If it were up to Walter Reyes, there would be no football on Saturday, Sept. 11. The Syracuse football team will play at Buffalo on Saturday, the three-year anniversary of Sept. 11, 2001.

‘It’s a tragedy,’ Reyes said. ‘I don’t see why we should play on that day. Maybe we should leave that day with no sports to be played. I don’t have any pull. I have to play. But it’s definitely an emotional day to play on 9/11.’

Buffalo will honor America with a performance by America’s Best Frisbee Dogs and an appearance by former Buffalo Bills quarterback Jim Kelly.

Syracuse head coach Paul Pasqualoni said he won’t be thinking about the significance of Sept. 11.

‘My focus is just nothing other than preparing for what Buffalo does: offense, defense, special teams,’ Pasqualoni said. ‘That’s all I’ve got on my mind right now.’

Dynamic Duo Sophomore cornerback/returner Marcus Clayton didn’t play last week against Purdue because of a nagging right hamstring, but it wasn’t a total loss. His good friend and high school teammate Landel Bembo played in his place.

Bembo caught two passes for 26 yards and lined up to return a punt Sunday. It was his first action in a college game.

‘I felt like I was back in high school,’ Bembo said. ‘I just went out there and played.’

‘I don’t mind sharing punt returns with my man,’ said Clayton, who attended Amos Godby High School with Bembo in Tallahassee, Fla. ‘If it had been anybody else I may have been a little upset.’

In high school, Bembo returned all the punts while Clayton took the kickoffs.

Clayton said he feels 85 percent and is hopeful he can play Saturday. But he said Pasqualoni is keeping a close watch on him in practice.

Bussin‘ it Syracuse will make the two-hour trip to Buffalo by bus, the first and only time this season the Orange is scheduled to do so.

‘This will be the first bus trip we’ve taken,’ Pasqualoni said. ‘It’s two hours. And we can get there by bus faster than we can by plane in this day and age.’

This and that Syracuse is 1-3-1 against Buffalo all time. … Buffalo will install two video boards to accommodate the near-sellout crowd. … Buffalo has been a Division I-A school since 1999.

Published on September 8, 2004 at 12:00 pm