The end of spring football is finally drawing near for Syracuse.

Following Syracuse’s final practice this afternoon, the Orangemen will participate in the annual Spring Game Saturday at 1 p.m. in the Carrier Dome.

The end-of-spring scrimmage will give fans a glimpse of the work the team has done over the past month. More importantly, it’s another opportunity for the coaching staff to evaluate players who are on the cusp of cracking the starting lineup or for others who are trying to crack the travel roster.

Either way, the players and coaches will treat it the same as any of the other scrimmages they’ve had all spring. The only exception is that it’s open to the public.

‘It’s a good time for the guys,’ senior defensive right end Julian Pollard said. ‘It’s a fun scrimmage. My family comes up. I’m just more excited that my family’s coming up and it’s another chance to practice hard.’

Players will take the field at 1 p.m. for warm-ups followed by special teams work at 1:15 p.m. Syracuse will announce its 2004 captains at 1:30 p.m. and then begin the scrimmage immediately afterwards.

The offense will compete against the defense for approximately 60 minutes. Syracuse head coach Paul Pasqualoni hopes about 60 to 70 plays will be run in that time span, roughly the lower end of a normal game.

‘What I would actually like to see are the coaches off the field and the players on their own under game conditions,’ Pasqualoni said. ‘Walter Reyes doesn’t have to prove that he can be a great player. We have a lot of kids coming back who played who it’ll be good to see them play.’

Pasqualoni said his biggest focus will be on evaluating the younger members of the squad. He’s curious to evaluate the progress made by players who, in the past, haven’t played as much and see what role they fit.

‘It’s not what plays we run, it’s not how many defenses we have, not how many blitzes there are,’ Pasqualoni said. ‘It’s basic alignments, stance, execution and fundamentals. If we can come out of this spring with these things, we’re in great position to start preseason camp.’

Most members of the coaching staff view the scrimmage as just another practice. It’s a chance, though, for players to make an impact on coaches that can last the entire summer into preseason camp.

‘I know how some people view the Spring Game as a culmination,’ said Jim Reid, SU defensive line coach, ‘but every day is a work day, every day is an evaluation day and every day is intense. It’s another opportunity to get in there, do some live work against your teammates, keep yourself healthy, work hard, and tackle and block and do all those other things.’

Reid feels individual practices with one-on-one drills are more important than the Spring Game. As a coach, he gets a better chance at evaluating players in those situations than in a scrimmage. Still, he’ll use the Spring Game as a final tool in evaluating the work of his players over the course of the past month.

‘One more time to do it the right way,’ Pollard said. ‘We’re trying to finish up and polish everything so you want to go off on a right note.’

Published on April 22, 2004 at 12:00 pm