Ryan Nassib tried to relax before Syracuse’s spring game. On the night before his first major public appearance as the face of the Orange offense, Nassib watched ‘Happy Gilmore’ from his bed. But naturally, he kept picking up his playbook.

Of course he was nervous.

‘I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t,’ Nassib said. ‘I was a little nervous. It’s just practice, but I attacked it like it was a game. After a while, I got comfortable and started to feel for it, and it was fun.’

In front of 5,184 fans at the Carrier Dome, Nassib was up and down in his debut as Syracuse’s starting quarterback. He completed 17-of-25 passes for 176 yards and two touchdowns and was tagged for sacks five times. Using a specialized scoring system, the SU offense won a sloppy scrimmage, 134-95.

The first phase of Nassib’s maturation as Syracuse’s quarterback is complete. Head coach Doug Marrone named the redshirt freshman starter just a week into spring practice. Since then, Nassib has been learning on the fly. He didn’t show signs of being the program savior Saturday, but didn’t implode either. Somewhere in between.

‘You could see very clearly that when he understands the concept of what we’re doing, he makes a quick decision and the ball comes out, he has a lot of success,’ Marrone said. ‘If he’s unsure and he holds onto the ball and stutters, poor things happen. Sacks happen, holding onto the football, eating the football, meaning going down, and that’s not acceptable.’

Miscues plagued all aspects of the team, drawing Marrone’s ire. The offense racked up 10 penalties for 80 yards. Receivers dropped several wide-open passes. And after the second offensive unit had a clunker of a possession in the red zone segment, Marrone pulled the unit off the field and talked to them in private. SU’s new head coach admitted his team is a whole phase behind where it should be at this point.

Then again, Saturday’s lengthy scrimmage was ‘night and day’ compared to last year, junior Jim McKenzie said. Last season’s 37-play hiccup of a spring game was part football, part carnival with Greg Robinson emceeing the event. Fans fielded punts from Rob Long and the starters barely played.

Not so much Saturday, as the micromanagement of Nassib continued. Nassib’s first true test of the day came after one of Syracuse’s 10 penalties sunk the offense into a 3rd-and-15 hole. He calmly stepped into the pocket and delivered a 19-yard strike to Donte Davis with pressure in his face. Nassib, stoic in demeanor, pumped his right fist and clapped. The apex of a small revelation.

During the off-season, Nassib texted Davis on Saturdays, to set up practices on Sundays at Manley Field House. The 30-minute sessions added up, and now Nassib looks for Davis in critical situations. The duo hooked up four times for 52 yards Saturday.

‘Me and Donte got a lot of work in over the winter, and it carried out on the field,’ Nassib said. ‘He’s a great receiver to go to. He has great hands and he makes plays and gets open for me, so he’s very reliable.’

Nassib’s two biggest highlights were a 7-yard touchdown lob to Mike Williams and a 50-yard score to Mike Owen. The burly Owen pretended he was blocking for a split second, Nassib pump-faked right and then hit a wide-open Owen down the middle.

Still, it was a rocky debut for Nassib. It took more than an hour for Syracuse’s offense to score a touchdown. As Marrone said, Nassib killed too many plays in the backfield. The screens and hitches that fuel Spence’s offense rarely manifested into big plays.

‘There’s some kinks we need to work out,’ Nassib said. ‘It’s a new offense, so mental mistakes will happen, but we’ll get it fixed by camp.’

All of this is new to Nassib. But McKenzie calls him ‘a true leader.’ The center was always impressed with Nassib on the scout film last year when the quarterback masqueraded as other signal-callers in the Big East. Now playing as himself, Nassib’s style is beginning to take shape.

‘He’s a smart kid, he makes good decisions,’ McKenzie said. ‘He’s a little young, but that’s part of the deal. He’s going to develop experience, and I really look forward to working with him. He’s a true leader.’

Deer-in-the-headlights interceptions are expected out of first-year quarterbacks. The absence of such errant decisions impressed Williams, too. Before shuffling off to sign autographs for loads of kids after the game, Syracuse’s star receiver gave Nassib a ringing endorsement.

‘I think he played good. Great, actually,’ Williams said. ‘He didn’t make many mistakes. He was poised and this was his first time out in a crowd, so I think he played good.’

thdunne@syr.edu

Published on April 19, 2009 at 12:00 pm