The second catch of the season for Marcus Sales was for a touchdown Saturday, but the sophomore wide receiver isn’t fixated on that moment. Instead, when the Syracuse native evaluates his first four games of the season, he grades himself sternly.

‘I’m not really happy with my production,’ Sales said. ‘I think I can do better blocking and helping my other teammates, but whenever my number is called again, hopefully I’ll make the play again.’

As Big East play begins this Saturday against South Florida, Sales is looking to become more of a force on offense, whether it be through aiding his fellow receivers in finding open looks, or catching more balls. Though listed as a starting wide out on the depth chart, Sales has just two catches for 29 yards -10th and 9th on the team, respectively.

‘I’m hoping to just get the team going, whatever I can do to help the team,’ Sales said. ‘If I have to sit out the whole game or if I have to play the whole game, whatever I can do to help the team, that’s what I’ll do.

As the ‘Z’ receiver on the squad, Sales is involved in many more short routes this year. He primarily runs slant, out-cut and hook patterns. But with quarterback Greg Paulus sticking mostly to the short patterns, Sales has not been much of a force in the passing game this season.

His biggest moment came Saturday when he pulled down a Paulus pass over a Maine cornerback in the end zone, giving Syracuse a 27-17 lead against the Black Bears in the third quarter. Sales hopes he can haul in more touchdown passes in the near future.

‘He’s doing a really good job,’ Paulus said. ‘He’s working really hard, he’s got good hands and he makes a bunch of plays that sometimes you don’t think he can get to. Whether that’s a vertical route, or going over the top on somebody, I think that touchdown was a big touchdown for him also in the game to stretch that lead, but for his confidence. And he’s done a really good job in practice, that type of success on the field helps build confidence.’

With a lack of productivity on the field, Sales has turned to improving his blocking skills on rushing plays.

The lack of production hasn’t affected his demeanor, though. In an era when many wide receivers complain when passes aren’t thrown their way, Sales talks of the ebb and flow of the game.

‘It’s just football, basically,’ Sales said. ‘Sometimes you don’t get a lot of catches and you got to do other things to help the team.’

PREPARING FOR WILLIAMS

It appeared Syracuse, and the rest of the Big East, caught a break when South Florida quarterback Matt Grothe’s season ended. He tore the ACL in his left knee in a win over Charleston Southern on Sept. 19.

Well, at least until B. J. Daniels showed what he’s capable of.

In place of Grothe, the redshirt freshman Daniels piloted USF’s 17-7 upset over then-No. 18 Florida State, rushing for 126 yards with 215 pass yards and two touchdowns. Syracuse will now be the first team to face Daniels in the Big East.

‘He’s a big-play quarterback. He is able to throw the ball vertically down the field,’ SU head coach Doug Marrone said. ‘He has a nice live arm, and he’s obviously great on his feet. He is a good runner, good on zone reads, very dangerous. We’ll have to cover the whole field. He’s very effective and a very dangerous weapon.’

SU linebacker Doug Hogue said Daniels moves better than Grothe, who broke the Big East record for total offense in USF’s second game this year. He described Daniels as fast and athletic, and the defense will have to try and contain him.

‘I feel as if we are a very fast defense,’ Hogue said. ‘If you come down, we swarm too. I don’t feel like we’re going to change anything. We’re going to go through our progressions, and if he wants to run we’re going to have to come down and do what we have to do.’

SU STILL NOT WORRIED ABOUT SECONDARY

Though Syracuse is the fourth-worst team in the nation in pass defense (117 out of 120) by yielding 310.5 yards through the air each game, the players and coaches are still not worried about it.

Marrone said the unit has to just keep improving as it goes along, which may be a tough challenge since each opponent has thrown for at least 240 yards against the Orange. Northwestern and Maine threw for a combined 754 yards in the last two games.

Safety Max Suter echoes his coach’s beliefs.

‘A lot of the plays we’re letting them catch the underneath routes, and the big plays that are happening our guys are right there,’ Suter said. ‘If you watch it on film they’re always there and they’re making the big play, and we’re not, and that’s what we need to change.

‘We need to have Kevyn (Scott) or Nico (Scott) knock that pass down and it’s gonna happen. We’re going to stick to what we’ve been doing, and we’re confident in those guys and we feel that we can get it done.’

mrehalt@syr.edu

Published on September 29, 2009 at 12:00 pm