games, Kobena is averaging 20.7 yards per return. He hasn’t been amazing, but he’s been close to it.

In both of SU’s games this season, Kobena has been inches away from busting through with a big return. His best chance was on a 37-yard return against Wake Forest, in which he took the ball from the right sideline, made his one cut back toward the middle and took off upfield.

‘A lot of people on the team say I have no moves,’ Kobena said laughing.

No moves — maybe. But speed, he’s got plenty.

mjcohe02@syr.edu

Published on September 12, 2011 at 12:00 pm

Contact Michael: mjcohe02@syr.edu | @Michael_Cohen13