Walter Reyes has seen an abundance of defensive schemes, each with its own variations and idiosyncrasies. There’s the 5-2, West Virginia’s 3-3-5 stack and Miami’s dominating 4-3.

But never has he faced a 3-4 defense.

‘I can’t recall in my career,’ Reyes said. ‘We’ve played against a lot of eight-man fronts but never a 3-4.’

That’s because it’s almost nonexistent at the college level. But Saturday at 3:30 p.m., Syracuse will face No. 12 Virginia and its pro-style 3-4 defense at Scott Stadium in Charlottesville, Va. The Cavaliers are the only ranked team in Division I football that uses the formation.

When Al Groh left his job as head coach of the NFL’s New York Jets three years ago, he brought the scheme with him to Virginia, where he is now head coach. The formation, which requires quick, athletic linebackers, uses complex blitz schemes to mystify blockers and opposing quarterbacks.

Just ask Akron wide receivers coach Joe Moorhead.

‘If there’s a team with better talent defensively, I haven’t seen them,’ Moorhead said. ‘There are so many different combinations and blitzes they can throw at you.’

The Cavaliers held the Zips’ offense to just 84 offensive yards in a 51-0 thrashing last Saturday. U.Va.’s chaos-causing unit intercepted Akron quarterback Charlie Frye twice and sacked him five times.

Virginia (3-0) hasn’t only beaten up on the Zips, though. The Cavs have outscored opponents 151-38 this season and are ranked 11th in the nation defensively. ESPN and the Sporting News both ranked Virginia’s linebacking corps as the best in the country before the season started.

‘Their defense is predicated on leverage,’ SU head coach Paul Pasqualoni said. ‘They have bigger, faster guys who can play two-gap assignments.’

The linebacking unit is where the success starts for the defense. The Cavs have three potential All-American linebackers in Ahmad Brooks, Darryl Blackstock and Kai Parham. Throw in fifth-year senior Dennis Haley, who knows the defense like a seal knows water, and you’ve got a bunch of scared tailbacks – the linebackers’ average size is 6-foot-4, 246 pounds.

‘It’s an old defense that NFL teams would be using,’ Reyes said. ‘They have big, physical linebackers that are 240 and above. A lot of teams try to run downhill at them and the linebackers are just sitting there waiting.’

As for the line, you’d expect an equally oversized nose tackle to clog the middle of the three-man gap, la Ted Washington, but none of the Cavaliers’ defensive linemen weigh more than 290 pounds.

Groh raves about his nose tackle Andrew Hoffman, though, and his ability to hold the line.

On Monday, when asked about what qualities make Hoffman effective, Groh said, ‘Tenacity. A couple of NFL scouts, who I just finished having a conversation about Andrew with, remarked about his effort and his hustle level.’

Syracuse (2-1) knows it will have its hands full. Its experience against ranked opponents this season – a 51-0 loss at Purdue – does not bode well for a much better opponent, Virginia. To win, the Orange will have to control the ball well.

‘The personnel they have is extremely effective for how they run it,’ offensive tackle Adam Terry said. ‘The scheme of which they run out of the 3-4 – various blitzes and multiple blitzes plus the players – are high-quality. The four linebackers across are very effective.’

‘The thing that I’m worried about is they’re gonna be blitzing a lot and how we’re gonna handle it,’ wide receiver Landel Bembo said. ‘If we handle the blitz well and get the ball off, I’ll be excited to match up against whoever we play.’

As for Reyes, he doesn’t plan to back down from anyone.

‘You’re gonna play against big defenses – bigger than you,’ Reyes said. ‘You just go in there and play your game. You can’t worry about, ‘Wow, he’s 260 (pounds).’ That’s why you lift weights in the off-season.’

Published on September 25, 2004 at 12:00 pm