He’s been somewhat of a myth. In a way, an enigma. Yet he’s been standing in front of us this whole time, for three years.

Finally, the myth of Johnnie Morant is beginning to take shape.

Saturday, in SU’s 30-20 loss to Louisville, he caught eight balls for 141 yards. He effortlessly ran by defenders, catching balls over the middle and down the sidelines. Louisville could do little to stop him.

And yet, with the game on the line, with Syracuse down 10 and driving – no, striving – for a touchdown, Morant was a side note in the offense.

With less than six minutes left in the game, quarterback R.J. Anderson looked for receivers on back-to-back pass plays. On third down, Anderson looked to receiver Jared Jones, who dropped an easy pass. Next play, 4th-and-10. Anderson looked for an open man. Found Andre Fontenette. Another drop.

Where was Morant? Where was the man who, for this short season, has been SU’s best player?

He was on the field – as nothing more than the most dangerous decoy in the Big East. And after Syracuse failed to collect a first down, he walked leisurely toward the bench.

Apparently, none of the plays were called for him.

‘Have you ever played football?’ Anderson asked this 5-foot-8, 130-pound reporter. ‘Certain routes are run for certain receivers. None of those plays were run for Johnnie, so I didn’t look for him.’

Which begs the question: Why was Morant left out of the offense?

‘You know, we were moving the ball well at that time,’ Morant said. ‘We weren’t expecting to drop balls. So, we were just expecting to move the ball downfield, hoping those guys could do it.’

So the coaching staff decided not to run plays intended for a man who was scooping everything thrown his way. Brilliant. Morant’s snub from the offense may have cost Syracuse a win. It definitely cost the Orangemen a chance.

Morant is leading the conference in receiving and all-purpose yards. He carried defenders downfield after catches. He calmly ran over the middle. After a defender’s hit jarred one ball loose and into the air, Morant had enough focus to catch it.

He fluidly reversed field on kick returns. He kept a level head, simply bouncing back up after being smacked out of bounds rather than complain for a late-hit call, as his teammates and coaches did.

It’s even more of a reason Morant should have been looked to in the clutch. The pressure wasn’t affecting him. He controlled his emotions. He would’ve caught a first-down pass.

Many have bestowed praise upon Anderson, the scapegoat for last year’s debacle who’s play has been commendable since he was given back the starting job. But, it was Morant who made Anderson look good Saturday.

At times, Anderson looked sharp. For the most part, it was when he threw to Morant. Other times – in fact, on his first attempt of the game – his throws fell in the middle of a circle of diving defenders looking for a pick. There wasn’t a blue shirt in sight.

‘R.J. had a couple throws that he’d probably like to have back,’ offensive coordinator George DeLeone said. ‘Maybe the receiver was covered or it was just a bad pass.’

As for DeLeone’s assessment of Morant?

‘Johnnie can make big plays for us,’ he said enthusiastically. ‘He turns some routine plays into big plays. He made some spectacular catches.’

Morant is now the biggest threat on offense. Of course there’s Walter Reyes, the oft-overlooked running back who ran for 87 yards Saturday. But nobody is more reliable at this point than Morant, whose jaw-dropping skills in high school led many to believe he’d become one of the best players in Syracuse history.

For his first three years, he was nowhere. LIterally, at times. Morant missed three games last season after a fight involving former SU lacrosse player Mike Springer. Morant’s long, inglorious career – in which he had 42 receptions for 736 yards and four touchdowns over three seasons – appeared to hit rock bottom.

Maybe it did. Maybe it woke him up. Either way, in the one year since his suspension, Morant’s career has reached its highlight.

Following his second-straight dominating performance Saturday, Morant displayed a wide smile and pristine silver suit.

Asked if he, like the rest of Syracuse, is wondering where he’s been the past three years, Morant hesitated.

‘It’s not … I mean … I don’t know. That’s a good question.’

What’s the answer? Where has this man been for so long? How did he, without gaining or losing weight, without any significant difference in training, become the most dangerous player on Syracuse, if not the Big East?

Who cares?

‘I just want to make plays,’ Morant said. ‘I want the ball on every play.’

Give it to him. Make the defenders stop him. And let the myth of Johnnie Morant continue to grow.

Scott Lieber is an assistant sports editor at The Daily Orange, where his columns appear regularly. E-mail him at smlieber@syr.edu.

Published on September 15, 2003 at 12:00 pm