Chandler Jones was cleared for limited practice starting Tuesday, according to an SU Athletics release. The senior defensive end has missed four straight games after suffering a lower body injury in the season opener against Wake Forest.

Jones will not play at Tulane this Saturday. He will return to full practice Oct. 10. After a bye week, Syracuse will take on West Virginia in the Carrier Dome on Friday, Oct. 21. Jones is planning to return to game action against the Mountaineers.

In even better news for SU, strong safety Shamarko Thomas said on Tuesday that he would be ready to go for Saturday’s game at Tulane. Thomas has missed the last two games with an injury.

Syracuse looking to bounce back from tough loss

Syracuse’s two losses this year may carry the same weight in the loss column, but they left the Orange with two very different postgame feelings.

Against Southern California on Sept. 17, SU was overmatched in a 38-17 setback. But after five turnovers by the Orange offense resulted in a 19-16 loss in double overtime to Rutgers, Syracuse left with the feeling that it lost a game it should have won.

And in cornerback Kevyn Scott’s mind, that made the loss to Rutgers sting that much more.

‘When you feel like you have a game in your hands and you let it go, it’s tough,’ Scott said. ‘But we have to move on because we have to go down to Tulane and play a football game. We can’t let one loss turn into two losses.’

The Orange (3-2, 0-1 Big East) will try to avoid a hangover after the crushing loss to the Scarlet Knights when it takes on Tulane (2-3) on Saturday. While the defense dominated Saturday, the offense sputtered with turnovers and mistakes. This week, Syracuse’s goal is to not let that loss affect the team as it preps for a very winnable matchup with the Green Wave.

‘The way to overcome things is to work hard, and the message that I told the players is that you can’t let one loss lead to another,’ head coach Doug Marrone said. ‘That’s the one thing that’s difficult.’

SU’s defense turned in its best performance of the season against Rutgers, but the offense struggled mightily. The turnovers stalled drives, and the Orange also had to settle for three field goal attempts.

The emphasis for the offense this week is on punching the ball into the end zone. Against a Tulane team that gives up more than 33 points per game, Syracuse should have the opportunities to do so.

‘We need to put the ball in the end zone and seal wins when they’re close,’ center Macky MacPherson said. ‘I think we learned the hard way (against Rutgers), and hopefully, we won’t ever have to learn that lesson again.’

While the offense accepted most of the blame for the loss Saturday, the whole team felt the residual effects of a loss that very easily could have been a win.

But this week, rather than dwell on the mistakes that cost the Orange the game, SU is looking to learn from them and move on.

‘If you watch that game, we definitely should have won that game,’ Scott said. ‘But it’s over now. We can’t let that last game affect this next game coming up.’

Youth being served

It’s not often used to describe young, inexperienced football players, but it was the first word out of junior Shamarko Thomas’ mouth when asked about the Orange’s youth.

‘Maturity,’ Thomas said. ‘From the summer until now, I see a lot of maturity and growth.’

The freshmen and sophomores have been forced to develop that maturity on the fly, as Syracuse’s first defense has been decimated by injuries this season. It has opened the door for many younger players to see significant action early. After the loss to Rutgers, SU’s defensive box score was littered with first- and second-year players who made key contributions to the Orange’s best defensive performance yet this season.

‘Defensively, we played well enough to win that game,’ Marrone said. ‘And I think we’re getting better and better defensively as we go. … I’m very excited about the progression of the younger players and how they’re coming along in the system.’

The infusion of youth is focused in Syracuse’s secondary and linebacking corps.

Freshman Dyshawn Davis and sophomore Marquis Spruill have been starting linebackers for the entire season.

In the defensive backfield, sophomore cornerback Keon Lyn has seen time opposite Scott while sophomore safety Jeremi Wilkes finished second on the team with nine tackles against Rutgers.

‘It’s a work in progress with all of them,’ Scott said. ‘If you see them from week one to where they were on Saturday, (the difference) is huge. As these guys continue to mature and get better, we’re going to be a much better defense.’

zjbrown@syr.edu

 

Published on October 4, 2011 at 12:00 pm