Greg Robinson said he’s never seen a wide receiver have a better performance than Mike Williams did Saturday night.

Whether or not it was hyperbole, that has Williams reasonably excited.

‘He’s going to say what he wants,’ Williams said, with a grin. ‘… I think it was good. I like what he said.’

Williams impressed with acrobatic and skillful catches against a talented Cincinnati secondary. With nine receptions for 160 yards and a touchdown, Williams extended his consecutive touchdown streak to nine games in Syracuse’s 52-31 loss.

Even more, the sophomore tied the school record for catches in a season with 60, equaling Kevin Johnson’s mark set in 1998. And no second-year receiver has ever had a season close to Williams’.

‘I’m really trying to remember in a football game that I coached or played in where I’ve seen a wide receiver – I’ve coached against Randy Moss and some of these guys – have a performance that included the things he did,’ Robinson said.

What impressed Robinson and Williams’ teammates the most was the way the sophomore responded after a bone-crushing hit by Cincinnati defensive back Haruki Nakamura.

With just under nine minutes left in the second quarter, Williams ran a crossing route to the inside, leapt to catch a 23-yard pass from Andrew Robinson and was sandwiched by two defenders. Nakamura hit Williams in mid-air and led with his helmet into the side of Williams’ head. He was given a personal foul for the hit.

‘When he got hit and he was down and his head was spinning, all he wanted to know was, ‘Did I catch the ball?” Greg Robinson said. ‘I told him, ‘Yes, you caught it, Mike.’ Then he came back in that football game and caught another pass.’

Williams returned to the game two possessions later and caught a 9-yard pass and a 45-yard bomb to put Syracuse inside the 10-yard line. Then, after a false start penalty, Williams caught a jump ball in the right corner of the end zone for his 10th touchdown catch of the season.

‘Williams is a huge player in this league, and he gave us some problems,’ Cincinnati head coach Brian Kelly said.

‘It was an outstanding performance by an individual,’ the head coach Robinson said. ‘Mike is a fine young man and he did a lot of growing in a lot a ways, and I have to make sure that he keeps growing.’

Mauk’s magic

By halftime, Cincinnati quarterback Ben Mauk had 318 passing yards against the beleaguered Syracuse defense.

That number was already the second-most allowed by Syracuse for an entire game during the season – and it was six yards shy of Mauk’s season-high for a game, 324, set against Louisville.

‘Ben Mauk was just outstanding, accounting for five touchdowns, and we needed every one of them,’ Kelly said.

Mauk finished with four touchdowns passing and one rushing. He had 431 yards on 29-of-42 passing and found wide receiver Marcus Barnett 11 times for 127 yards and three touchdowns. Mauk was named the Big East offensive player of the week for his performance.

In an attempt to counter Kelly’s spread offense, Syracuse played three cornerbacks for much of the game, the third being Nico Scott, who was burned on at least two of Barnett’s touchdowns. But it was Mauk who consistently put the ball in the vicinity of his talented corp of wideouts.

‘He is a good player,’ Greg Robinson said of Mauk. ‘He is such a nifty athlete. He just has a knack, and he really is a good player.’

Senior day

Syracuse honored 22 seniors and six senior managers before the game. Starting free safety and former quarterback Joe Fields received the loudest ovation as he greeted Director of Athletics Daryl Gross and Chancellor Nancy Cantor at midfield.

All of the healthy seniors – 20 of the total 22 – appeared in the game, including tight end Kyle Bell, who had never played in a game in his four years. Bell caught a pass in the fourth quarter from backup quarterback Cameron Dantley for seven yards. The only two seniors who did not play were defensive tackle Tony Jenkins (knee surgery) and cornerback Jason Tanner (groin injury).

This and that

Syracuse’s first scoring drive was four plays for minus-12 yards. After recovering a Cincinnati fumble on the Bearcats’ 14-yard line, Andrew Robinson threw an incomplete pass, was sacked for a loss of 12 and then couldn’t hit a wide-open Jawad Nesheiwat in the end zone. Patrick Shadle hit a 43-yard field goal for SU’s first points. … Max Suter set a dubious NCAA record with 1,299 kick return yards, the most ever in a single season. The previous record was 1,260 by Kevin Robinson for Utah State. … A moment of silence was held before the national anthem to honor former Syracuse great Jim Ringo. Ringo, 75, died last Monday in Virginia. He is a member of the Pro Football Hall of Fame and played in 10 Pro Bowls during his 11-year NFL career as a center. He graduated from Syracuse in 1953 and was head coach of the Buffalo Bills from 1976-77.

Published on November 26, 2007 at 12:00 pm