Coming into the game, Syracuse coach Paul Pasqualoni gave an uncharacteristic scouting report on Purdue quarterback Kyle Orton.

‘He’s not your typical drop-back passer,’ Pasqualoni said. ‘He can hurt you with the run.’

This is the senior who swung into Heisman Trophy candidacy on his right arm. The guy who threw for 2,885 yards and 15 touchdowns last year. And Pasqualoni is pegging him a runner?

The Syracuse football team had Orton pegged, but failed to contain him behind the line of scrimmage. Orton ran for 32 yards on six carries, rushing for three first downs.

‘We made a decision to defend, and he was able to run the ball,’ Pasqualoni said. ‘And he ran very effectively. Orton is the kind of guy that when you blitz, he was pretty good.

‘On some of his runs, you couldn’t see it, but the defensive line collapsed the pocket very fast. And he ran for the first down, not because he wanted to, because he could not stay back there.’

Syracuse’s defensive line recorded no sacks.

Aw snap

The best chance SU had to score, and of all people, the long snapper ruins it.

Joe Neumann, the junior long snapper, skipped a snap back to Jared Jones when SU was on Purdue’s 7-yard line and attempting a field goal. Because of the bad snap, Jones picked it up and tried to improvise a fourth-down conversion. Instead, Purdue’s Bernard Pollard intercepted Jones’ pass attempt.

‘It happened once before and I failed to look,’ Jones said. ‘So, this time I just tried to pick it up and make a play.’

Said Pasqualoni: ‘I have seen Joe in 20-something preseason practices without a bad snap. He had a bad one on the first field-goal attempt. And that is just something that happens at every level. Joe did some good things snapping for punts.’

He had plenty of opportunities. Brendan Carney punted seven times. None of the snaps were off target.

He’s positive

Undying optimism is evident in almost every preseason. But after getting a 51-0 spanking, some of the optimism would likely waver.

Still, after SU’s embarrassing loss, Pasqualoni did find some positives in the game.

‘There were some good things that happened in the secondary,’ Pasqualoni said. ‘We got some pretty steady physical play out of our corners. (Middle linebacker) Jerry Mackey prepared hard for his first game and played well. I think we improved, believe it or not. Getting beat 51-0, that is hard to say, but I think there were some positive things that happened.’

Pasqualoni also saw positives with the receivers.

‘Steve Gregory made a few catches,’ Pasqualoni said, ‘and some of the things we tried to get done on third down were pretty good. Overall our receiving core will get better as we go.’

Gator bite

Marcus ‘Gator’ Clayton is listed as the No. 2 cornerback behind Tanard Jackson. But the sophomore didn’t play despite constant defensive breakdowns. Why?

‘Marcus has had some pulled muscles, and for the bulk of camp he was not able to go 100 percent,’ Pasqualoni said. ‘He was probably practicing between 75 and 80 percent. I just want to get him healthy. I don’t want him to hurt his leg again.’

Published on September 6, 2004 at 12:00 pm