Banned from practice, E.J. Carter needed to stay in shape somehow. The freshman linebacker couldn’t practice for two of the three weeks he was suspended.

So he did the next best thing. Carter made the trek to main campus and played pickup basketball at Archbold Gymnasium. Erica Morrow, a starting guard on SU’s women’s basketball team, joined Carter for one heated game.

‘She shot lights out!’ Carter said. ‘She doesn’t miss at all. I can’t wait to see their team this season.’

That can wait for now, though. Carter has the second half of his season to right his wrongs of the first – whatever those wrongs were. Carter didn’t specify why he was suspended, though he admitted the balance between football and academics became ‘frustrating.’ After a three-week hiatus, he’s back. Good timing. On tap for Syracuse (3-4, 0-2 Big East) is No. 5 Cincinnati (7-0, 3-0) and the Bearcats’ flag-football offense. Cincinnati is embarrassing defenses for more than 458 yards per game – good for seventh in the nation.

Carter wasn’t completely cast away from the team during his suspension. He joined his teammates for meals and was around the locker room. But he couldn’t practice, thus the trips to Archbold. On gameday, he watched games in the student section.

‘We have a great student section,’ Carter said. ‘I didn’t realize how great they were until I sat and watched. It was frustrating.’

All in all, the time away was a healthy step back.

‘I looked at my time off as an opportunity for me to get ahead,’ Carter said. ‘Now I’m ahead in some classes and feel like I’m better prepared…I guess I needed that growing pain.’

Carter runs the 40-yard dash in 4.5 seconds, swift for any linebacker. Still, his speed isn’t where he wants it. One of Carter’s goals during the suspension was to be ahead of the pack in wind sprints. Those pickup games and an overall renewed attitude have helped him accomplish this. This week has been his best week of practice yet, he said.

‘While I was away, I knew I would have a lot to prove,’ Carter said. ‘A lot of coaches probably didn’t think I’d be in shape. So I felt I had a lot to prove.’

Before getting suspended, Carter flashed some promise. He started four of five games next to mainstays Doug Hogue and Derrell Smith, totaling eight tackles. After leaving the Orange’s 28-14 win over Akron with cramps, Smith returned to practice Wednesday. If he can’t go Saturday, Carter or Mike Stenclik would fill in. Carter said he has taken snaps at middle linebacker all week, just in case Smith is unable to go.

It’s a position he’d like to see more of – even if Smith returns immediately. The weak side is fun, sure. But nothing like firing into the ‘A’ gap at middle linebacker.

‘It’s a really fun position,’ Carter said. ‘I can see why Derrell does so great at that position. I’m really excited to learn more about that position and hopefully become as great of a player as he has…wherever Coach Marrone sees me at but that’d be a nice position for me to play.’

But really Carter just wants to play, just wants to lay the lumber. It’s been too long.

‘I’m ready to hit,’ Carter said. ‘That’s all I want to do. I want to hit somebody else.’

Williams moves forward

In his first comments since being suspended for Syracuse’s game last weekend, Mike Williams didn’t offer specifics on why he was suspended. Instead, SU’s star wideout acknowledged that he let his team down and said ‘it hurt’ to watch his team play without him.

‘It’s something that is between me and my coach right now,’ Williams said. ‘It was between me and Coach Marrone and that’s why you didn’t see me.’

Through six games, Williams caught 45 passes for 712 yards and six touchdowns. Without him, SU relied heavily on its running game to beat Akron. Running back Delone Carter rushed 30 times for 170 yards and three touchdowns.

‘It hurt. It hurt always to see my team play without me,’ Williams said. ‘I can’t do anything about what’s happening out there. It felt bad not being out there.’

thdunne@syr.edu

Published on October 29, 2009 at 12:00 pm