football guide 2011

PROVING2011 FOOTBALL PREVIEW

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Building off Pinstripe Bowl win, Syracuse strives to compete for Big East title

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Table of contents

S P O R T S @ D A I L Y O R A N G E . C O M 2 0 1 1 f o o t b a l l s e a s on p r e v i e w 3

xue wang | contributing photographer

5TAKE THE LEADAntwon Bailey takes over as Syra-cuse’s starting running back after spending the last two seasons behind Delone Carter.

7FROM SCRATCHScott Shafer settles in at Syracuse in his third season as defensive coordi-nator after short stints at his past few coaching stops.

8OPPOSITE ENDSChandler Jones and Mikhail Mari-novich may have distinctly different personalities, but together they form a top-notch tandem at defensive end for Syracuse.

10HOT ROUTEThe suspension of Marcus Sales has opened the door for the Orange’s other wide receivers to step up. Can any of them break out this season?

12LINE ‘EM UPReturning starter Marquis Spruill leads a group of young, athletic line-backers who are trying to make up for the production lost with the gradua-tion of Derrell Smith and Doug Hogue.

14HOME AND AWAYFormer Syracuse head coach Paul Pasqualoni has returned to the Big East for the fi rst time since being fi red by SU in 2004. Now, he’s coaching his home-state team, Connecticut.

6PREDICTIONSThe Daily Orange beat writers give their projections for Syracuse’s 2011 season. Will the Orange actually com-pete for a Big East championship?

16RESURRECTEDSouthern Methodist head coach June Jones has taken the Mustangs to two straight bowl games. They were the fi rst bowl appearances for the Mus-tangs since the NCAA hit SMU with the “death penalty” in 1987.

“I like going any time. … But the fact that they did win a bowl game definitely should hype up everybody about it. ”

James McRobertsSophomore computer engineering major

“Probably. I would go anyway, but if I wouldn’t, I would probably go because they won.”

Nick DoraSophomore mechanical engineering major

P e r s P e c t i v e scompiled by stephen bailey and stacie fanelli | the daily orange

Are you more likely to go to a football game in the Carrier Dome this year after Syracuse won a bowl game last season?

“I was a big fan to begin with, so I’m not more inclined, but I’m more excited to go, I guess.”

Zach SchotzSophomore Sport management major

“I have no choice because I know someone on the team anyway, so I have to go to all the games.”

Leah ElsbeckFreShman Social work major

“I’m going to say yes. I’m excited for games.”

Sara MileskiFreShman child and Family StudieS major

“I went to every game last year as well.”

Mike CollinsSophomore hiStory education major

“After turning around last season, it’s definitely going to attract people and I don’t want to miss out on that.”

Tev MartinFreShman undeclared major in the david B. Falk college oF Sport and human dynamicS

“Sure, most likely. I watch the games, but I’m not really into it as much.”

Sam PriettiSophomore undeclared major in the

college oF artS and ScienceS

s p o r t s @ d a i l y o r a n g e . c o m4 2 0 1 1 f o o t b a l l s e a s on p r e v i e w

Take the

leadS P O R T S @ D A I L Y O R A N G E . C O M 2 0 1 1 f o o t b a l l s e a s on p r e v i e w 5

FLASHES OF GREATNESSAntwon Bailey enters 2011 as the starting running back for the fi rst time in his career.

As a freshman in 2008, he found himself behind Curtis Brinkley and Delone Carter. In 2009, he and Carter had an open competition for the starting job and Carter won. Then in 2010, Bailey and the team were uncertain of Carter’s status following legal troubles. But he was reinstated, and Bailey was the backup again.

Bailey has prepared like the starter in each of the past three seasons and shown glimpses of his potential. Here is a look at some of Bailey’s biggest performances over his three years with the Orange:

Nov. 22, 2008@ Notre Dame W, 24-23In a game in which starting tailback

Curtis Brinkley struggled, Bailey seized his opportunity and led the Orange to victory. Bailey ran for 126 yards on 16 carries and scored a touchdown to bring Syracuse back into the game. He was a relatively unknown freshman at the time, but the Fighting Irish couldn’t stop his explosiveness. His 126 yards from that game are still a career high.

Nov. 21, 2009vs. Rutgers W, 31-13Bailey was everywhere against the Scarlet Knights, racking up 181 all-purpose yards on the way to a Syracuse rout. He had 16 carries for 77 yards rushing, including his fi rst and only rushing touchdown of the 2009 season. He also caught three passes for 47 yards and added 57 yards on kick returns.

Oct. 9, 2010@ South Florida W, 13-9Bailey broke off a 31-yard run as part of SU’s 98-yard scoring drive to earn its fi rst-ever win over South Florida. He fi nished with 81 yards on nine carries and also caught three passes for 48 yards. Bailey accounted for 55 yards of Syracuse’s fi rst scoring drive of the game by himself.

Oct. 23, 2010@ West Virginia W, 19-14When Delone Carter left the game in the second quarter with a bruised hip, things looked bleak for the Orange. But Bailey fi lled in seamlessly, rushing for a season-best 94 yards on 19 carries. He kept the offense alive on a day when Ryan Nassib completed just fi ve passes for 63 yards.

Take the

leadTake the

leadTake the As a freshman in 2008, he found

himself behind Curtis Brinkley and Delone Carter. In 2009, he and Carter had an open competition for the starting job and Carter won. Then in 2010, Bailey and the team were uncertain of Carter’s status following legal troubles. But he was reinstated, and Bailey was the backup again.

Bailey has prepared like the starter in each of the past three seasons and shown glimpses of his potential. Here is a look at some of Bailey’s biggest performances over his three years with the Orange:

Nov. 22, 2008@ Notre Dame W, 24-23In a game in which starting tailback

Curtis Brinkley struggled, Bailey seized his opportunity and led the Orange to victory. Bailey ran for 126 yards on 16 carries and scored a touchdown to bring Syracuse back into the game. He was a relatively unknown freshman at the time, but the Fighting Irish couldn’t stop his explosiveness. His 126 yards from that game are still a career high.

Nov. 21, 2009vs. Rutgers W, 31-13Bailey was everywhere against the Scarlet Knights, racking up 181 all-purpose yards on the way to a Syracuse rout. He had 16 carries for 77 yards rushing, including his fi rst and only rushing touchdown of the 2009 season. He also caught three passes for 47 yards and added 57 yards on kick returns.

Oct. 9, 2010@ South Florida W, 13-9Bailey broke off a 31-yard run as part of SU’s 98-yard scoring drive to earn its fi rst-ever win over South Florida. He fi nished with 81 yards on nine carries and also caught three passes for 48 yards. Bailey accounted for 55 yards of Syracuse’s fi rst scoring drive of the game by himself.

Oct. 23, 2010@ West Virginia W, 19-14When Delone Carter left the game in the second quarter with a bruised hip, things looked bleak for the Orange. But Bailey fi lled in seamlessly, rushing for a season-best 94 yards on 19 carries. He kept the offense alive on a day when Ryan Nassib completed just fi ve passes for 63 yards.

2008

2009

2010

27 receptions

35 receptions

0 receptions

YEAR YARDS AVERAGE TDs2008 0 0 02009 200 7.4 02010 306 8.7 3

Receiving

2008

2009

2010

33 carries

67 carries

114 carries

YEAR YARDS AVERAGE TDs2008 227 6.9 22009 312 4.7 12010 554 4.9 2

RushingDUAL THREATAntwon Bailey takes over as the starting running back in 2011 for Syracuse, and he’s a much different type of player than last year’s starter Delone Carter.

Bailey is a threat both running and catching the ball for the Orange. He is already SU’s career leader in receptions by a running back with 62 after only three seasons. He also ranks fi fth all-time in receiving yards by a running back with 506.

He has increased his rushing and receiving totals in each of his three years at Syracuse. Here’s a look at why Bailey is a dual threat for the Orange:

With Carter gone, rushing game lands on Bailey’s

shoulders after 3-year wait

zixi wu | staff photographer

ANTWON BAILEYPosition: Running back

Height: 5-7

Weight: 201

Year: Senior

Hometown: Landover, Md.

By Michael CohenSPORTS EDITOR

S ide by side, Delone Carter and Antwon Bailey identi-fi ed their victim. Two running backs with antithetical compositions shared the same mantra day in and day

out. It was the game within the practice.The former — an elephantine 220-pound wrecking ball.

The latter — a 5-foot-7, 192-pound change of pace.Though they were physical opposites, Syracuse’s one-two

punch for the 2010 season worked together to prey on over-exuberant defenders in practice.

“We went for somebody every day,” said Carter, who is now with the Indianapolis Colts. “Whoever is howling the most on defense. Whoever kind of gets excited and messes up the huddle, we go for them. We kill the head and let the body die.”

The pair took turns taking shots at the defense. “Handing ‘em out,” as Bailey put it, sparing no one.

On the fi eld, Carter assumed the starting role for the Orange, with Bailey playing the part of backup and little brother. Carter bludgeoned his way to an impressive 1,233 yards rushing, nine touchdowns and a Pinstripe Bowl MVP award.

“With Delone you knew right where it was going,” SU offensive coordinator Nathaniel Hackett said. “He was going to get you fi ve (yards), and I can’t ask for anything more.”

He carried the offense his fi nal two years at Syracuse, personifying the smash-mouth disposition of new head coach Doug Marrone, a former offensive lineman for the Orange.

But with Carter’s graduation in May, the role of the starter fell onto Bailey. It is his fi rst chance to be the guy for the Orange.

Naturally, questions pour in as the team readies itself to compete for the Big East title. Can a running back this small possibly carry an offense? Can he stay healthy and endure the pounding of a full 12-game season? Can he be productive enough to lead a Carter-less rushing attack?

“I know I can play with these guys, for one,” Bailey said. “But just proving everybody wrong and being in the underdog role, it’s something I’ve been in my whole life.”

SEE BAILEY PAGE 21

S P O R T S @ D A I L Y O R A N G E . C O M6 2 0 1 1 f o o t b a l l s e a s on p r e v i e w

BEAT WRITER PREDICTIONS

Overall: 8-4Conference: 4-3

F irst things fi rst: The 2011 season will not be a step backward for Syracuse. Last year saw the fi rst bowl appearance by the Orange since 2004, and this

year’s group has the talent and drive to achieve that feat again. The offense has plenty of weapons, so the question becomes whether or not it can generate more of the big plays that were lacking in 2010. The defense doesn’t return as many starters as SU fans would hope for, but there is at least one returning starter in each of the three levels. Syracuse was picked fourth in the conference, and I think that’s where it will fi nish. The Orange isn’t good enough yet to beat all of the teams it’s supposed to, as evidenced by a slipup to Louisville, but it is also capable of surprising someone it shouldn’t beat — Pittsburgh. Syracuse fi nishes 8-4 and returns to a bowl game.

Wake Forest – WRhode Island – WSouthern California – LToledo – WRutgers – WTulane – W

West Virginia – LLouisville – LConnecticut – WSouth Florida –LCincinnati – WPittsburgh – W


S yracuse could defi nitely win the Big East. Syracuse could also miss a bowl while being one of the three worst teams in the Big East. That makes this

season hard to predict, but I think it will fall somewhere in between the high and low. SU has a lot of experience offensively, so there should be growth from quarterback Ryan Nassib and a mostly veteran wide receiver group. The defense is young, so there will be some growing pains (see: when it faces Matt Barkley in Los Angeles, Week 3). Add all this up and you will see a 5-1 Syracuse team playing Big East-favorite West Virginia on Friday, Oct. 21, in the Carrier Dome. That game will tell us whether the Orange is ready to think about conference titles and Bowl Championship Series games.


T his year will be a step back to reality for Syracuse. In 2010, the Orange seemed to catch some teams sleeping and rode its dominant defense to the Pin-

stripe Bowl. But half of that unit is gone now, and SU will likely need more help from the offense to win games this season. Quarterback Ryan Nassib and the Orange were explosive against Kansas State in Yankee Stadium, but everyone seems to forget that was a clear anomaly from last season. Aside from the Pinstripe Bowl, Syracuse did not win a game when its opponent scored more than two touchdowns. And by the way, the two guys keying those big plays against the Wildcats were wide receiver Marcus Sales, who is suspended, and running back Delone Carter, who has moved on to the NFL. All that said, the Orange should be able to ride an easy fi rst half of the schedule to its second consecutive bowl game. But with a rough sec-ond half, SU will be limping into the postseason.

Wake Forest — WRhode Island — W Southern California — L Toledo — W Rutgers — W Tulane — W

West Virginia — LLouisville — W Connecticut — LSouth Florida — L Cincinnati — L Pittsburgh — L

Wake Forest — WRhode Island — WSouthern California — LToledo — WRutgers —WTulane — W

West Virginia — LLouisville — LConnecticut — WSouth Florida — WCincinnati — W Pittsburgh — L

GAME-BY-GAME PREDICTIONS

M I C H A E L C O H E N

not a dime back

M A R K C O O P E R

and the funky bunch

Z A C H B R O W N

why would i lie?

scratchscratchFromShafer rejuvenates career as mastermind of SU’s defensive transformation

By Mark CooperASST. SPORTS EDITOR

S cott Shafer climbed upstairs to an empty bed-room and hid. On a visit to his brother’s Ohio home

during Christmas break of 2008, Shafer was on the phone in solitary confi ne-ment — a fl oor above scurrying children and chatting family members.

The conversation was more than casual. Shafer and Syracuse head coach Doug Marrone talked for three hours. An exchange of endurance and philosophies, and a shot at redemption for Shafer.

“I had just been fi red at Michigan by Rich Rodriguez, and so I was out looking for a job,” Shafer said. “And I was focused in on trying to fi nd the best guy to work for that I felt had the same philosophical point of views when it came to coaching and coaching kids.

“I can remember hanging up the phone and thinking: This is the guy I want to work for.”

Blinded by the aura of Michigan, “The Big House” and the Ohio State rivalry, Shafer accepted the defensive coordina-tor job with the Wolverines three years ago without looking at the rest of the staff.

He learned the hard way and was a coaching causality of the worst season in Wolverines history. His loud, brazen demeanor on the fi eld was not received well by the Michigan defense.

But it also put things back in focus, where he knew he needed to fi nd an ideo-logical match the next time around.

The 44-year-old, born and raised in the Midwest, was a wunderkind defen-sive coordinator on a torrid climb up the college coaching ladder. A hasty decision led to a speed bump at Michigan. And

a stroke of serendipity landed him at Syracuse.

Shafer and his family moved intermi-nably — six colleges in the last nine years — until arriving at SU.

Inheriting an abysmal Syracuse defense, it took only two years for the defensive maestro to catapult the Orange from 102nd to seventh in total defense nationally.

Now, the well-traveled coach enters his third year with the Orange.

“My wife and I had a philosophy that if we can just chase the coaching profession and chase the dream, and just see where we ended up, by the time our children started to get into high school then we’d slow down,” Shafer said. “And hopefully when we’d slow down we’d be in a good position with good people.”

•••Attack, attack, attack. Forge utter

chaos. When a Scott Shafer defense is on

WELL-TRAVELEDSyracuse defensive coordinator Scott Shafer enters his third year with the Orange, but lengthy stints have not been common in the 44-year-old’s coaching career. Here’s a look at all of the places Shafer has coached, dating back to his days as a graduate assistant at Indiana 20 years ago: SCHOOL POSITION YEAR(S)Indiana Graduate assistant 1991-92Rhode Island Secondary coach 1993-95Northern Illinois Defensive coordinator/defensive backs 1996-2003Illinois Defensive backs 2004Western Michigan Defensive coordinator/defensive backs 2005-06Stanford Assistant head coach/defensive coordinator 2007Michigan Defensive coordinator 2008Syracuse Defensive coordinator 2009-Present Secondary coach 2011-Present


SEE SHAFER PAGE 19


OPPOSITEOPPOSITE

CHANDLER JONESAge: 21 Hometown: Endicott, N.Y. Height: 6’5” Weight: 265 Class: Senior

CAREER STATSYEAR TACKLES TACKLES FOR LOSS SACKS FORCED FUMBLES FUMBLES RECOVERED2008 DNP2009 52 10 1.5 0 02010 57 9.5 4 3 1Totals 109 19.5 5.5 3 1

By Zach BrownSTAFF WRITER

Arthur and Jon Jones strutted into the house fl aunt-ing wrestling headgear and proudly announced they had joined the wrestling team.

Their younger brother, Chandler, who is now a senior defensive end for Syracuse, was intrigued. He wasn’t quite sure how the headgear worked but tried it on anyway.

He put it on backward by mistake. “That’s when sports fi rst came into my family,” Chan-

dler Jones said. Jones was in third grade at the time, and this was his

fi rst exposure to sports. That dramatic entrance by his brothers marked the beginning of what would one day become three stellar athletic careers — one by each Jones child.

On the other side of the country, Mikhail Marinovich was already well in tune with the world of sports. His half brother is Todd Marinovich, a former star at Southern California and fi rst-round pick in the NFL Draft.

His father, Marv Marinovich, is a former NFL offensive lineman who became a strength and conditioning coach. He led Mikhail through six-hour workouts every day start-ing in the fourth grade.

Sometimes, they would focus on a specifi c sport for six hours. Other times, they ran along the beach from pier to pier.

“I grew up on goat milk when I was a kid,” Mikhail said. “Every little thing to try and build up my nervous system.”

Both Mikhail and Jones’ lives have since carried them to the same place — starting at defensive end for the Syra-cuse football team, whose defense ranked No. 7 in the coun-try last season. Mikhail enters the season as the starter for the third consecutive season. Jones was the starter last year and also started eight games in 2009.

But both have their own individual strengths — honed from opposite pasts — that separate them from each other as they work together to be bookends along the Syracuse defensive front.

“He works on different moves than I do and I’m even capable of,” Mikhail said of Jones. “And I do different things than he’s capable of. It’s just two different styles that come together and make a great defense.”

Life as a MarinovichMikhail believes his biggest strength shouldn’t even exist. A 6-foot-5-inch, 253-pound defensive lineman shouldn’t be so quick.

“I’m not supposed to be as fast as I am,” he said. “Through all the training I did growing up, it really enabled me to be where I am today.”

Marv raised Mikhail very similarly to the way he raised his fi rst son, Todd. He pushed both sons to the extreme, working them hours upon hours every day from grade school through high school. They ate only the healthiest foods. And training was never light.

Their social lives were very often lost to hyper-intensive workouts. In his post-playing days, Marv studied Eastern Bloc training methods that focused on increasing speed and fl exibility.

“To me, if you train slow with heavy weights like they do mostly in high schools and colleges, it’s not positive at all,” Marv said. “You can’t get fast by training slow. I don’t care what anybody says.”

Todd, now 42, had a stellar career at USC and was taken with the 24th pick by the Oakland Raiders in 1991. He was once looked at as one of the best young quarterbacks in the game.

But while the vigorous upbringing may have led to that success, many blamed that same upbringing for his dramatic fall. He failed three drug tests by the 1993 season and never returned to the NFL.

Marv and Todd’s mother eventually divorced. Marv remarried and had Mikhail. And though he raised Mikhail similarly to the way he raised Todd, he eliminated the most severe aspects.

He didn’t try to toughen Mikhail by paying someone $200 to beat him up, like he did with Todd.

“My dad’s made some mistakes, people would say about my brother,” Mikhail said. “But he’s really done the right thing with me.”

But even with those changes and more of a social life than Todd had, Mikhail was in danger of going down the same crooked path as his brother.

In California, he drew plenty of attention because of his last name. Middle school referees taunted him. Parents warned their kids to stay away. The media always had an eye on him.

All the scrutiny pushed him to look at colleges on the East Coast, where he eventually landed at Syracuse after a year at Milford Academy in New Berlin, N.Y. With the media attention signifi cantly diminished, Mikhail started life as a college freshman.

After enrolling a semester early to participate in spring football, he and a teammate were arrested for allegedly

Despite completely different lifestyles, Jones and Marinovich work together to form unique

tandem on Syracuse’s defensive line

SEE NEXT PAGE



breaking into the Manley Field House equipment room. The dust settled from the arrest, but Mikhail was in the headlines again when he and another teammate opened a hookah bar on Marshall Street.

“I was more in my experimenting kind of stage, just trying to have fun, not focusing on my priorities in life,” Mikhail said. “I got distracted by coming out here and having freedom.”

But since then, Mikhail has matured. He re-prioritized his life after talks with his dad, his wife and head coach Doug Marrone.

His focus is now on blowing past opposing offensive linemen with the speed that was hatched in his unusual youth.

“Mikhail at times may be a little quirky with the way he does things,” SU defensive ends coach Tim Daoust said. “But he is a productive kid. He’s faster than maybe it appears at times.”

Life as a JonesArthur Jones is a defensive tackle for the Baltimore Ravens. Jon Jones was crowned the Ultimate Fighting Championship light heavyweight champion in March. But Chandler Jones — the 6-foot-5-inch, 265-pound specimen that he is — may be the best athlete of the three.

“I have to say I am the best athlete, all-around,” he said. “Jon, he can’t jump or he can’t catch at all. Art’s just slow, and he has very good hips.

“I feel like God blessed me with all the gifts that they wish they had.”

The Jones’ high school football coach, Shane Hurd, agrees. And Arthur acknowledges his brother’s freakish athletic ability.

Arthur and Jon only wrestled and played defensive tackle at Union-Endicott (N.Y.) High School. Chandler played basketball, ran the 200-meter dash and played tight end in addition to defensive end for U-E.

Athletically, there are few similarities between him and Mikhail. His speed isn’t quite up to Mikhail’s level, but Chandler’s arsenal is deeper.

There’s also his length and power. Jones can create matchup problems for any left tackle.

“When he walks through a room, he gets your atten-tion,” Daoust said. “He’s athletic, long, plays the game very smooth.”

That athleticism has been there since he was young.He joined the varsity football team as a sophomore and

lined up at middle linebacker in U-E’s opening scrimmage. On the fi rst play from scrimmage, Shenendehowa (N.Y.) High School’s quarterback rolled right and tucked the ball to run.

The result turned into the opening play for Chandler’s high school highlight tape.

“Chandler was on a dead sprint and hit this kid so hard,

opened up his hips, unlocked and just hit this kid so hard, that every coach on the fi eld ran to the kid,” Hurd said. “Because we thought he killed him. He hit him that hard.”

After three years of varsity football, Chandler followed Arthur to Syracuse. But the athleticism wasn’t enough to get him on the fi eld as a freshman. He needed to learn his position and the defensive scheme, which he did from the coaching staff and his big brother.

“I taught him everything I know,” Arthur said. “When he fi rst got there, he was kind of like a baby giraffe, just all over the place.”

Growing upChandler has matured signifi cantly on the football fi eld in his time at SU, and much of it has come from his desire to surpass the success of his brothers.

“That competitiveness isn’t just on the fi eld with his brothers,” said Chandler’s roommate, SU running back Antwon Bailey. “He wants to do better than Art did. He wants to do better than Jon is doing now.”

Chandler feels like he has grown up, especially over the past year. He doesn’t skip reps in the weight room any-more. He said he has become a better student of the game.

And that dedication, he said, has come from Jon and Arthur.

“Those guys are always, even on Sundays and Satur-days, they’re always working out,” Chandler said. “And they’d bring me along with them, and I just fi gured, ‘Oh, these are our days off, why work then?’ And I see why they’re successful — no days off.”

The maturation for Mikhail has come more off the fi eld. He sold the hookah shop before his sophomore season. He married his high school girlfriend just over a year ago. And he’s more focused than he was in the past, when the newfound freedom of being on his own in Syracuse roped him into some sticky situations.

He’s also vowed not to make the same mistakes on a national stage that Todd did.

Others have taken notice.“The maturity level in the last two years has been phe-

nomenal to me,” Marv said. “Takes my speech away with the way he’s handled himself and does what he’s supposed to do.”

And it all leaves Syracuse with two grown-up and expe-rienced defensive ends.

On the left side, Mikhail attacks with the speed and quickness he has been developing since the fourth grade. On the right, Chandler breaks down blockers with the freakish athleticism he hopes will push him past the suc-cess of his brothers.

And it’s up to opposing offensive coordinators to fi gure out how to stop them.

“It’s just a nightmare,” Chandler said. “Because when you’re double-teaming Mikhail, you got to block me. And when you’re double-teaming me, you got to block Mikhail.”

[email protected]

ENDSopened up his hips, unlocked and just hit this kid so hard, that every coach on the fi eld ran to the kid,” Hurd said. “Because we thought he killed him. He hit him that hard.”

After three years of varsity football, Chandler followed Arthur to Syracuse. But the athleticism wasn’t enough to get him on the fi eld as a freshman. He needed to learn his position and the defensive scheme, which he did from the

“I taught him everything I know,” Arthur said. “When he fi rst got there, he was kind of like a baby giraffe, just all

Chandler has matured signifi cantly on the football fi eld in his time at SU, and much of it has come from his desire to

“That competitiveness isn’t just on the fi eld with his brothers,” said Chandler’s roommate, SU running back Antwon Bailey. “He wants to do better than Art did. He wants to do better than Jon is doing now.”

Chandler feels like he has grown up, especially over the past year. He doesn’t skip reps in the weight room any-more. He said he has become a better student of the game.

And that dedication, he said, has come from Jon and

“Those guys are always, even on Sundays and Satur-days, they’re always working out,” Chandler said. “And they’d bring me along with them, and I just fi gured, ‘Oh, these are our days off, why work then?’ And I see why

The maturation for Mikhail has come more off the fi eld. He sold the hookah shop before his sophomore season. He married his high school girlfriend just over a year ago. And he’s more focused than he was in the past, when the newfound freedom of being on his own in Syracuse roped

He’s also vowed not to make the same mistakes on a

“The maturity level in the last two years has been phe-nomenal to me,” Marv said. “Takes my speech away with the way he’s handled himself and does what he’s supposed

And it all leaves Syracuse with two grown-up and expe-

On the left side, Mikhail attacks with the speed and quickness he has been developing since the fourth grade. On the right, Chandler breaks down blockers with the freakish athleticism he hopes will push him past the suc-

And it’s up to opposing offensive coordinators to fi gure

“It’s just a nightmare,” Chandler said. “Because when you’re double-teaming Mikhail, you got to block me. And when you’re double-teaming me, you got to block Mikhail.”

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ENDS

CAREER STATSYEAR TACKLES TACKLES FOR LOSS SACKS FORCED FUMBLES FUMBLES RECOVERED2008 7 0 0 0 02009 20 3.5 3 1 12010 30 4 3 1 1Totals 57 7.5 6 2 2

MIKHAIL MARINOVICHAge: 23 Hometown: San Clemente, Calif. Height: 6’5” Weight: 253 Class: Senior

FROM PREVIOUS PAGE

xue wang | contributing photographer


Hot routeHot routeBy Michael Cohen and Mark Cooper

THE DAILY ORANGE

M arcus Sales acted like he’d been there before because he was sup-posed to have been there before.

The former high school All-American spurned Miami (Fla.), Pittsburgh and others to stay at home in Syracuse and arrived with as much hype as anyone in recent memory.

Signing him was “a big deal,” in the words of former Syracuse assistant Chris White, who recruited Sales.

So when Sales fi nally put it all together and hauled in three touchdowns in the 2010 Pinstripe Bowl, he played it cool. He put his hands up over his head in a diamond and his teammates pounced on him.

“Finally, I got a chance and I just made the plays when they counted,” Sales said after the game.

It had to happen soon, right?Prior to the bowl game, Sales was one lousy

performance away from a three-year slump. He had only four touchdown catches and less than 500 yards receiving in his fi rst two years combined.

But with his fi ve-catch, 172-yard outburst, the struggles faded away.

“Marcus would do that all the time during practice,” former SU receiver LaVar Lobdell said. “It seemed like he was toying with the corners and defensive backs. Eventually, it transferred over to the game day.”

It was the fi rst time in his career he had gone over 100 yards receiving and set the stage for what could have been a monstrous

senior season.“Marcus Sales is a great example of what

we have been doing in our program,” Syracuse head coach Doug Marrone said after the 36-34 win over Kansas State. “Anyone who knows Marcus Sales, he’s been a little bit up and down, but we talk about work ethic and accountability. He worked hard; last night, prior to before the game meeting I pointed out Marcus Sales and how well he’s worked and the practices he’s had, and he came out and had a big game.”

But July 29 changed everything. Sales and his brother, Michael Sales, Jr., were arrested and both face felony drug charges.

Marrone suspended Sales from the team indefi nitely Aug. 5. He has not been reinstated.

“It’s one of those deals where the team kind of has to make the adjustment and go out and compete,” wide receivers coach Rob Moore said.

Training camp became a proving ground as SU’s other wide receivers had to step up to fi ll the void. Van Chew and Alec Lemon moved up to the No. 1 and No. 2 spots, respectively.

Beyond that, no one has proven themselves. The receiving corps has more speed than last year’s, but it lacks consistency. And it lost a valuable playmaker.

“Marcus’ nickname in here was GT, and that’s Game Time,” sophomore running back Prince-Tyson Gulley said. “He was defi nitely a big playmaker for us. Any time you needed it, he was defi nitely our bailout guy.”

• • •White hadn’t heard the news about Sales.

Nineteen days after the four-star player he recruited was arrested, White, currently an assistant with the Minnesota Vikings, was still

Suspension of Sales broadens roles of other SU wide receivers

nate shron | staff photographer

SEE NEXT PAGE


anxious to see Sales take the fi eld in 2011. “I was so fi red up for Marcus in the bowl

game,” White said. “That was great for him to do that. And hopefully he’ll build on that and have a great year.”

When told of Sales’ arrest, he was taken aback.

“Oh, shit,” White said. “No, I can’t believe that. I didn’t hear that. What a shame.”

Sales and his brother were taken into cus-tody after being pulled over for running a red light in Syracuse on July 29.

The offi cer at the scene smelled marijuana from Sales’ car and noticed a 12-ounce plastic cup fi lled with liquid. When the car was searched, drugs and drug paraphernalia were found.

Police found 180 Lortab (hydrocodone and acetaminophen) tablets, three knotted pieces of plastic containing a green plant-like substance that tested positive for marijuana, a plastic cup containing gin, three digital scales and other baggies.

Sales confi rmed that the cup contained gin and admitted to drinking it. He and his brother were also in possession of nearly $1,000 in cash.

The brothers were charged with fi fth- and seventh-degree criminal possession of a con-trolled substance, second-degree criminally using drug paraphernalia and unlawful posses-sion of marijuana.

Sales was also charged with consuming alco-hol in a motor vehicle, driving through a red light and breaking the city’s open container law.

Both were arraigned July 30 and released from custody afterward.

Lobdell played with Sales at Christian Broth-ers Academy in Syracusebefore they were on the team together at SU. White said Lobdell was instrumental in convincing Sales to sign with the Orange.

They remain close friends to this day, but Lobdell said he has only spoken with Sales spar-ingly since the arrest.

“Since that incident, I’ve kept my distance,” Lobdell said. “I just tried to give him his space. I know a lot of people are bombarding him and asking him a thousand questions a day. We’ve spoken a little bit here and there, but I really just try to give him his space and respect the process of the judicial system.”

Joe Casamento, Sales’ high school coach at CBA, was also caught off guard. Sales had worked at Casamento’s football camp earlier in the summer. He said the wide receiver had put in hours of hard work during the offseason and was excited for the upcoming season.

“I’m surprised,” Casamento said. “I’ll have to wait and see how it all turns out and see what the real deal is, but I’m surprised.”

• • •Vicki Chew-Reynolds loved the picture window

in her living room. And every day she hoped it would still be intact when she returned from work.

Her son, Van Chew, and his father, Vanzago, threatened the window every day. Vanzago would place the 8-year-old Van directly in front of the big glass window and fi re passes at him from across the room.

“It used to scare me to death,” Chew-Reyn-olds said. “I was always scared that I was going to come home one day and the whole window would be out. But Van would always catch it.”

The little 8-year-old with good hands blos-

somed into a star at Centreville High School in Virginia. It was there that Chris White — the same Chris White that had already landed Mar-cus Sales — noticed just how good his hands were.

“He had the best hands that I’ve seen out of a high school kid catching the ball,” White said.

“And he could fl at out run.”His tremendous speed, athleticism and hand-

eye coordination led to a standout career at Centreville playing both quarterback and wide receiver. As a senior, Chew ran for 338 yards, threw for 640 yards and 14 touchdowns and caught 26 passes for 269 yards.

White said Chew probably weighed less than 150 pounds when he recruited him, but the kid was tough.

At 170 pounds last season, though, Chew got banged up. He played the entire second half of the season with a sports hernia and fi nally succumbed to the pain, sitting out the Pinstripe Bowl.

“I just had to tell myself that I had to suck it up and keep on playing,” Chew said.

When he was healthy, the offense had a new weapon: a deep threat. He had 79 yards on

just three catches against Akron, including a touchdown. He had a career-long 48-yard catch against Colgate.

He fi nished the season as SU’s leading receiv-er with 611 yards and fi ve touchdowns. But after Oct. 16 against Pittsburgh, he failed to top 50 yards in a game.

After recovering from surgery, the 2011 off-season was spent trying to gain weight. His mother made him fi ve or six meals a day and he worked out twice a day.

He put on 14 pounds in the last two years and is up to 175. It should help him avoid nagging injuries and better his chances of staying healthy.

“When Van Chew was rolling, the offense was rolling,” offensive coordinator Nathaniel Hackett said. “If we can keep him healthy, if we can keep his weight up, we have a real good chance.”

• • •Alec Lemon found a seam and split the defense

in the Ernie Davis Scrimmage on Aug. 20. Safety Shamarko Thomas couldn’t catch him

and Lemon sprinted into the end zone, the recipient of a 79-yard touchdown pass from Ryan Nassib. On the fi rst series of SU’s scrim-mage, Lemon made just the type of play he talked about making earlier in August.

“That was our focus in the summer, was explosive plays,” Lemon said.

Other than Chew — and Sales, if he returns — Lemon is the only wide receiver to catch a pass in a Syracuse uniform. With Chew likely getting the prime attention from opposing defenses, there’s a lot riding on Lemon’s ability

to make more plays this season.Lemon put up apathy-inspiring numbers a

season ago, catching 32 passes and four touch-downs. He also made some key drops, including what would have been a go-ahead touchdown reception in a loss to Louisville. The junior was hindered by a broken hand for much of the season, but nothing is holding him back enter-ing 2011.

“Coming off a strong spring and all summer, I feel like I’m ready to play out there with every-one else,” he said.

Though Lemon produced a monster moment in the Ernie Davis Scrimmage, he’s one of the least likely receivers to burn defenders down the fi eld for SU.

The Orange’s main deep threat should be Dorian Graham, one of SU’s fastest receivers.

Graham is a defensive back-turned-wide receiver whose stone hands kept him from catching a pass last year. But Nassib said Gra-ham took his game to the next level this sum-mer, catching thousands of balls and working on his route running as well.

If Graham dropped a pass during summer workouts, he would run the same route two more times, making sure he caught the pass twice in a row before he could move on.

He ran crisp routes throughout preseason camp, showing a refi ned wide receiver IQ that is astonishing for a former defensive back.

Combine it with his speed, and he’s a tough guy to cover.

“Dorian Graham’s improved immensely,” defensive coordinator Scott Shafer said. “He’s one of the best route runners on the team.”

Jarrod West will compete with Graham for playing time as the No. 3 receiver. West is a sophomore with a chip on his shoulder after missing all of last season with a foot injury.

If the Syracuse passing game is to take another step, any one of these guys has to catch the passes.

Anyone.“They don’t really have a choice,” fullback

Adam Harris said. “They have to step up when there’s an opportunity.”

• • •Nassib is optimistic about what his receivers

bring to the table this season. He expects that there will be a larger pool of performers this season rather than three guys — Chew, Sales and Lemon — like last season.

“We won’t have to run them ragged like we had to do last year,” Nassib said. “Which we had them run so many reps that it led to injury last year.”

Still, most of the deep receiving corps that Nassib said Syracuse possesses is unproven. And if Graham, West and players even deeper on the depth chart like Adrian Flemming and Jeremiah Kobena don’t step up, the Orange will likely be left with two receivers to rely on. Chew and Lemon.

Prior to the Pinstripe Bowl, Syracuse had just one passing play longer than 50 yards during the regular season. But Nassib expects more this year.

“They’re no longer just running routes, they’re making defenses think,” Nassib said. “They’re playing with them kind of, messing with their heads or whatever. They’re really taking their game to the next level and being technicians out there instead of just stiffs.”

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OUT OF NOWHEREIn the 2010 Pinstripe Bowl, Marcus Sales came alive. After a regular sea-son in which he caught 21 passes for 242 yards, Sales exploded for 172 yards on fi ve catches. Three of those recep-tions were touchdowns and helped fuel the Orange in its 36-34 win over Kansas State. Here’s a look at Sales’ production from that game, reception-by-reception:

First quarter

Before: KSU 7, SU 01st and 10 from the SU 48: On a fl ea fl icker, Ryan Nassib completes a 52-yard pass to Sales for a touchdown to get the Orange on the board.After: KSU 7, SU 7

Second quarter

Before: KSU 7, SU 71st and 10 from the SU 21: Nassib completes a 22-yard pass to Sales on the fi rst play of the drive.After: KSU 7, SU 7

Before: KSU 7, SU 73rd and 10 from the KSU 36: Seven plays later, Nassib hits Sales again for a 36-yard touchdown to give the Orange its fi rst lead of the game.After: SU 14, KSU 7

Fourth quarter

Before: KSU 28, SU 273rd and 10 from the SU 28: Nassib completes an 18-yard pass to Sales that keeps the go-ahead drive alive.After: KSU 28, SU 27

Before: KSU 28, SU 271st and 10 from the KSU 44: Four plays later, Nassib fi nds Sales for a 44-yard score that puts Syracuse in front for good. After: SU 33, KSU 28

SALES

FROM PREVIOUS PAGE

S P O R T S @ D A I L Y O R A N G E . C O M 2 0 1 1 f o o t b a l l s e a s on p r e v i e w 1 1

“Marcus’ nickname in here was GT, and that’s Game Time. He was defi nitely a big playmaker for us. Any time you needed it, he was defi nitely our bailout guy.”

Prince-Tyson GulleySU RUNNING BACK

1 2 2 0 1 1 f o o t b a l l s e a s on p r e v i e w 2 0 1 1 F O O T B A L L S E A S O N P R E V I E W

DERRELL SMITHHeight: 6’1”

Weight: 232

Class: Graduated — signed with Tampa Bay Buccaneers

The defense lost its leader, plain and simple. Linebackers coach Dan Con-ley will be the fi rst one to tell you that the “Mike” linebacker is one of the most important positions on the fi eld, and Derrell Smith played it well.

“That’s a position, in my opinion, the “Mike” linebacker where he’s the leader of that defense,” Conley said. “I don’t care if he’s a freshman or a senior.”

Last season, Smith and fellow linebacker Doug Hogue anchored the Syracuse defense. Smith tallied 114 total tackles, the most on the team. He was the only person to top 100.

He also forced three fumbles. But perhaps even more important than his on-fi eld production was his

leadership. In addition to leading the defense, Smith was a leader in the locker room for the Orange. When the coaches were not around, Smith was one of the players who took it upon himself to be a voice of reason.

“When Derrell Smith said, ‘Hey, we’ve got to get the team together,’ there was no discussion of whether or not we were going to have a team meeting,” Conley said. “Derrell had a team meeting, and everybody got in there.”

Though he was originally a running back for SU, he leaves as one of the best linebackers in recent years. He is 10th all-time in tackles for loss.

Smith was not drafted, but he signed with Tampa Bay after the lockout was lifted. Buccaneers head coach Raheem Morris had been impressed with Smith early on and said he could compete for a starting spot.

DOUG HOGUEHeight: 6’2”

Weight: 226

Class: Graduated — drafted by Detroit Lions

Now entering his rookie year with the Detroit Lions, Doug Hogue started his career at Syracuse as a running back. He piled up 483 yards on 112 car-ries in his fi rst two seasons before jumping over to the defensive side of the ball.

From there, he teamed up with inside linebacker Derrell Smith to become one of the key pieces of the Orange’s No. 7 overall defense a year ago. Both head coach Doug Marrone and linebackers coach Dan Conley said losing Smith and Hogue to graduation meant losing a great deal of leadership and experience.

“Not only were they two good football players, they were better people and great leaders for us in the locker room and off the fi eld,” Marrone said. “That’s probably our No. 1 concern on the defensive side of the ball is lead-ership.”

Hogue was a big pass rush threat in his fi rst season as a linebacker, recording 9.5 sacks as a junior. He set a Syracuse record with 6.5 tackles for loss in a single game against Rutgers in 2009.

The sack numbers tailed off in his senior year, but he made 95 tackles in 2010 compared to 72 the year before.

Conley also put the loss of Hogue and Smith into numbers.“The production for the linebackers, they had over 200 tackles last year,”

he said. “We had 950 plays. It’s roughly 20 percent.”

BRICE HAWKESHeight: 6’

Weight: 216

Class: Sophomore — dismissed from team in April

Hometown: Pembroke Pines, Fla.

There were high hopes for Brice Hawkes. After Malcolm Cater was dis-missed from the team in December, Hawkes looked like the next-best young linebacker to step into a starting role. But he has always been in trouble.

He and defensive tackle Andrew Lewis were both suspended for the Pinstripe Bowl in December for an undisclosed violation of team rules. Hawkes was suspended again for the start of spring practice, but did enter the spring as the starting weakside linebacker on SU’s pre-spring depth chart.

He was not on the fi eld for long before trouble struck again. This time, head coach Doug Marrone dismissed Hawkes from the team without explanation. Freshman Dyshawn Davis took the starting job and ran with it.

Hawkes recorded 12 tackles last season for the Orange.

SIRIKI DIABATEHeight: 5’10”

Weight: 210

Class: Junior

Hometown: Bronx, N.Y.

Siriki Diabate joins the Orange this season after dominating the North-east Football Conference with Nassau Community College for two years. The Ivory Coast native recorded 92 tackles and scored three defensive touchdowns for an 11-0 NCC team last year. That led to his selection to the All-NFC First Team in 2010.He played running back and linebacker at Doug Marrone’s alma mater, Lehman High School, in the Bronx prior to Nassau.

Diabate is another one of the smaller but quicker linebackers that have joined the unit for SU this season.

“You’ve got to have a kid that’s athletic enough to go out and cover a slot receiver, go out and run with him man-to-man,” linebackers coach Dan Conley said. “But he’s got to be physical enough and strong enough to come in the box and play against teams that are running iso and power.”

Even though he is the shortest backer of the group, he was listed as the fi rst backup to Dan Vaughan at the strongside linebacker spot enter-ing training camp. He was moved to middle linebacker in preseason camp and has been backing up Marquis Spruill at that position.

LEWELLYN COKERHeight: 6’1”

Weight: 218

Class: Sophomore

Hometown: Warren, Ohio

Lewellyn Coker played mostly special teams last year, but did make it onto the fi eld in every game for the Orange. At 6-foot-1, he is among the taller linebackers on the team.

He only weighs 218 pounds and uses his speed to make plays. At War-ren G. Harding High School in Ohio, he ran varsity track and fi eld for four years. He also made over 100 tackles as a senior in high school.

Coker was listed as the fi rst backup to Dyshawn Davis at the weakside linebacker spot entering training camp, but his biggest contributions this year will likely come on special teams again. He has since switched with Siriki Diabate and will play outside linebacker this season.

“If they’re not starting, then a lot of those guys will be a part of the special teams,” linebackers coach Dan Conley said. “They’re guys that can run, get off blocks and make tackles on the defensive special teams like punt, kickoff coverage, the teams that you can get scored on, those are defensive mentality type of special teams.”

Coker made six tackles for the Orange last year.

CAMERON LYNCH Height: 5’11”

Weight: 223

Class: Freshman

Hometown: Lawrenceville, Ga.

In the middle of Southeastern Conference territory, Cameron Lynch domi-nated. He’s a bit undersized for a linebacker at 5 feet 11 inches and 223 pounds, but he played big for Brookwood (Ga.) High School.

As a senior, Lynch racked up 188 tackles and a school-record 18.5 sacks. As a junior, he had 135 tackles. All of this coming at the AAAAA level — the highest in the state of Georgia and in the Atlanta area, which is one of the most highly recruited parts of the state.

Yet the Southeastern Conference coaches stayed away. “Some of the defensive coordinators in the Southeastern Conference

that I ran into said, ‘Well, hey, if he was three or four more inches bigger we might have taken him at our school,’” head coach Doug Marrone said. “Well, that’s good for us.”

So Lynch, a three-star prospect as rated by Rivals, signed with the Orange. He turned down offers from Air Force, Akron, Harvard and Vanderbilt.

Early in camp, Lynch has impressed with his high football IQ and foot speed. He’s part of a linebacking group that is the fastest SU has had in recent years.

Linebackers coach Dan Conley and assistant head coach John Ansel-mo both feel Lynch can earn playing time on special teams at the very least in 2011. Because Marquis Spruill is the only returning starter at line-backer, perhaps Lynch can even work his way onto the fi eld with the rest of the defense.

“Sometimes we get caught up in, ‘You have to be this tall. You have to be this amount of weight,’” Marrone said. “Sometimes we lose sight of the guy that can just fl at out play football. And I think Cameron Lynch can go out there and just fl at out play football.”

OLIVER VIGILLEHeight: 6’3”

Weight: 212

Class: Freshman

Hometown: Miami

The difference between this group of linebackers and that of last year’s Syracuse team is speed. The 2011 bunch is loaded with smaller, faster guys that can run like defensive backs.

Oliver Vigille is one of those guys. He has a nice height at 6 feet 3 inches tall, but he’s a bit lanky right now. He weighs only 212 pounds.

Nonetheless, Vigille, Cameron Lynch and Lewellyn Coker have worked in the backup outside linebacker spots with Siriki Diabate in the middle throughout camp. Vigille moves extremely well and matches up nicely against tight ends because of his height.

“Oliver’s done a really nice job,” SU linebackers coach Dan Conley said. “He can run. You look at him and you say he could be a safety. He’s one of those kids who’s real smooth through transitions.”

Like Lynch, Vigille’s best chance to get on the fi eld is on special teams.

Aside from that, Conley said Vigille’s main focus will be on taking advantage of the weight room at Syracuse. He said Vigille has a body that can really be strengthened throughout the course of this year to turn him into a more complete player.

“I think he’s a guy that will benefi t from being in the program this year and being in the weight room and coming in early,” Conley said. “He’s got a body that he could put probably another 15 or 20 pounds on of weight-room muscle.”

Vigille chose Syracuse over Florida International, South Florida and Central Florida.

RESERVES

LINE‘em up

Unproven linebackers must make up for loss of Hogue, Smith

DYSHAWN DAVISHeight: 6’3”

Weight: 213

Class: Freshman

Hometown: Woodbury, N.J.

Dyshawn Davis was never a linebacker before coming to Syracuse. At Woodbury (N.J.) High School, he caught 80 passes as a wide receiver and committed to Syra-cuse as a receiver for the Class of 2010. Then he spent last season at Milford Acad-emy in New Berlin, N.Y., where he played receiver and safety.

Davis would be an intriguing option at wide receiver for sure. At 6 feet 3 inches, 213 pounds, he has the size to wreak some havoc in the passing game.

But when he enrolled early last spring to practice with the Orange, the coaches made the decision to move Davis to linebacker — a position that needed bodies after Derrell Smith and Doug Hogue graduated. And he excelled right away. So much so that he left the spring as a starting outside linebacker.

In preseason camp, it looks like he has held on to that job.“Dyshawn Davis runs as well as any linebacker that I’ve ever been around on the

fi eld,” SU head coach Doug Marrone said. “Now his 40-time may not be that way, but as far as on the fi eld, he can fl at run.”

Linebacker Dan Vaughan said Davis has really progressed in learning the defen-sive schemes and knowing where to go. He said he’s at the point where even though Vaughan talks to him in between plays, it isn’t needed nearly as much.

“On the fi eld, I’m kind of talking with Dyshawn in between every play really, and we kind of know what we’re thinking,” Vaughan said. “I’ll try and go say something, and he’ll like cut me off. He’ll be like ‘yeah, yeah,’ and he’ll fi nish my sentence.”

MARQUIS SPRUILLHeight: 6’1”

Weight: 216

Class: Sophomore

Hometown: Hillside, N.J.

Marquis Spruill has a lot of responsibility this year. He’s the lone returning starter after spending last season alongside two savvy seniors in Derrell Smith and Doug Hogue. He recorded 51 tackles and nine tackles for loss last year in a solid fresh-man campaign, but he has moved inside to the ‘Mike’ (middle) linebacker position.

It is a position that Spruill has never played before, but linebackers coach Dan Conley said though his transition has not been seamless, it has been comfortable.

“Has he picked up where he left off in spring ball? Yeah, I think so,” Conley said. “And he’s continuing to learn the ‘Mike’ linebacker position, where Derrell had expe-rience going into that position.”

Spruill looked good in preseason camp, even while being hobbled by a leg bruise. For the SU defense to repeat its success from last year, he may need to put up the same production as well.

He’ll at least have to make up for some of Smith’s leadership.“I’ve been trying to educate him and let him know that’s a really important role,” Conley said. “That if you’re the ‘Mike’ line-

backer of that defense, there’s a lot of times you’ve got 10 sets of eyes on you.”

DAN VAUGHANHeight: 6’2”

Weight: 219

Class: Senior

Hometown: Gibsonia, Pa.

Dan Vaughan is fi nally getting a chance. He spent the past two seasons primarily on special teams, and even when he was placed at the top of the depth chart at the beginning of spring practice this year, there were questions as to how long he would stay there.

But he has fl ourished. Linebackers coach Dan Conley said Vaughan knows the ins and outs of all three linebacker positions in SU’s defensive scheme. He could trust Vaughan to know where to be at any of the positions.

Vaughan said he’s really improving throughout preseason camp.“I feel great. I mean, even I’m learning new things,” Vaughan said. “Even if it’s

not, I’m learning new things on the defense, I’m honing what I know. Coach Con-ley and coach Anselmo are great, and they’re really getting us all tuned in to the defense.”

Vaughan recorded 10 total tackles over the past two seasons. Outside of Spruill’s 51, those are the only 10 tackles recorded by Syracuse starting linebackers.

SU head coach Doug Marrone said he feels very good about the starting line-backer corps, though. Vaughan has the football IQ and knowledge of the defense. He just has to utilize it.

“Danny’s always been a very good technical player,” Marrone said. “Making plays, knows how to line up, tough. Injuries have hurt him in the past and he’s been healthy (this camp).”

Vaughan said. “I’ll try and go say something, and he’ll like cut me off. He’ll be like ‘yeah, yeah,’ and he’ll fi nish my sentence.”

Syracuse’s linebacking corps keyed the Orange’s rise up the defensive rankings

in 2010. The Orange had a top-10 defense and much of the credit goes to senior

linebackers Derrell Smith and Doug Hogue and the leadership they provided. But

both are now in the NFL, which leaves Syracuse with a couple of major holes to fi ll.

Marquis Spruill, Dan Vaughan and Dyshawn Davis enter the season as Syracuse’s starting

linebackers. There are also a handful of guys behind them striving to get on the fi eld this season.

One thing’s for sure: There is more youth and inexperience at linebacker than last season. But

there might be more athleticism at the position than SU has had in years.

—Compiled by The Daily Orange Sports staff

photos by xue wang | contributing photographer

Home and awayFormer Syracuse coach Pasqualoni returns to Big East, takes over home-state program

Home and awayFormer Syracuse coach Pasqualoni returns to Big East, takes over home-state program

By Chris IsemanSTAFF WRITER

T his was the one opportunity that caught Paul Pasqualoni’s attention.

He was comfortable as the defen-sive coordinator for the Dallas Cow-

boys and enjoyed living in the Dallas suburb of Southlake, Texas.

A potential return to college football was not high on his list of priorities. And even if he wanted to leave for a head coaching job some-where else, he admittedly would not know the fi rst place to look.

“I’m not the kind of guy that’s on the phone looking for the next job,” Pasqualoni said. “I couldn’t tell you if one guy is moving to another job, or somebody else is moving around. I’m the worst guy in the world in knowing what’s going on from a job standpoint.”

But this opening was different than others. It was exactly what he had wanted and precisely the job he never thought would be there.

Randy Edsall, who built the Connecti-cut football team into a Big East champi-on, abruptly resigned and fl ed for Mary-land to take over as the Terrapins’ head coach in early January. And if there was a place Pasqualoni felt he could fi t in, it was Connecticut — his home state. So when Jeff Hathaway, the former UConn athletic director, called to offer the then 61-year-old the job, there was no way Pasqualoni could turn it down.

“I will say this, if I was going to go back to college football, I thought

it was going to have to be a place geographically where I would

have a chance to fi t in and know the territory,” Pasqualoni said. “To be honest with you, I never

expected the University of Con-necticut job to be available.”

The opportunity to go home was the best possible

scenario. He was raised in Cheshire, Conn., 53 miles southwest of the UConn campus in Storrs.

He knows the landscape of Connecticut foot-ball better than anyone, having been on the coaching staffs at Cheshire High School and Southern Connecticut before getting his fi rst head coaching job at Western Connecticut in 1982.

Pasqualoni is no stranger to the Big East, either. He is the second-longest tenured head coach in Syracuse history after leading the Orange from 1991 through 2004. He was the architect of some of the best teams in program history, accumulating an overall record of 107-59-1 and leading the Orange to four Big East

championships and nine bowl games. But from 2002 to 2004, the team struggled,

going 16-20 in those three seasons. Daryl Gross, who was one year into his tenure as Syracuse’s athletic director, fi red Pasqualoni after the 2004 season, saying that he felt a change was in order.

He moved on to the NFL for the next six years, splitting time between the Cowboys and the Miami Dolphins.

Anyone who knows him, though, believes that it’s college football — not the NFL — where Pasqualoni belongs.

Donovin Darius was a free safety for Pasqua-loni at Syracuse in the mid-1990s and was not

courtesy of university of connecticut athletic communications

SEE PASQUALONI PAGE 23

COACHING CAREERYEAR SCHOOL/TEAM POSITION1972-75 Cheshire (Conn.) High School Assistant coach1976-81 Southern Connecticut Assistant coach (1976-79) Defensive coordinator (1980-81)1982-86 Western Connecticut Head coach1987-2004 Syracuse Linebackers coach (1987-90) Head coach (1991-2004)2005-07 Dallas Cowboys Tight ends coach (2005) Linebackers coach (2006-07)2008-09 Miami Dolphins Defensive coordinator2010 Dallas Cowboys Interim defensive coordinator2011 Connecticuit Head coach

Linebackers coach (2006-07)2008-09 Miami Dolphins Defensive coordinator2010 Dallas Cowboys Interim defensive coordinator2011 Connecticuit Head coach

S P O R T S @ D A I L Y O R A N G E . C O M1 4 2 0 1 1 f o o t b a l l s e a s on p r e v i e w


VOLUNTEERS NEEDEDFundraising Drive • Saturday, September 10On campus before the SU/Rhode Island football gameVolunteers will receive a free ticket to the game and free parking in Booth Garage.

Help SU raise the roof!

in New York State

First

VETERANS BUILDSYRACUSEUNIVERSITY

Sign up by September 7 at veterans.syr.edu/build or call 443-9297.

Last year’s fi nish: T-1stProjected record: 10-2 (6-1 Big East)New head coach Dana Holgorsen inherits a Mountaineers team that is the heavy favorite to win the Big East. West Virginia received 21 of the 24 fi rst-place votes in the conference’s preseason media poll and is the lone Big East team ranked in the Associated Press Top 25 poll. Quarterback Geno Smith, who led the conference in pass effi ciency in 2010, is back, along with wide receiver Tavon Austin and his eight touchdown catches last year. The Mountaineers do have holes to fi ll at running back after losing Noel Devine, and the defense returns only four starters.Strengths: QuarterbackWeaknesses: Running back, defenseX-factor: Can someone emerge from the four-man running back competition to replace Noel Devine?

Last year’s fi nish: T-1stProjected record: 8-4 (5-2 Big East)Pittsburgh has an experienced group back on offense, led by quarter-back Tino Sunseri, running back Ray Graham and a veteran offensive line. Graham ran for 922 yards and eight touchdowns as Dion Lewis’ change-of-pace back. He now assumes the starting role. Sunseri enters his second year as the starter under new head coach Todd Gra-ham, who led a prolifi c no-huddle attack in four years at Tulsa.Strengths: Running back, offensive lineWeaknesses: Special teamsX-factor: How will the defense perform in a new 3-4 base?

Last year’s fi nish: T-5thProjected record: 8-4 (5-2 Big East)Quarterback B.J. Daniels struggled through his sophomore season, throwing 11 touchdowns and 13 interceptions while rushing for just 259 yards. A year earlier, Daniels threw fi ve more touchdowns than interceptions and rushed for 772 yards and nine touchdowns. An unproven group of wide receivers and running backs surround Daniels on offense. The defense must replace four All-Big East players, but it has three returning starters in the secondary.Strengths: Quarterback, secondaryWeaknesses: Running back, wide receiverX-factor: Can B.J. Daniels bounce back after a down 2010 season?

Last year’s fi nish: 4thProjected record: 8-4 (4-3 Big East)Syracuse comes into 2011 looking to build on its Pinstripe Bowl victory last season. SU enters the year with a chance to record back-to-back winning seasons for the fi rst time since 2000 and 2001. Quarterback Ryan Nassib has his top fi ve receivers back from last season. But even though Marcus Sales is on the roster, he is currently suspended from the team. Nassib also has an experienced offensive line that returns four starters protecting him. On defense, SU has to replace two start-ing linebackers, cornerbacks and defensive tackles.Strengths: Wide receiver, offensive lineWeaknesses: Defensive experienceX-Factor: Can Antwon Bailey give the Orange a reliable running game with Delone Carter now in the NFL?

Last year’s fi nish: 7thProjected record: 7-5 (3-4 Big East)Cincinnati is looking to rebound after a 4-8 season in 2010. The Bearcats are led by Zach Collaros, the unanimous quarterback choice for the All-Big East First Team last year. Even with Collaros and 1,000-yard rusher Isaiah Pead leading the offense, the Bearcats struggled in head coach Butch Jones’ fi rst year. The team ranked last in the confer-ence in scoring defense, giving up 28 points per game.Strengths: Quarterback, running backWeaknesses: DefenseX-Factor: Will the defense, which returns all 11 starters, improve enough to translate to more wins?

Last year’s fi nish: T-5thProjected record: 6-6 (2-5 Big East)Louisville comes off a 7-6 season that ended with a win in the 2010 Beef ‘O’ Brady’s Bowl. But the Cardinals have just four starters returning on offense and look to be in for a rebuilding season. Former walk-on Will Stein is leading a quarterback competition with freshman Teddy Bridge-water going into the season. The offensive line also has just one return-ing starter. The defensive line and linebackers are strengths on defense, while the cornerback position is a question mark.Strengths: Defensive line, linebackersWeaknesses: Quarterback, offensive lineX-Factor: Can Stein or Bridgewater emerge to lead the Cardinals at quarterback?

Last year’s fi nish: 8thProjected record: 6-6 (2-6 Big East)Rutgers has 17 returning starters from a 4-8 team last season, includ-ing 10 on offense. Quarterback Chas Dodd enters his fi rst full season as the starter after starting eight games last season. Mark Harrison and Mohamed Sanu combine to give Dodd one of the top receiving duos in the conference. A mix of experience and youth make up the defense.Strengths: Wide receiver, running backWeaknesses: Defensive line, secondaryX-Factor: Can Dodd build on a solid freshman campaign and lead an experienced offense?

Last year: T-1st *earned Bowl Championship Series berthProjected record: 5-7 (1-6 Big East)Former Syracuse head coach Paul Pasqualoni enters his fi rst season at the helm for Connecticut following Randy Edsall’s departure for Mary-land. Coming off a Fiesta Bowl appearance, the Huskies will have a new starting quarterback and running back. D.J. Shoemate will replace 2010 Big East Offensive Player of the Year Jordan Todman, who was drafted by the San Diego Chargers. UConn has all four starters on the defensive line back as well as four starters in the secondary.Strengths: Defensive line, secondaryWeaknesses: Quarterback, running backX-Factor: Can Shoemate, who had just 28 rushing attempts last year, be productive in place of Todman?

WEST VIRGINIA CINCINNATI

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BIG EAST PREDICTIONS

By Ryne GeryASST. SPORTS EDITOR

C hris Banjo and his Southern Methodist teammates could not contain their emotions on the sideline. As the Mustangs put

the fi nishing touches on a 45-10 rout of Nevada at the 2009 Hawaii Bowl, their attention shifted to a pregame poll in which only nine percent of voters picked SMU to win.

“Oh, and America thought we were going to lose,” said one Mustang as they let loose. Inspired, Banjo grabbed a whiteboard and scribbled down a message for the ESPN cameras to relay to the nation.

It read: “91 percent of America was wrong.”“I defi nitely wanted to let the nation know

that they were wrong in terms of who they picked,” said Banjo, now a senior safety.

Banjo’s impromptu message announced to the nation SMU football was back. The program was used to hearing the doubters throughout a 25-year bowl drought that fi nally ended Christ-mas Eve 2009 in Hawaii. But on that night, the Mustangs’ players who once struggled to believe in themselves were no longer in doubt.

Head coach June Jones began to erase the self-doubt that plagued the SMU program when he was hired to take over a struggling team that went 1-11 in 2007. Now in his fourth year at the helm, Jones has taken the Mustangs to two straight bowl games and a Conference USA championship game. And with 18 returning starters, SMU is aiming to bring home the conference title this year.

Jones had to lay the foundation for success during another 1-11 season in his fi rst year with SMU in 2008. Before his team could win, it had to come together as a family and believe. And that required a brand-new mindset for a program and school stuck in neutral ever since the 1987 NCAA-imposed “death penalty.”

Southern Methodist was placed on probation for three years in 1985 for recruiting violations, including a pay-for-play scandal. But school offi cials continued paying players to keep them quiet about further violations.

The NCAA then drilled SMU with the so-called death penalty in 1987, shutting the pro-gram down for a full season. The sanctions forced SMU to cancel the 1988 season as well, after many players fl ed to other programs to fi nish their careers.

The Mustangs returned in 1989 but didn’t have a winning season until 1997 — and that was the only winning season until 2009. Since the death penalty, four different head coaches came to Dallas before Jones. None could restore the winning tradition.

“You have to change the mental condition of not just the football team, but the whole school,”

Jones said.To do that, the head coach had to earn his

players’ trust and respect.Jones did that when he suspended three

starters — including his “two best players,” wide receivers Emmanuel Sanders and Aldrick Robinson — for the fi nal two games of the 2008 season under his “three strikes” policy.

Former SMU linebacker Chase Kennemer said Jones was a straight shooter from the start. Kennemer remembers the head coach giving the players a single-sheet handout outlin-ing team rules, punishments and expectations before training camp.

There was no gray area, not even for stars. “Whether you were a scrub-team guy or a

star, he treated you the same,” said Kennemer, a senior captain on the 2009 team.

After the suspensions, the players knew Jones meant what he said. No one player was bigger than the team or the resurrection of the program. The head coach preached family and emphasized a system of accountability in which

the players assumed control of the team.Kennemer said if a teammate missed class

or was late to practice, his entire position group would run. Teammates then made sure every-one was going to class and following the rules to prevent any punishment.

“If one guy keeps making the whole team or the whole position or whoever else run, eventu-ally the other guys in that group are going to start getting on them,” Kennemer said. “Which is what the coaches want rather than them hav-ing to do it.”

That system worked perfectly during the 2009 season. The team became a family. There were no cliques or off-fi eld problems.

So when SMU arrived in Hawaii for its bowl game that year, Jones did not have many rules. He did not enforce a strict curfew or dress code on the trip. At practices, the team was all busi-ness. But off the fi eld, Jones told the players to enjoy themselves.

The relaxed approach worked. No one was late to any meetings or practices.

Kennemer remembers seeing Nevada players throughout the week always wearing collared shirts tucked into their pants. He could tell the players were tense following their

coach’s strict rules. And it showed on the fi eld, as SMU eas-

ily handled the Wolf Pack in that Hawaii Bowl. Kennemer said he talked to Nevada players dur-ing penalties on the fi eld throughout the game. And they were sick of all the rules and pressure.

“‘Our coach has been on us for so long at these bowl practices, making us go so hard, and everybody’s just burnt out,’” Nevada players told Kennemer. “‘We’re tired of (Nevada head coach Chris Ault’s) militant kind of approach to this whole deal.’”

The Hawaii Bowl victory capped an 8-5 sea-son and the largest single-season turnaround in the Football Bowl Subdivision, following the 1-11 season in 2008. The fi rst step to rebuilding a winning tradition was complete.

In 2010, the Mustangs reached the Confer-ence USA championship game for the fi rst time, falling to Central Florida 17-7. Jones felt his 7-7 team last year was better than the 2009 group but said the Mustangs did not always make plays to win games.

That was true in the conference champion-ship loss to UCF. Jones said quarterback Kyle Padron missed three chances to throw touch-down passes. The three missed opportunities could have been the difference in what ended in a 10-point loss for SMU.

Jones said this year, the Mustangs have to get back to the conference championship game and act like they belong there. The players need to develop what Jones calls that “walk of cham-pions” — a confi dence that can only come with success on the fi eld.

“Until you do it on the fi eld,” Jones said, “you just never know if you have it.”

Jones said this year’s team reported to train-ing camp in the best shape of any team he has ever coached. He conducts a conditioning test called the 220 test, in which players run 220-yard sprints 10 times on the fi rst day of camp. The players must fi nish each sprint under a minute, with more specifi c times based on position.

Jones said 15 to 30 players usually fail the test, but this year only three players failed.

Banjo, the senior safety, said the players pushed each other all summer at workouts and seven-on-seven drills. The junior Pad-ron and Banjo said nearly the entire team was at voluntary summer workouts on a consistent basis.

“I think that’s what it’s going to take for us to be the best team in the conference,” Padron said, “to have everybody working when nobody’s watching us.”

The summer of hard work in the Texas heat paid off in the 220 test. And when teammates needed an extra push, their “brothers” were there to encourage them.

Banjo said junior defensive back Ryan Smith ran the full 220-yard sprint alongside team-mates after he had fi nished his own to help them through it.

Banjo also did some extra running, taking off to push his tired teammates for the last 50 yards as time ran out.

“I’ll go out there and try to help someone, motivate them,” Banjo said. “Run next to them, just talk to them and let them know, ‘You’re doing this not just for yourself, but for your team.’”

For Banjo, it all goes back to family. Jones stresses the players are doing it for their brother next to them during every drill. With that sys-tem fi rmly in place, Banjo believes the program is ready to go big time.

It’s a belief he had as he scribbled that mes-sage for America on the whiteboard that Christ-mas Eve night in Hawaii.

“That SMU is ready to play and we’re headed in the right direction,” Banjo said. “And the sky is the limit for us.”

[email protected]“You have to change the mental condition of not just the football team, but the whole school.”

June JonesSMU HEAD COACH


ResurrectedJones rebuilds SMU more than 20 years after NCAA sanctions cripple program

That was true in the conference champion-ship loss to UCF. Jones said quarterback Kyle Padron missed three chances to throw touch-down passes. The three missed opportunities could have been the difference in what ended in

Jones said this year, the Mustangs have to get back to the conference championship game and act like they belong there. The players need to develop what Jones calls that “walk of cham-pions” — a confi dence that can only come with

“Until you do it on the fi eld,” Jones said, “you

Jones said this year’s team reported to train-ing camp in the best shape of any team he has ever coached. He conducts a conditioning test called the 220 test, in which players run 220-yard sprints 10 times on the fi rst day of camp. The players must fi nish each sprint under a minute, with more specifi c times based on

Jones said 15 to 30 players usually fail the test, but this year only three players failed.

Banjo, the senior safety, said the players pushed each other all summer at workouts and seven-on-seven drills. The junior Pad-ron and Banjo said nearly the entire team was at voluntary summer workouts on a

“I think that’s what it’s going to take for us to be the best team in the conference,” Padron said, “to have everybody working

The summer of hard work in the Texas heat paid off in the 220 test. And when teammates needed an extra push, their “brothers” were there to encourage them.

[email protected]

courtesy of southern methodist public relations

S P O R T S @ D A I L Y O R A N G E . C O M

Preseason prognosticators left out Alabama run-ning back Mark Ingram and Auburn quarter-back Cameron Newton when they etched out the last two Heisman Trophy races.

The most outstanding college football players of 2009 and 2010 took home the hardware anyway.

This year’s Heisman race could end up with another preseason unknown as the trophy’s 77th winner. The more likely scenario, however, involves one of these college gridiron standouts hoisting the trophy in December.

So, good luck, dark horses. You’ll have to beat out these fi ve players for a shot at the Heisman Trophy:

Andrew Luck, QB, Stanford2010 statistics: 3,338 passing yards, 32 passing touchdownsAndrew Luck had 22 million reasons — one for each dollar he could have signed for — to enter the NFL Draft in April. Instead, that money went to 2010 Heisman winner and No. 1 pick Newton. While Luck remained in school, his head coach, Jim Harbaugh, left for the San Francisco 49ers head coaching gig.

Stanford is reloading. Along with Harbaugh, Luck loses several pieces of a top-notch offensive line (just six sacks allowed last season) and his top two receivers — Doug Baldwin and Ryan Whalen.

Still, Luck — the 2010 Heisman runner-up — has the tools to be college football’s top quarter-back and mask most, if not all, of his team’s prob-lems. And barring a Jake Locker-esque senior season or an injury, Luck looks like a good bet to be the 2011 Heisman Trophy winner.

Denard Robinson, QB, Michigan2010 statistics: 2,570 passing yards, 18 passing touchdowns, 1,702 rushing yards, 14 rushing touchdownsDenard Robinson had the look of a Heisman win-ner. The 2010 Heisman was his for the taking in mid-October before injuries and Michigan’s struggles derailed his trophy bid. Yet he still managed to become the only quarterback in NCAA history to run and pass for 1,500 yards in one season. His per-formance against Notre Dame — rushing and passing for more than 200 yards each — also landed him in the Division I Football Bowl Sub-division record book. He accomplished that feat again against Indiana later in the season.

Head coach Rich Rodriguez was fi red after the season. And although Rodriguez did not accom-plish much in his tenure at Ann Arbor, Mich., his spread offense was perfectly tailored for “Shoe-lace” Robinson.

Will new head coach Brady Hoke utilize his star quarterback’s skills the same way? If he can, Luck may have some competition in the eyes of the Heisman Trust.

LaMichael James, RB, Oregon2010 statistics: 1,731 rushing yards, 21 rushing touchdownsOregon returns the majority of its starting cast on offense, and Ducks head coach Chip Kelly knows how to use his most explosive player. LaMichael James led the nation in rushing yards in 2010 en route to a national championship game appearance and third-place fi nish in last year’s Heisman race.

James is perhaps the most talented ball car-rier in college football, but other running backs could make a better Heisman case. South Caro-lina’s Marcus Lattimore and Alabama’s Trent Richardson play in the toughest conference in college football, the Southeastern Conference, and voters may value that more in a running back. They did with Ingram in 2009 but not with Reggie Bush in 2005 when he “won.”

Then there’s Darron Thomas. The Ducks’ quarterback came into his own last season and threw 30 touchdown passes. Thomas could steal some of James’ thunder and mount his own Heis-man campaign if Oregon starts out hot behind him.

Then again, if the Ducks fl y, you can count on some electrifying runs from James.

Kellen Moore, QB, Boise State2010 statistics: 3,845 passing yards, 35 passing touchdownsIf Kellen Moore keeps up his play from the past three seasons, he’ll exit college football as its most effi cient passer ever. The career numbers back up Moore’s case for Heis-man better than the stats that earned him a fourth-place fi nish in the 2010 Heisman voting: 68 per-cent completion percent-age, 10,867 career pass-ing yards and 99 career passing touchdowns.

Even more impres-sive is that Moore has been picked off only 19 times through three full years of quarterbacking the Broncos. His 74-to-9 touchdown-to-interception ratio throughout the past two years is unreal.

Here’s the catch: Voters will use the Broncos’ dominance of the Mountain West Conference against Moore. Boise State left the Western Ath-letic Conference for better competition, but two of the Mountain West’s top three teams — Utah and Brigham Young — left the conference. And while it will be even more impressive for Moore to keep his numbers up after losing his top two targets from last year — receivers Austin Pet-tis and Titus Young — the competition in the Mountain West is not that of the SEC or Pacifi c-12 Conference.

Voters won’t be able to discount a blowout of Georgia in the Georgia Dome, though. And if Moore’s performance punches out the Bulldogs in a week-one showdown, punch Moore’s ticket to New York as a Heisman fi nalist.

Justin Blackmon, WR, Oklahoma State2010 statistics: 111 receptions, 1,782 yards, 20 touchdownsThere are three pieces of good news on the Black-mon-for-Heisman campaign front.

He’s the most physi-cally gifted wide receiver in America. His quarter-back, Brandon Weeden, returns to lead a high-octane Cowboys offense specifi cally tailored for his skills. And he’s show-ing up on more and more preseason Heisman watch lists, which can’t hurt.

The bad news is that Blackmon has some character concerns. The Heisman Trust just had to deal with Reggie Bush’s trophy scandal, and the climate of penalties and sanctions throughout college football might not welcome Blackmon, who was arrested last October on a DUI charge.

Dana Holgorsen, the one-time Oklahoma State offensive coordinator, left OSU after last season and is now West Virginia’s head coach. The tran-sition to a new coordinator might not be a smooth one — Oklahoma State was 61st in offense before Holgorsen was hired.

Then there’s this fact: No true wideout has won the Heisman since Desmond Howard in 1991. But should Blackmon duplicate his 2010 stats, that fact could change.

—Compiled by Nick Toney, staff writer, [email protected]

2 0 1 1 f o o t b a l l s e a s on p r e v i e w 1 7

Heisman hopefulsStanford’s Luck is preseason favorite, but he’ll face stiff competition from players across country

Courtesy of ISI Photo

Courtesy of University of Michigan

Media Relations

Courtesy of Boise State Media Relations

Courtesy of Oklahoma State Media Relations


Wake Forest was one of the worst teams in the Atlantic Coast Conference last season. The Demon Deacons fi nished last in the ACC’s Atlantic Division,

went 3-9 overall and gave up 40-plus points four times. The Demon Deacons had one of the longest losing streaks in the Football Bowl Subdivision, dropping nine in a row before winning their season fi nale against Vanderbilt. Syracuse has not started a sea-son 2-0 since 1999 and Wake Forest — who defeated the Orange 20-10 to open the 2006 season — will be the main obstacle for SU in its fi rst two matchups.

Last season, Syracuse played two Football Championship Subdivi-sion opponents in Maine and Colgate. That forced SU to win seven games

to become bowl eligible. This season the Orange faces just one FCS team — Rhode Island.

Rhode Island went 5-6 a year ago. The Rams lost 31-0 to Buffalo in their lone game against an FBS team in 2010. Syracuse whooped the Rams, 63-17, in 2002 — the last time these two teams met.

This will be a big test for Syr-acuse before Big East play begins, as the Orange heads to the West Coast to face

USC. The Trojans will be unable to participate in postseason play for the second straight season as part of the program’s punishment for providing improper benefi ts to players.

Quarterback Matt Barkley enters his third season as the Trojans starting quarterback. The Trojans are 7-1 at home against noncon-ference opponents over the last fi ve sea-sons, and Syracuse struggled with its West Coast test last season, getting run over by Washington, 41-20.

Toledo enters the season with an unsettled situation at quarterback, but

the competition between junior Austin Dan-tin and sophomore Terrance Owens is not a bad thing. The pair threw for 2,498 yards and 20 touchdowns combined last season for the 8-5 Rockets.

Toledo has beaten a Bowl Championship Series opponent in each of the last fi ve sea-sons — Purdue, Colorado, Michigan, Iowa State and Kansas. The Rockets play two BCS opponents this year, No. 16 Ohio State and SU. For Syracuse, this game will determine what kind of momentum the Orange has entering conference play.

Syracuse clinched a bowl berth and a win-ning record by defeating Rutgers 13-10 in Piscat-

away, N.J., last season. SU head coach Doug Marrone is 2-0 against the Scarlet Knights, having beaten the team 31-13 in the Carrier Dome in 2009.

Rutgers heads into the season with high hopes for starting quarterback Chas Dodd, who threw 11 touchdowns and seven inter-ceptions as a true freshman last year. Dodd will be surrounded by one of the most tal-ented receiving corps in the Big East, with juniors Mark Harrison and Mohamed Sanu both capable of making huge plays.

Syracuse will travel to New Orleans to take on Tulane in the Superdome. The last time Syracuse faced the Green Wave, in 1999, it

rolled to a 47-17 victory, capitalizing on four interceptions by Tulane quarterback Patrick Ramsey.

Tulane defeated Rutgers on the road last sea-son 17-14 — one of the few shining moments in a 4-8 season for the Green Wave. The prob-lem for Tulane was its defense. The Green Wave ranked 113th of 120 Football Bowl Sub-division teams in scoring defense, allowing a ghastly 37.17 points per game. Syracuse is 6-1 against the Green Wave all-time.

Friday night lights! Syra-cuse hosts a Friday night game for the fi rst time since 2007 when West Vir-

ginia comes to town near the end of October. After an eight-year drought, the Orange was able to secure the Schwartzwalder Trophy by defeating the Mountaineers 19-14 in Morgan-town, W. Va., last season. Syracuse’s victory was West Virginia’s only defeat at home.

West Virginia was selected as the preseason conference champion in the Big East Pre-season Media Poll. Quarterback Geno Smith is looking to have a breakout season under new head coach Dana Holgorsen, who brings his high-scoring spread offense with him.

WAKE FOREST RHODE ISLAND AT SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA

TOLEDO

AT TULANE WEST VIRGINIAAfter fi nishing tied for last — with Syracuse — in the Big East in 2008 and 2009, Louisville won

seven games and fi nished tied for fi fth in the conference last year. The Cardinals defeated Southern Mississippi 31-28 in the Beef ‘O’ Brady’s Bowl to cap off their fi rst winning season since 2006.

The Cardinals have had the Orange’s number for the past two seasons, but head coach Charlie Strong’s team has a lot of work to do this year. The offense only returns three start-ers. There were two quarterbacks vying for the starting job in Louisville this year — junior Will Stein and freshman Teddy Bridgewater — but head coach Charlie Strong went with the more experienced Stein as his starter.

Connecticut closed out the regular season last year with fi ve consecutive victo-ries to clinch the school’s fi rst-ever Bowl Champion-ship Series berth. One of

those wins was a 23-6 victory over Syracuse in the Carrier Dome — the fourth straight win for UConn in the head-to-head matchup.

Former Syracuse head coach Paul Pasqualoni took over the position for UConn after Randy Edsall left for Maryland. And he will have his hands full trying to retool the defending Big East champions. The Huskies lost the nation’s second-leading rusher in Jordan Todman to the NFL. The conference’s leading tackler, Lawrence Wilson, and the team’s starting quarterback, Zach Frazer, both graduated.

AT CONNECTICUT

Syracuse beat South Florida for the fi rst time in school his-tory last season by

a score of 13-9. The victory was highlighted by a 14-play, 98-yard drive that ended with Marcus Sales’ reception in the end zone to give SU a four-point lead. The win was the fi rst of four consecutive road victories for the Orange last year. The Bulls will enter the Carrier Dome looking for revenge in a Friday night game this season.

Since joining the Big East in 2005, South Florida has been to a bowl game each sea-son, winning four of the six trips. Quarter-back B.J. Daniels looks to rebound from a rough sophomore year in which he threw 11 touchdowns and 13 interceptions.

CINCINNATICincinnati fell hard from the top of the Big East last season, winning just four games after earning a Bowl Championship Series berth in 2009. The Bearcats had an explosive offense but a lackluster defense that gave up 28 points per game. Despite missing two games — including Syracuse’s win over the Bearcats — quarterback

Zach Collaros led the conference in passing yards and touchdowns. The Orange rolled over the Bearcats without Collaros last year, winning 31-7.

The offense should be just as prolifi c as it was a year ago. Running back Isaiah Pead enters the season as the Big East’s leading returning rusher.

Syracuse closes the regular season with a team it has not been

able to fi gure out in recent years. Pittsburgh is the only team in the conference that Syracuse has not beaten in the last fi ve sea-sons. Last year, the Panthers beat down the Orange in the Carrier Dome, to the tune of a 45-14 victory.

The Panthers lose 1,000-yard rusher Dion Lewis but still have Ray Graham, who aver-aged 6.2 yards per carry and ran for 922 yards last season. First-year head coach Todd Graham comes to Pittsburgh from Tulsa, where he led one of the most explo-sive offenses in college football.

RUTGERS AT LOUISVILLE

SOUTH FLORIDA

AT PITTSBURGH

WAKE FOREST

RHODE ISLAND

AT SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA

TOLEDO

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AT LOUISVILLE

AT CONNECTICUT

SOUTH FLORIDA

CINCINNATI

AT PITTSBURGH

Thursday, Sept. 1, 8 p.m.

Saturday, Sept. 10, 4:30 p.m.

Saturday, Sept. 17, 8 p.m.

Saturday, Sept. 24, noon

Saturday, Oct. 1, noon

Saturday, Oct. 8, 8 p.m.

Friday, Oct. 21, 8 p.m.

Saturday, Oct. 29, TBA

Saturday, Nov. 5, TBA

Friday, Nov. 11, 8 p.m.

Saturday, Nov. 26, TBA

Saturday, Dec. 3, noon

2011 SCHEDULE

the fi eld, it should not be pretty.Shafer’s personality permeates his defensive

philosophies. He’s excitable. Unabashed. Bold. He takes risks, evidenced by the amount of times he blitzes.

“Coach Shafer made it specifi c,” former SU defensive tackle Andrew Lewis said. “It’s always on. It’s never off. When you play for me, your switch is never off.”

In his fi rst meeting with the SU defense, Sha-fer gave them the straight truth of how defective the unit was in 2008.

No. 102 in the nation in total defense, scoring defense and rushing yards allowed. Sacks were not much better: 101st. Interceptions, 99th.

“He basically said this is not acceptable, he said our fi rst goal was to cut everything in half,” former SU defensive back George Mayes said. “… And that plan really stuck in our heads because we were like ‘OK, that’s attainable.’”

At fi rst, Shafer’s coming-at-you attitude threw the Syracuse defense off guard. Former SU head coach and defensive coordinator Greg Robinson was not at all like that. He coached the defense quietly and ran a scheme that needed smart players.

Shafer simplifi ed it all. Former Syracuse cornerback Da’Mon Merkerson said he allowed the players to speed up their game by reducing the amount of terminology they had to know.

From 102nd, to 37th, to seventh in total defense. Shafer was the savior of the Syracuse defense.

“That’s why I call him a guru, that’s why I call him a mad scientist,” Lewis said. “Anybody who can take an intricate game like football and turn it into something simple and be successful off of it, got to be some type of guru, right?”

•••Syracuse is gratifying for Shafer in another

way, too. Working with the Orange defense is like déjà vu from his time at Stanford working under former head coach Jim Harbaugh.

At Stanford, the rise in enthusiasm and the change of culture was visible in the zeal the two coaches displayed.

Harbaugh and Shafer did pushups together at practice. They added one pushup per day to the regimen, and it turned into a bout to see who could do more.

Shafer said if Harbaugh was going to get 90, he was going to try and get 91.

“I knew the reason they were doing it was to instill that competition instinct into us,” former Stanford defensive lineman Chris Horn said. “And it defi nitely carried over.”

Twelve-play scripts turned into 24-play bat-tles as the coaches tried to one-up each other. The players began to take after their fi ery bosses.

If the offense was having a triumphant prac-tice, Shafer would mix up the scheme. He’d throw a blitz that Harbaugh did not see coming.

“The back and forth was pretty funny, but the competitive nature was defi nitely awesome,” former Stanford safety Marcus Rance said.

Shafer liked the Stanford players because of how they reacted when challenged. The intel-ligent, well-versed Stanford kids took Shafer’s boisterous verbal tones and wanted more.

“They had a great attitude, and they kind of had that ‘Hey, coach, give me more. Give me more, coach, we can handle it,’” Shafer said.

After watching fi lm from the Cardinal’s disastrous 2006 season, Shafer pointed out situations where the defense sat back and was ambushed. And he implemented the “camera club.” Seventy percent of the defense needed to be on screen at the end of every play.

The watershed moment of Stanford’s 2007 season came in the fi fth game. Five turnovers, including four interceptions by Shafer’s defense

helped lead Stanford to a 24-23 upset over then-No. 2 Southern California.

Shafer left all that after one season to become Michigan’s defensive coordinator, a job that he and his family thought would be a lengthy stop on their dream-chasing tour.

“When we took that job I think we thought, ‘Oh, well that hopefully will be somewhere we can have success,’” Shafer’s wife, Missy, said, “‘and be there for the next fi ve, six, seven years.’”

•••By game No. 9, it was painfully apparent

Shafer made a mistake.Heading into a game against Purdue, Mich-

igan sat at 2-6 on the year. The Wolverines

switched up their defense to a 3-3-5 scheme. That’s the defense then-UM head coach Rich

Rodriguez’s teams ran at West Virginia. It is not the defense that Shafer runs.

Rodriguez, an offensive coach, was offi cious in his attempts to work with the defense. Purdue put up 48 points and beat the Wolverines anyway.

“I think (Shafer) liked his players, he gave everybody pretty much a fair chance,” former UM wide receiver LaTerryal Savoy said. “I just think here, at Michigan, in the situation he was in, I just don’t think he was able to do exactly what he wanted.

“He had the title of a (defensive) coordinator, but he wasn’t technically having the authority.”

Shafer was an outsider with Rodriguez’s crew at Michigan, most of which were West Virginia followers. For the fi rst time in his coaching career, Shafer plunged into a bad football situation.

“I went to Michigan for all the wrong rea-sons,” Shafer said. “I went because it was Michi-gan. And it was, being an Ohio kid, it was Ohio State and Michigan growing up, and I was a little bit blind, and I didn’t slow down and research who my comrades were going to be, and that was a big mistake.”

The results were poor at best. The Wolverines lost nine games — the most in school history. The defense slipped from No. 24 in total defense under Ron English in 2007 to 67th on Shafer’s

watch. The whole situation under Rodriguez was

dysfunctional. The coaching staff did not get respect from the players. Rodriguez was an overpowering head coach in his fi rst year there, former linebacker Ohene Opong-Owusu said.

His coaching style proved unpopular with the players, and that only made the situation worse. Shafer’s hooting and hollering was more comedic for the Michigan players than it was instructive.

“He was cool, he was a good guy,” Opong-Owusu said. “I don’t think people really took him seriously, that’s the thing.”

Shafer’s fate was clear well before Dec. 16,

2008, when he was fi red from his position with Michigan. At the time, he called it a mutual decision.

He also took the blame for the demise of Michigan’s program.

“Unfortunately, because of high expectations and when you take over a program of that mag-nitude and the success that they’ve had, there’s limited tolerance on what you can do,” said Bruce Tall, then-Michigan defensive line coach.

“Success. Basically, you’re evaluated solely on outcome.”

Shafer did not get to experience the highs of beating Ohio State or winning a Big Ten title. Ann Arbor did not turn out to be the place he envisioned, the place he could have settled in for a long time.

“Oh, yeah, there’s no question about that,” Shafer said. “But the profession’s a crazy one, that’s for sure. That’s why you want to surround yourself with good people, and I feel really fortunate to have the staff that we have here (at Syracuse).”

•••Last Thanksgiving, the Shafers welcomed

four SU players into their home. The day was an extension of what Shafer’s family has done for 21 years.

Mayes, Merkerson, Jeremi Wilkes and Mike Holmes did not go home for Thanksgiving break, but the Shafers were not going to let them go

without hospitality.“They’re part of the family,” Missy Shafer

said. “And sometimes you have to still separate — as much as I want to take these kids in like they’re my own kid, and I do, I love all these play-ers, but they’re still my husband’s job. So it’s that fi ne line that you have to watch.”

It is a comfort level not seen at Michigan, one that the right fi t at Syracuse has inspired.

They watched the Detroit Lions-New England Patriots game and played Madden with Shafer’s son, Wolfgang, who is a quarterback for Syra-cuse-area Fayetteville-Manlius High School.

And they ate dinner. As a family.“He’s almost like a father away from home to

us, especially as a defensive back,” Wilkes said.Shafer said he would like to be a head coach

someday, but in his mind there’s no rush. He’s got a good thing going at SU. It was the fi rst time in years he has a defense with many of his own recruits.

Unlike what happened at Michigan, they understand their defensive coordinator’s vocif-erous ways. Cornerback Keon Lyn said while Shafer is tough sometimes, and he’ll yell at players, he usually ends his berating with “I love you, though.”

“Coach Shafer’s the man,” freshman safety Shu Mungwa said. “He’s the reason why I want-ed to come here, so I mean I’d do anything for him. I love Coach Shafer.”

He learned with his last adventure that rush-ing into the fi rst big opportunity could be a mistake.

But alongside Marrone, Shafer has revived the SU defense. He’s found a home, too.

“I think ever since I was young I would love to be a head coach someday,” Shafer said. “But when the time’s right and when the time tells me it’s right.”

[email protected]

“That’s why I call him a guru, that’s why I call him a mad scientist. Anybody who can take an intricate game like football and turn it into something simple and be successful off of it, got to be some type of guru, right?”

Andrew LewisFORMER SU DEFENSIVE TACKLE


SHAFERF R O M P A G E 7

S P O R T S @ D A I L Y O R A N G E . C O M2 0 2 0 1 1 f o o t b a l l s e a s on p r e v i e w

QUARTERBACKIf starter Ryan Nassib is anything close to his Pinstripe Bowl form, in which he threw for 239 yards and three touchdowns, then the Orange has to feel confi dent about him taking snaps under center this year. In that bowl game against Kansas State, offen-sive coordinator Nathaniel Hackett opened up the playbook and, as a result, Nassib fl ourished. But remember, Nassib and the Orange offense had a full month to prepare that offensive strategy. The offense needs to improve its execution on a week-by-week basis. SU ranked 97th in the country in total offense last year.

On the team’s annual media day, head coach Doug Marrone said making big plays would be a point of emphasis this season. For that to happen, Nassib has to show accu-racy beyond 15 yards down the fi eld. The Orange’s passing offense was ranked 91st at less than 185 yards per game. Syracuse’s trio of backups — Charley Loeb, John Kinder and Terrel Hunt — will be holding clipboards as long as Nassib stays healthy.

RUNNING BACKAlthough losing work-horse Delone Carter is a blow to the team’s offensive production, Antwon Bailey has the potential to fi ll the void left by Carter. Used as a multifaceted weapon last year, Bailey was second on the team in rushing yards and second in receptions. This

season, the senior’s role should expand even more, getting the lion’s share of the carries. After preparing to be the starter entering each of the past two seasons — an open competition with Carter in 2009 and Carter’s legal issues leading up to the 2010 season — it is fi nally Bailey’s time to shine as a senior.

But with the extra responsibility comes questions. Can Bailey’s short but stout 5-foot-7 frame handle the extra workload he is sure to get this season? Can he punch it into the end zone in goal-line situations? Last year, he had only two rushing scores. Sopho-more Prince-Tyson Gulley will be there to spell Bailey, and the Orange also have fresh-man back, Adonis Ameen-Moore, who is an intriguing goal line and short yardage option at 244 pounds.

WIDE RECEIVERWith all of its receivers returning at the start of August, Syracuse was looking strong at a position that lacked quality depth last season. Then Marcus Sales — the Marcus Sales who caught three touchdowns in the Pinstripe Bowl and who could have been Nassib’s primary target this season — was arrested on several charges and suspended indefi nitely from the program.

Still, Marrone said SU has as many skilled players as it has ever had in the position. The expected starters are Van Chew, who led the team in receptions last season, and Alec Lemon. Behind them, sophomore Jar-rod West stood out throughout preseason camp as one of the best receivers on the team and could surprise many. The Orange’s fastest receiver, Dorian Graham, is a solid route runner and could be useful if he can

improve his hands. He struggled with drops last season and throughout the early part of camp in 2011.

TIGHT ENDLast year, Nick Provo was one of Nassib’s favorite targets, fi n-ishing third on the team in receptions. This season, after countless hours in the weight room, offensive coordinator Nathaniel Hackett has raised the expectations for Provo. The senior is already a solid receiving threat, and he looks to improve his blocking this season as well. He has great hands and acts as a reliable secu-rity blanket for Nassib.

Depth at tight end is not an issue either. Other tight ends in the mix include David Stevens and Beckett Wales, whose role increased as the 2010 season continued, and walk-on Tom Trendowski.

OFFENSIVE LINEThis unit was once an Achilles’ heel for Syra-cuse but has grown throughout the last three years under the direction of SU head coach Doug Marrone. Four of the line’s fi ve starters from last season return: Justin Pugh, Zack Chibane, Andrew Tiller and Michael Hay. Macky MacPherson, grandson of for-mer SU head coach Dick MacPherson, takes over at center and gives the Orange more consistency out of the shotgun formation.

The team has paved the way for a 1,000-yard rusher in the form of Delone Carter — in each of Marrone’s fi rst two seasons at the helm.

The only issue for the offensive line is depth. It has been one of the positions hard-est hit by injuries in the past month, and there is not much experience behind the fi ve starters.

DEFENSIVE LINEThe defensive line is another experienced group, specifi cally on the ends with Chan-dler Jones and Mikhail Marinovich. The two defensive ends com-bined for seven sacks last season and hope to increase that num-ber as they both enter their senior seasons.

While the ends are experienced, the defensive tackles are a different story. The two starters — Jay Bromley and Deon Gog-gins — are on top of the depth chart for the fi rst time in their careers. Expect the interior of the defensive line to work in a rotation, similar to how it did last season with Andrew Lewis, Bud Tribbey and Anthony Perkins. This year, the names to look out for are Bromley, Goggins, Cory Boatman and per-haps freshman defensive tackle, Eric Crume.

With two strong bookends in Jones and Marinovich, teams will likely look to run up the middle against the Orange front four.

LINEBACKERSThe biggest strength of the Orange defense last season might be a glaring weakness with an inexperienced linebacking corps in 2011. The only two returning linebackers with any game experience under their respective belts are sophomore Marquis Spruill and

senior Dan Vaughan. Spruill started every game as a freshman, recording 51 tackles while playing alongside seniors Doug Hogue and Derrell Smith. With Hogue and Smith gone, Spruill moves to middle linebacker this year, a position he used to play in high school.

The other two linebacker spots will likely be fi lled by Vaughan and freshman Dyshawn Davis. Syracuse linebackers coach Dan Con-ley said Vaughan knows the ins and outs of all three linebacker positions on the SU defense and will stand out among the oth-erwise young group due to his defensive IQ. Davis is an athletic freshman who enrolled early and practiced with Syracuse in the spring. He impressed immediately, enough to have a solid hold on the job right now.

Other contenders for playing time include freshman Cameron Lynch, who was the Atlanta Journal Constitution and Gwinnett Daily Post AAAAA Defensive Player of the Year in the state of Georgia, junior col-lege transfer Siriki Diabate and sophomore Lewellyn Coker.

DEFENSIVE BACKSThe SU secondary enters the season with a mix of experience and young athletes. It starts with hard-hitting safeties Phillip Thomas and Shamarko Thomas. Wideouts do not want to be running routes over the middle with the Thomases, who are not related, prowling the secondary. But they had been sidelined for much of preseason camp. Phillip Thomas was out with a fractured jaw, and Shamarko Thomas was out briefl y with a concussion. The backup safeties for Syracuse are unprov-en and intriguing if either player misses games. Senior Olando Fisher is a bit under-sized but has been in the system for years. He has some playing time under his belt. Sophomore Jeremi Wilkes and freshman Durell Eskridge are inexperienced but have impressed early in camp.

Kevyn Scott and Keon Lyn entered the fall as the starting cornerbacks and both were having solid preseason camps until Lyn dislocated his right shoulder. But Scott has still been impressive, both in the fall and last spring when he returned an interception for a touchdown in the Spring Game. If Lyn is lim-ited at all, the next corner in line is Ri’Shard Anderson, a tall, athletic corner who lacks experience.

SPECIAL TEAMSThe Orange lost a gem in punter Rob Long but have kicker Ross Krautman back, who earned Freshman All-American honors last season. Long, whose senior season was cut short due to a brain tumor, was one of the best punters in Syracuse history and will not be easy to replace. Doug Marrone called the preseason punter competition between junior Shane Raupers and freshman Jonathan Fisher was one of the fi ercest in camp. But Raupers won the job.

As for sophomore Krautman, he looks to continue where he left off after a stellar freshman campaign. He was an All-Big East Second Team selection and made the biggest kick for Syracuse in recent memory — the game-winning fi eld goal over Rutgers that sent SU to a bowl game.

—Compiled by David Propper, staff writer, [email protected]

POSITION BREAKDOWN

dailyorange.com


For Bailey, the 2011 season represents the chance every running back hopes for. He has spent the last three years studying the game and packing on muscle.

He enters the season at 5-foot-7, 198 pounds. Short but not small.

With a lot to prove. “A lot of people are not going to expect him to

come up the middle and hit you in the mouth,” Carter said. “And Antwon will defi nitely do that.”

•••Five days a week the alarm went off at 3 a.m.

Antwon, his brother, his two cousins and his uncle, James Johnson, got out of bed and headed to the Prince George’s County Police Department.

Monday through Friday, Johnson, a police offi cer, took the four boys to the basketball gym at the station. And every morning from 3:30 a.m. to 5 a.m. they worked out before school.

The boys were all within three years in age — between 14 and 17. Workouts began the summer before Antwon entered high school. His brother, Gregory, was already the starting tailback at Fairmont Heights High School. Johnson’s two sons played football at St. John’s College High School — where Antwon became a star — and Johnson himself was an assistant coach with the team.

“I wanted to fi nd a way to get more work with them during the day before school,” Johnson said. “And the only way I could it was to get into that police gym.”

He designed workouts to incorporate track and fi eld elements — resistance running, con-ditioning drills and footwork exercises, all before the crack of dawn and almost always in an empty gym.

“They would hear little creaks in the fl oor and they would get scared,” Johnson said. “They feared somebody else was in the building, one of the other offi cers. … We were alone 90 percent of the time.”

The workouts supplemented the weight train-ing the boys received during high school practice. So by the time they fi nally passed out each night, they had hit every muscle group in the body.

Antwon was both the youngest and the small-est. That made him the most competitive.

“I had to try my hardest,” Bailey said. “I had to be better conditioned than those guys. I had to do everything else better because I was the smallest and youngest.”

Eventually, the boys got so into it that they became the ones to wake Johnson each day. He never begged them to work out. They dragged him out of bed, craving the early-morning exer-cise that jumpstarted their day.

“It became a part of who I was,” Bailey said. “When you’re not working, someone else is.”

Still, 3 a.m. was brutal. “The worst,” he called it.

But through it all, the police gym was the birthplace of Bailey’s affi nity for working out. It transferred on to his career at SJC, where he became one of the strongest players on the team. Now at Syracuse, he’s pound for pound one of the strongest as well.

The clock hit 5 a.m., and Johnson shuttled the boys back home — just enough time to shower and eat before heading to school and football practice.

A few hours of downtime for homework, but by 9 p.m. Bailey was asleep. Just six hours remain-ing before he would be back in the gym.

“If I had to do it all over again I think I would, man,” Bailey said. “Because it pushed me. I felt so invested.”

•••The disagreement spilled over onto the foot-

ball fi eld. Bailey and his teammate DeAngelo Williams, a linebacker for St. John’s College, “had

some differences.” Truth be told, it was more of a similarity that

created the tension: an interest in the same girl. So when Bailey and Williams lined up across

from each other in an Oklahoma drill, it was, in essence, a standoff. The two offensive linemen blocking for Bailey and the two defensive linemen in front of Williams were irrelevant.

It came down to two guys.“The fi rst time I didn’t really get a good shot on

him,” Bailey said. They lined up again. This time, Bailey’s line-

man opened the perfect hole and set the stage for impact.

“It was a clear shot, just Antwon and DeAn-gelo, one-on-one,” said Korey Neal, one of the line-men blocking for Bailey. “To tell you the truth, I didn’t even see the hit until we watched the fi lm

because I was blocking. But I heard the hit.”By the time Neal spun his head around, SJC

head coach Joe Patterson was blowing his whistle to stop the drill. Williams lay fl at on his back after Bailey ran him straight into the ground.

The surprising power packed into Bailey’s frame compliments his toughness. He has never avoided a hit, and in high school, Neal said Bailey was the player seeking contact.

As a three-year starter for SJC, Bailey ran for 2,878 yards and 45 touchdowns. He ran for 1,356 yards and 23 touchdowns in his senior year alone. He also returned punts at an insane clip — 33.4 yard per attempt.

“There were a couple where he broke fi ve or six tackles on one play, and even if they weren’t touchdowns they were just exciting,” Patterson said. “I charted his yardage while he was here, and more than half of his yards came after fi rst contact.”

Most prominent in Patterson’s mind was a game against Our Lady of Good Counsel. SJC came out on top 14-11, courtesy of two Bailey touchdowns.

The lasting image was a 54-yard fake punt on which Bailey took the direct snap and broke a slew of tackles on his way to the end zone.

He earned Gatorade Player of the Year honors in Washington, D.C., following his senior year as nothing short of a durable, power running back.

“That’s probably one of the toughest guys out on the fi eld,” C.J. Hammond, Bailey’s high school teammate said. “I wouldn’t take the size into any consideration.”

•••Lying on the bench, Joe Morris looked up at

135 pounds on the bar. He had never really used free weights before. They were not readily avail-able in the 1970s.

Morris, a freshman at SU, set his hands and tried his fi rst repetition.

“I tried to do one, and it dropped right on my chest,” he said. “I thought to myself, ‘Oh, my word. This is going to be a long process.’”

Four years later, Morris would leave Syra-cuse as the all-time leading rusher. He holds the records for most career yards (4,299), most rush-ing yards in one game (252) and most rushing yards in one season (1,372).

But as a 17-year-old kid who weighed a mere 165 pounds, he could hardly bench press when he arrived on campus.

Morris transformed from a gangly teenager into a brawny man by the time he graduated. In four years, he put on 30 pounds of solid muscle. He left Syracuse able to bench 400 pounds, hang

clean roughly 400 pounds and squat 700 pounds.At 5-foot-7, 195 pounds, Morris played his

senior season at an identical height and within three pounds of where Bailey stands now. Both short but certainly not small.

But unlike Morris, Bailey has had to wait three years for his chance to be the starter. And it is during those three years that he has fi ne-tuned his body into ideal condition.

William Hicks, assistant athletics director for athletic performance, said Bailey is hang cleaning 325 pounds and able to do 19 repetitions of 225 pounds on the bench press — equivalent to a 400-pound maximum ability.

It is his stocky build that allows him to put on muscle so easily. In fact, Hicks said he has to monitor a guy like Bailey closely so that he does not turn into a “bowling ball.

“Antwon is a pretty good mix right now in the fact that he’s stout, he’s powerful, but he carries it well and moves well,” Hicks said.

The ability to move well is crucial for Bai-ley this year. Morris explained how it will be imperative for Bailey to avoid getting hit fl ush by defenders. Cutting just a few inches left or right before impact means he can avoid the bulk of the punishment and keep going forward.

Staying healthy is the top priority, but Bailey maintains that his running style will not change. He never shied away from contact in high school or during his fi rst three years with the Orange.

“I think that most of the time when you pull back, that’s when you get hurt,” he said. “I only know one way to go and that’s hard.”

•••Bailey hates wearing Under Armour, but 10

plays would not be enough to stay warm in a wind chill of minus 3. He wasn’t expecting much play-ing time on the road at Notre Dame in 2008.

Curtis Brinkley, the starting running back for the Orange, and Bailey agreed that a handful of plays would likely be all the freshman would get.

But as the third quarter wound down, Brin-kley was struggling. He could not get into a groove carrying the ball. He fumbled with the Orange trailing by 10 points, and Notre Dame extended its lead to 23-10 with a fi eld goal on the ensuing drive.

“I had scored a touchdown, but I wasn’t play-ing too well,” Brinkley said. “Antwon came in for a series, and he was just electrifying out there.”

On SU’s next drive, Bailey carried the ball seven times for 63 yards and broke a 26-yard touchdown run up the middle to inject life into the team.

Later in the game, running back coach Randy Trivers told Brinkley to return to the fi eld. Brin-kley instead told his coach to ride the shoulders of the unknown 5-foot-7 freshman. He was “in a zone,” as Brinkley put it.

So with 4:58 on the clock, Bailey returned to the huddle with Syracuse trailing 23-17.

Six of the next seven plays were carries by Bailey for 43 yards. He’d moved the ball all the way down to the Notre Dame 10-yard line.

“They couldn’t stop him,” SU assistant coach Chris White said.

Three plays later, quarterback Cameron Dant-ley found Donte Davis in the end zone for the game-winning touchdown. It was arguably Syra-cuse’s biggest win in the past decade.

White, who recruited Bailey himself, said the breakout performance by the running back was a moment he will cherish — a game he would never forget.

Bailey fi nished with 126 yards on 16 carries. On NBC, the world found out who Antwon Bailey was.

“It was crazy,” Bailey said. “I don’t think I’ll ever be able to experience that again.”

•••The out-of-nowhere performance was followed

by more waiting. More time as a backup. Brinkley rushed for over 1,000 yards that

season, and Carter won the starting job over Bailey in 2009.

But during the time he waited, he learned. Everywhere Carter went, Bailey followed in an attempt to prepare for his chance as the starter.

“Antwon would get with me and we would stretch after the games, cold tub throughout the week and get a little extra lifting in or stretch-ing,” Carter said. “We did a lot.”

Looking back, Bailey said the biggest thing he learned from Carter was how to take care of his body.

But when Carter’s body failed him against then-No. 20 West Virginia in 2010 and he left the game in the second quarter with a hip injury, Bailey was there. He carried the load, rushing for 94 yards on 19 carries.

He kept the offense alive on the road in a hos-tile environment while Ryan Nassib completed just fi ve passes. Bailey was the offense in that game — a 19-14 Syracuse win.

Now, in 2011, he gets a chance to be the offense in every game. It is a role he has waited for his entire life.

“I’m fi nally a senior, and I take on a different role than the fi rst day I got here on campus,” Bailey said. “I’m excited for this senior year.”

[email protected]

BAILEYF R O M P A G E 3

“I know I can play with these guys, for one. But just proving everybody wrong and being in the underdog role, it’s something I’ve been in my whole life.”

Antwon BaileySU RUNNING BACK

s p o r t s @ d a i l y o r a n g e . c o m2 2 2 0 1 1 f o o t b a l l s e a s on p r e v i e w

“Ninety-five percent. They’re coming off a good year, and I think there’s going to be more to come.”

Joey NaparstekSophomore finance major

“I think they’re pretty good. With Doug Marrone behind the wheel, I think we’re going to do some great things this season.”

Kyle KimballSophomore undeclared major in the

college of artS and ScienceS

P e r s P e c t i v e scompiled by stephen bailey and stacie fanelli | the daily orange

What are the chances Syracuse wins a bowl game again this year?

“I don’t know. There’s a bunch of different teams this year, so it should be interesting to see how it goes. I’m excited and I have a lot of high hopes. Marrone’s doing a good job.”

Heather ConcannonSophomore art hiStory and engliSh literature major

“Any bowl game? I would say probably 80 percent. Even if they go to a poor bowl like they did previously, I think they have a good chance. Doug Marrone is actually giving them a good chance.”

Stephen RathbunSophomore art hiStory and engliSh literature major

“It’s all going to depend on who they’re playing and that will determine if they’ll win a bowl game or not, but I think they can get at least the six wins needed to qualify for a bowl game.”

Ryan McDonnelljunior broadcaSt journaliSm and hiStory major

“Well, I definitely believe they’re going to win because they’re super strong and really determined. … They work out a lot, so I definitely think they’re going to win.”

Claudia CukrowskifreShman public health major

No. Name Pos. Ht. Wt. Class1 phillip thomas fS 5-11 190 jr. 2 olando fisher SS 5-10 207 Sr. 3 durell eskridge fS 6-2 196 fr.4 brandon reddish cb 5-10 179 fr.5 marcus Sales Wr 6-0 183 Sr. 6 ritchy desir cb 5-11 168 fr. 6 terrel hunt Qb 6-3 203 fr. 7 jonny miller Qb 6-1 212 So. 7 oliver Vigille lb 6-3 212 fr. 8 corey edsall Qb/p 5-11 211 fr.8 Keon lyn cb 6-1 190 So. 9 ri’Shard anderson cb 6-1 189 jr. 10 dorian graham Wr 5-10 185 Sr. 11 marquis Spruill lb 6-1 216 So. 12 ryan nassib Qb 6-2 229 Sr. 13 deon goggins dt 6-1 272 Sr.14 john Kinder Qb 6-3 181 So.15 alec lemon Wr 6-2 202 jr. 15 Shutang mungwa SS 6-1 207 fr. 16 Keenan hale Wr 6-2 185 fr. 16 james jarrett SS 6-2 202 jr.17 charley loeb Qb 6-4 212 jr. 18 Siriki diabate lb 5-10 210 jr.18 nick raven te 6-4 230 So. 19 ryan lichtenstein K 5-11 161 jr.20 mitchell piasecki fb 5-11 252 fr.21 Shamarko thomas SS 5-10 208 jr.22 adrian flemming Wr 6-3 196 So. 23 prince-tyson gulley rb 5-9 181 So.24 jaston george cb 5-10 159 fr. 25 jeremiah Kobena Wr 5-11 180 fr.26 Kevyn Scott cb 5-11 208 gr. 27 nathaniel forer Qb 6-3 228 fr.27 joe nassib cb 5-9 170 So. 28 greg tobias rb 5-10 169 So. 28 jeremi Wilkes fS 5-9 189 So. 29 antwon bailey rb 5-7 201 Sr. 30 Steve rene rb 5-7 176 So. 31 clay cleveland fb 6-0 236 So.32 travon burke rb 6-1 253 fr. 33 dan Vaughan lb 6-2 219 Sr. 34 tombe Kose fb 5-9 240 Sr. 35 dyshawn davis lb 6-3 213 fr. 36 adonis ameen-moore rb 5-10 244 fr.37 ross Krautman K 5-7 155 So. 37 chris mcKenzie fS 5-10 206 So.38 cameron lynch lb 5-11 223 fr.39 dom anene lb 6-1 224 jr.40 Zachary mccarrell lb 5-11 188 So.41 Shane raupers p 5-9 184 jr.41 donnie Simmons de 6-2 226 fr.42 Shane Kimmel fb 6-1 232 Sr.43 mario tull rb 6-0 207 So.45 jerome Smith rb 5-11 213 So.46 jonathan fisher p 6-1 209 fr.47 Sam rodgers lS 6-1 215 fr.48 carl cutler fb 6-3 250 Sr.49 adam harris fb 6-2 248 Sr.50 femi aliyu lb 5-11 215 So.51 eric crume nt 6-0 332 fr.52 ollie haney nt 6-2 290 r-Sr.53 lucas albrecht dt 6-2 255 fr.54 mikhail marinovich de 6-5 253 Sr.55 rob trudo c 6-3 300 fr.56 cory boatman nt 6-1 281 Sr.58 lewellyn coker lb 6-1 218 So.59 macky macpherson c 6-2 269 So.60 Sean hickey ot 6-6 282 So.61 eric morris lS 5-9 227 jr.62 andrew phillips ot 6-6 279 jr.63 ryan Sloan dt 6-4 324 fr.65 jarel lowery og 6-3 309 Sr. 66 andrew tiller og 6-5 334 gr.67 justin pugh ot 6-6 292 jr.68 nick robinson ot 6-6 295 fr. 70 jesse Wolf-gould ol 6-4 321 fr.71 ivan foy og 6-4 318 fr.72 nick lepak og 6-5 363 Sr.74 michael hay ot 6-5 283 Sr.75 Zack chibane og 6-5 293 jr.76 ian allport c 6-5 296 Sr.77 lou alexander og 6-4 331 jr.79 Kristofer curtis ot 6-3 291 fr.80 nick provo te 6-4 249 gr.81 louis addazio te 6-3 241 fr.82 Van chew Wr 6-1 175 Sr.83 max beaulieu te 6-3 240 So.84 michael acchione Wr 5-11 174 Sr.86 david Stevens te 6-3 231 Sr.87 Kyle foster Wr 6-3 207 fr.88 jarrod West Wr 6-2 204 So.89 thomas trendowski te 6-2 242 r-Sr.90 cayden feifer Wr 5-11 169 jr.91 brandon Sharpe de 6-2 245 jr.92 riley dixon K/p 6-5 202 fr.92 robert Welsh nt 6-2 260 So.93 micah robinson de 6-4 252 So.94 daniel anyaegbunam dt 6-3 288 So.95 torrey ball de 6-4 253 Sr.96 jay bromley dt 6-3 280 So.97 macauley hill Wr 6-0 198 fr.97 beckett Wales te 6-3 253 So.98 Kyle ishman Wr 6-1 181 So. 99 chandler jones de 6-5 265 Sr.

numerical roster

surprised when his former head coach moved back to college. Darius said Pasqualoni’s stron-gest attributes apply more to the collegiate level, where players need to be developed. Many need a male role model in their life to give them struc-ture, and Pasqualoni can be that person.

“I think the development of players, especial-ly at the college level where you have young high school kids coming from all across the country to come to the university, and you have a chance to be a part of giving them knowledge and direc-tion, I think that was always his forte,” Darius said. “I think that’s one of the reasons why he’s so successful in college.”

When Darius took custody of his two younger brothers during his junior year at Syracuse, he went to Pasqualoni to seek help. Pasqualoni made some calls to the SU administration, and soon after, Darius was permitted to move off campus and essentially be a father to his brothers.

Everything Pasqualoni did, Darius said, he did for his players. He not only demanded respect from them, but also demanded that his players respect each other.

And it all showed on the fi eld when the Orange had some of its best seasons during Pasqualoni’s tenure. The team fi nished at .500 or better in all but one of the years with Paqualoni calling the shots, and the team won nine or more games six times.

As head coach, Pasqualoni made sure his players knew that letting their teammates down with sloppy play could not be tolerated. They fed off Pasqualoni’s leadership every step of the way.

“When you have the leadership, who is demanding that respect from the players amongst themselves, it’ll be a great team,” Dar-ius said. “We were accountable for one another.

“He put it on his shoulders, really. He knew that he was the head of the organization. The organization was going to rise and fall with his leadership.”

Pasqualoni’s win-fi rst, respect-all reputation is why he had so many supporters throughout Connecticut. And it is part of the reason why he has the potential to be very successful lead-ing the Huskies. Many Connecticut high school coaches have known Pasqualoni for years, espe-cially since many played for him during one of his early coaching stops in the state.

One of those coaches is Mark Ecke, who played for Pasqualoni at Western Connecticut and is now the head coach at Cheshire High School. A member of the Connecticut High School Football Coaches’ Committee, Ecke was among a group of coaches who signed a letter that went directly to Hathaway in support of Pasqualoni.

“We couldn’t be happier,” Ecke said. “As Connecticut high school coaches, we’re ecstatic

because we’ve got a Connecticut guy here, in our fl agship program in the state of Connecticut. To say, ‘Hey, this is somebody that walked the same halls you did, that rode the same buses that you did years ago, and look where he is now.’ It’s really a great example, and they take a lot of pride in that.”

Ecke said that at UConn’s fi rst game, there will be plenty of supporters from Cheshire cheer-ing on Pasqualoni and the Huskies. The type of team they will be seeing, though, is still unknown.

Pasqualoni is taking over a team that is one year removed from its fi rst-ever Bowl Champion-ship Series berth after winning the Big East championship, but the 2011 squad looks very dif-ferent than that from a season ago. With the Hus-kies featuring the most experience on defense, where they return nine of 11 starters, that unit will have to be the anchor as the offense contin-ues to develop and fi nd the right personnel.

UConn’s defensive players were exposed to Pasqualoni’s schemes shortly after he took the

job. Cornerback Blidi Wreh-Wilson said knowing Pasqualoni had so much success at both the col-legiate and professional levels made him and his teammates eager to learn his system.

It is a much more aggressive scheme with various disguises and not necessarily easy to pick up.

“When he came in, it looked like we were reading Spanish when we were looking at the playbook,” Wilson said. “But I mean, we’re older guys, so we pick up on it.”

Another diffi cult transition for the Huskies will be the quarterback position.

During training camp, it was an open com-petition with four players: Michael Box, Johnny McEntee, Scott McCummings and Michael Nebrich. All vied for the starting spot now that Zach Frazer graduated, and the four have made just one collegiate start between them.

Under Edsall, UConn was predominantly a rushing team, with the departed Jordan Tod-man leading the Big East with 141.2 yards per

game in 2010.New offensive coordinator George DeLeone,

who served in that same position for Pasqualoni at Syracuse in 13 of the 14 seasons he was there, still does not know the identity of his offense.

“I’d love to have all the bells and whistles. I’d love to throw the ball down the fi eld every play,” DeLeone said. “I’d love to be exciting. … We have to do what’s best for our football team. We have to fi gure out what that is.”

What is best for the team is still uncertain, but it is clear that Pasqualoni was best for the program. And the allure that comes with his new head coaching job overshadows any possible frustration and growing pains that will come with year one.

Of all the possible jobs that could have opened up, this was the one where Pasqualoni felt he fi t the most. The chance to go home was perfect.

Said Pasqualoni: “To say I’m excited is prob-ably a little bit of an understatement.”

[email protected]


PASQUALONIF R O M P A G E 1 4

From dailyorange.com:How many years away is Syracuse football

from becoming a national power?

16%

34%22%

28%

This is the year!

3-5 seasons awayWithin the decade

It’ll be a while…

As of Aug. 31.

football guide 2011

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