Phillip Thomas ran over to the White team’s sideline after the final whistle in celebration. But the safety in his red jersey wasn’t completely welcome.

‘He’s playing for both teams, and we’re kind of like, ‘Get out of here,” SU linebacker Dan Vaughan said.

Thomas and the other two Syracuse safeties that suited up for Saturday’s Spring Game worked double shifts, playing for both the White team and the Blue team. Thomas, Jeremi Wilkes and Joe Nassib all wore red and rotated on and off the field in pairs, manning the safety positions.

Thomas finished with six tackles and a pass breakup and showed no lack of energy as the game wore on, even if he rarely came off the field.

‘I’m still good to go right now,’ Thomas said afterward. ‘I’m not tired at all, and I could go all day. … But (the safeties) prepared well for this, and we got in shape pretty well for this.’

The Orange’s deficiency at safety has come due to a rash of injuries at the position throughout the spring. Projected starting strong safety Shamarko Thomas sat out the entire spring after undergoing surgery on his left arm. Walk-ons Zachary McCarrell and Chris McKenzie suffered head and knee injuries, respectively. McKenzie’s is a torn ACL that will cause him to miss the entire 2011 season. And Olando Fisher has been hampered by an ankle injury that kept him out Saturday.

So that left Thomas, Wilkes and Nassib. Wilkes was a cornerback last season. Nassib is listed as a cornerback and is a walk-on. But at least two of them were on the field for all 104 plays ran on Saturday.

‘I just thought they handled it well,’ SU head coach Doug Marrone said. ‘We took our time in some things and extended some timeouts and things like that and made sure of the rotation going in. But we wanted to have a game. So I knew there was a possibility that we could have some injuries and fall a little bit short. We had a good plan.’

For Thomas, the opportunity to play for both squads gave him an inside look at both offenses and defenses. He felt it gave the safeties an advantage when they were on the field.

‘As a whole, it’s good to play on both defenses because you get to see what everybody can do,’ he said. ‘Ones, twos, it’s a good thing.’

Special teams woeful throughout

Shane Raupers attributed much of his struggles to the lack of a live rush. Punts and field goals occurred without a defense, and that affected his mechanics.

‘Usually we have a live rush in practice,’ said Raupers, the SU punter. ‘So it kind of threw us a curveball on that. I think we’re just, everything was a little slower because you know you have time.’

Raupers wasn’t the only special teams player to struggle Saturday, as Syracuse’s kicking game missed three field goals. After making 18-of-19 field goals a year ago, Ross Krautman missed his only opportunity from 41 yards out. And Ryan Lichtenstein, SU’s starting kicker in 2009, only made 2-of-4.

Lichtenstein missed the first one, a 30-yard attempt for the White team that sailed wide despite no rush. But Krautman’s only field goal attempt of the game was even worse. His 41-yard try was a line drive that didn’t look like it ever got higher than the crossbar.

With the White team leading 13-7 late in the game, Lichtenstein had a chance to seal a win. But his 37-yarder hooked wide left.

At halftime, Krautman worked alone for a time, kicking field goals and moving back after each kick. He was able to knock down field goals from 50-plus yards, and they weren’t low line drives like his earlier kick, quelling some of the worries.

‘I think I look at the rest of the spring,’ Marrone said of the special teams. ‘And how much we’ve done and how consistent we’ve been.’

This and that

Antwon Bailey ran for 118 yards on 20 carries and was a handful for the Blue team defense to take down on every handoff. … The biggest plays of the day came in the passing game. White team quarterback Ryan Nassib hit wide receiver Jeremiah Kobena for a 53-yard bomb just before halftime, and Blue team wide receiver Dorian Graham took a short pass and ran for a 38-yard gain in the fourth quarter.

mcooperj@syr.edu

 

Published on April 15, 2011 at 12:00 pm

Contact Mark: mcooperj@syr.edu | @mark_cooperjr