Curtis Brinkley could see a difference Saturday. Maybe, just maybe, he finally has some room to maneuver.

‘I think the offensive line, we started out rough, but I think we got it going for a couple of series,’ Syracuse running back Brinkley said. ‘It’s good to see a little bit of creases in there that I can hit and I try to use my talent.’

It showed against Illinois, despite the 21-point loss, 41-20, on Saturday. Syracuse, which had 32 total rushing yards after two games, rushed for 63 against Illinois. But Brinkley had 54 of those yards, as well as 89 yards receiving.

For the first time all season, a player on the offense showed some signs of breaking out.

‘I saw some explosive plays on offense,’ Syracuse head coach Greg Robinson said. ‘Curtis’ play on the screen pass – there was some good blocking, but it was also a fantastic play by him, where he exploded through two guys. That was exciting.’

Brinkley took a simple screen pass, the same play the Orange has relied on all season, for a 62-yard gain down the Syracuse sideline. He had some good blocking up field, but in reality, the junior running back made the play all by himself.

Brinkley broke a tackle, and then looked all but down after UI linebacker Antonio Steele had a grasp of his legs but somehow broke free. He streaked to the Illinois two-yard line before UI defensive back Dere Hicks caught him.

It was the longest play from scrimmage for the Orange offense all season.

But Brinkley didn’t make a difference at the beginning of the game, when Syracuse went 3-and-out on its first three drives – all three of its possessions in the first quarter. Brinkley rushed four times in those nine plays and gained eight yards.

When Syracuse finally started moving the ball downfield on the first possession of the second quarter, Brinkley was a major reason why. He gained 36 yards on seven carries. But the most important rush, on 4th-and-1 from the Illinois’ 24-yard line, Brinkley was stuffed for a loss of four yards on a sweep to the left side.

Still, by finally successfully rushing the ball, it opened room for quarterback Andrew Robinson and the passing game.

‘It got much better,’ SU wide receiver Taj Smith said. ‘It’s just the fact that we have to fix it to the point where we can play at our highest level. Right now, we’re improving, but we have a lot more to improve on.’

Brinkley rushed 18 times on Saturday, equaling his total attempts from the first two games against Washington and Iowa. With Syracuse still in the game into the third quarter, Greg Robinson could devote more offensive plays to the running game.

Perhaps the most impressive aspect of Brinkley’s game was how he finally got out on Andrew Robinson’s screen passes. Brinkley averaged 22.3 yards per catch, most of it obviously coming on the 62-yard completion.

Nonetheless, it helped Robinson escape the pressure of the defense.

‘If they’re getting up field hard and getting pressure on the quarterback, then you have to throw screen passes in there,’ Robinson said. ‘You have to do some misdirection-type stuff to get them to slow down a little bit. That way you can drop back and throw the ball a lot better.’

Brinkley said he saw a lot of good things from the offensive line Saturday and the running game is ‘close’ to where he wants it to be. Greg Robinson disagreed after watching the film Sunday but said he saw some improvement.

‘We’re getting better,’ SU left guard Carroll Madison said. ‘It’s better than last week. It’s slow. It’s not going nearly as fast as I’d like it to be. But we did improve a little bit. Whatever that’s worth, it is getting better. We got another week of practice.’

Published on September 16, 2007 at 12:00 pm