Syracuse football wide receiver Jamel Riddle, who’s yet to play this season because of academic issues, will not play against Toledo on Saturday. The NCAA informed Syracuse and head coach Paul Pasqualoni on Wednesday of its decision not to reinstate Riddle. He practiced yesterday and will practice tomorrow.

The senior wide receiver took classes at Onondaga Community College over the summer to become eligible to play this season. SU has appealed the NCAA’s ruling.

‘As long as there is an appeal,’ Pasqualoni said, ‘he has not (been declared ineligible).

‘I can’t go into technical aspects. It’s just one of those things where you’ve got to be certain. I can’t say anything. We have to function. It’s no different than when he was hurt.’

Riddle, who led SU in all receiving categories last fall as a junior, and returned punts, was expected to be the No. 2 receiver on this year’s team. Jared Jones and Andre Fontenette have replaced him.

‘It’s going to always affect the team when you’re missing a great player,’ said fullback Thump Belton, Riddle’s roommate. ‘I wish things were different and he could be here, but I don’t really know the circumstances. I hate that he can’t be here.

‘It’s kind of the question of, what do I do now? I told him things will get better. We don’t know when, but it will. That’s just the nature of the beast.’

Receiver Rashard Williams returned to SU last week after leaving because of homesickness. Williams, a speedy, diminutive wideout in the mold of Riddle, caught two passes for 22 yards.

With Riddle’s absences piling up, it’s becoming a possibility that Riddle could miss the whole season, which would end his career at Syracuse.

‘I don’t know right now what next step is,’ Pasqualoni said. ‘I don’t know what all that means, what the procedure is. I’d like to be optimistic.’

Gator Bait

True freshman Marcus ‘Gator’ Clayton will continue to field punts in Riddle’s absence. Last year, Riddle had 23 punt returns for 316 yards and a touchdown. So far this season, Clayton has six returns for 57 yards.

‘At first it was a little intimidating,’ Clayton said. ‘But since I’ve got a couple games in, it’s normal to me. It’s just like high school. The last couple games I haven’t been intimidated at all. I don’t get nervous like I normally do. I haven’t been dropping the ball, I’ve been catching everything.’

Part of that has been his work with Riddle. Since Riddle’s been relegated to the role of teacher, Clayton has been picking up slight tips to improve his running and catching.

‘It’s little techniques,’ Clayton said. ‘It’s how you catch ball, whether to step back or to stutter step.’

Of course, not everything in Clayton’s repertoire has been inherited from his mentor.

‘I’ve got speed and I got a little wiggle,’ Clayton said. ‘You don’t develop it, it’s natural. You can do a whole lot of plyometric stuff, but (I was born with) speed and a wiggle.’

Carney code

Though special teams coordinator Chris White took responsibility for the first-quarter punt block in last week’s game by Central Florida’s Ryan Beal, punter Brendan Carney doesn’t want to get off the hook.

‘One guy on my right came in untouched and he was just right on top of me,’ Carney said. ‘I have to be able to get that ball off quicker. I wanted to hang it up there high. I took half a second there and unfortunately he got in there.’

Carney said Syracuse was in a sky-punt formation, which means that he was trying to pin Central Florida near it’s end zone. The problem was, Beal, a UCF gunner, blitzed and ran in untouched. Carney said the block could have been avoided if he had seen the blitzer and had hurried the punt.

‘(Getting the punt off quick) is something I try to get better at every week,’ Carney said. ‘A guy stands next to me every punt of the week and he tells me what my time is on every punt. I’m trying to get it below 2.1 (seconds). I’ve been doing pretty well, but in the games it seems like I’m getting 2.2s, 2.3s.

‘It’s not because I’m nervous, but I focus on trying on do it perfectly instead of just doing it. Laces up, arms fully extended, drop is perfect. When I’m out at practice, I do all that and I’m not even thinking about it, which I should be doing in the game.’

Faced with that situation next time, Carney said he wouldn’t hesitate to tuck the ball under his arm and run.

‘In the Virginia Tech-Texas A&M game, the punter broke that one guy’s ankles,’ Carney said. ‘That was pretty exciting. Nine out of 10 times I’m not going to break it, but maybe that one time if I could pick up a block or something, maybe I could get a few yards.’

Injury update

Running back Damien Rhodes and wide receiver Johnnie Morant, both of whom missed time with injured ankles in last week’s game, will play against Toledo on Saturday in the Carrier Dome, Pasqualoni said.

Linebacker Jameel Dumas and tight end Joe Donnelly will miss the game, though, because of an injured leg and shoulder, respectively.

‘We’re optimistic (they’ll return),’ Pasqualoni said, ‘but they haven’t started hitting anybody yet or started full contact work.’

Kicker Justin Sujansky, who injured his hip flexor Sept. 8, will be ‘O-U-T, out’ of Saturday’s game, Pasqualoni said.

This and that

Don’t expect the 5-foot-8 Clayton to call for a fair catch Saturday. ‘That’s my killer instinct,’ Clayton said. ‘If I fair catch, coaches don’t want to see that. They want to see what you do in a tight situation.’ … Don’t be surprised either if Carney opts to toss one downfield on a fake punt. As a high school pitcher in Pennsylvania, his fastball reached the high-70s. ‘My curveball was okay,’ Carney said. ‘But I have a nasty change-up.’

Published on September 24, 2003 at 12:00 pm