It looks simple, really. Square up. Bend your knees. Put your shoulder pad into his chest. Get the job done.

The art of tackling. Last week, the effort from the Syracuse football team looked like a paint-by-numbers rather than a Picasso. But Saturday, the Orangemen looked inspired. They drilled the Boston College Double Agents, who recently ACCepted an invitation to join the Atlantic Coast Conference, by a score of 39-14 in front of a raucous crowd of 45,313.

While R.J. Anderson’s gaudy passing numbers stand out, most of the credit for SU’s convincing win can be given to its stellar tackling.

Sure tackles and big hits marked Syracuse’s defensive effort. It shut down BC, especially stud running back Derrick Knight, who is the nation’s leading rusher.

Usually, the topic of tackling doesn’t come up until it’s botched. When it’s done well, a player gets a pat on the back. But when it’s done poorly, like during last week’s 51-7 loss at Virginia Tech, then look out, they’ve got an angry coach screaming down their throat.

‘We never had a chance,’ SU defensive coordinator Chris Rippon said of the poor tackling against Tech. ‘We never had a foot in the ground against Virginia Tech, to be honest with you.’

But the group that took the field on Saturday looked like an entirely different team. Knight’s no Kevin Jones, Virginia Tech’s Heisman-caliber back, but you can’t run for more than 800 yards after five games, as Knight has, without being a good back. The Orangemen made open-field tackles when they needed to.

‘Look at that Virginia Tech game,’ SU tight end Joe Donnelly said. ‘I’ll tell you now, it was blocking and tackling. That’s what it was. We worked on it all week. (Knight’s) one of the best backs in the country and our defense really stuck it to him. They tackled, they made sure tackles, and that was the difference in the game.’

There may have been some extra motivation on SU’s part because of the ACC business that transpired the week before. Certainly, emotions ran high. Boston College left Syracuse standing at a bus corner on a 20-degree day while it sped by in its Maserati.

If it takes a personal vendetta against an athletic program to make a tackle, fine, whatever works. Just make sure to next week tell the players that Pittsburgh’s making a beeline to the Big 10. That should really get the Orangemen knocking off Pitt’s heads.

It sounds easy. It’s only logical to assume that 225-pound beasts need only flop on their opponent in order to send them to the turf. But as evidenced by performances against Louisville and Virginia Tech, it’s not as easy as it looks.

The difference in Saturday’s game was noticeable. More energy, more intensity, more attitude – it all factors into tackling.

‘It’s an easy concept,’ SU linebacker Kellen Pruitt said. ‘But when the man’s juking around at full speed, you need to focus on what you need to do.’

‘It’s about control,’ Rippon said. ‘You wanna go and want to smack ’em, but you really have to take control.’

SU displayed control Saturday, but it also hit with abandon. The hits started with cornerback Steve Gregory leveling returner Nat Hasselbeck on the first punt of the game, continued with strong safety Diamond Ferri’s de-helmeting of Will Blackmon and continued right on through Pruitt’s electrifying sack of Quinton Porter in the third quarter.

Syracuse didn’t just want to tackle Boston College on Saturday; it wanted to send a message. But SU needed no extra motivation against a team that Rippon, Kelvin Smith and Louis Gachelin, among others, said is known for cheap shots. In Syracuse’s best game of the season, it showed no mercy.

‘You really gotta unload into somebody,’ linebacker Kelvin Smith said. ‘You really gotta take it to the head. You’re trying to get them out of the play. You ain’t trying to let them get back into the game.’

Mission accomplished. Syracuse went for the head and knocked the Eagles out cold.

Michael Becker is an assistant sports editor at The Daily Orange, where his columns appear regularly. E-mail him at mibecker@syr.edu

Published on October 19, 2003 at 12:00 pm