With an ice pack on his knee and a little trouble in his eye, Walter Reyes reclined in the front row of the Syracuse football team’s postgame press conference. His buddy and fellow running back Damien Rhodes assumed the microphone.

All afternoon, Reyes filled almost every role possible, from hero to goat. Now, fresh off Syracuse’s 41-31 win over Rutgers, he decided to play reporter, too.

‘So, Mr. Rhodes,’ Reyes said. ‘How does it feel to rush for 100 yards today?’

Rhodes laughed. ‘I should ask you.’

It was a diplomatic response from Rhodes, who rushed for more than 100 yards for the first time in his SU career. But he was outdone by Reyes, who ran for 237 yards and two touchdowns. Together, the backs combined for 339 yards rushing and four touchdowns. It was the first time since Oct. 14, 2000, that two Syracuse running backs rushed for at least 100 yards in the same game.

The rushing onslaught capped an impressive, back-and-forth win for the Orange. SU trailed by four entering the fourth quarter and needed a five-play, 75-yard drive to take the lead for good with 2:14 left in the game.

‘I’m just really proud of the way they hung in there and handled themselves in the fourth quarter of this game,’ SU head coach Paul Pasqualoni said.

Syracuse (3-2, 1-0 Big East) was in danger of falling to Rutgers for the second straight year after Ryan Hart’s 5-yard touchdown pass with four minutes left in the fourth quarter. Reyes fumbled the first possession of the ensuing drive, handing the ball to the Scarlet Knights on the SU 21-yard line, at which time some of the 40,153 fans headed for the exits.

‘With 3:40 to go, the picture wasn’t very pretty,’ Pasqualoni said, ‘but the defense found a way.’

The Rutgers drive stalled, and Jeremy Ito missed a 43-yard field goal that would have put RU (2-2, 0-1) up a touchdown. That allowed SU another possession with 3:27 left in the game.

‘We knew we were going to win,’ center Matt Tarullo said. ‘We knew we were going to drive the ball down and get a touchdown. That’s the way it is. That’s what we knew would happen.’

SU starter Perry Patterson hit Andre Fontenette over the middle for 43 yards. Two plays later, Reyes found a hole and ran 21 yards for the score, stumbling into the end zone after eluding a couple of Rutgers tacklers.

‘I think he wanted to make up for that fumble,’ Tarullo said.

In the process, Reyes showed the balance of a cat and the determination of a bull.

It capped an impressive day for Reyes, who passed Larry Csonka for second place on the SU all-time rushing list. The score sealed the SU victory, but the running back duo wasn’t done.

After stopping RU on fourth down deep in its own territory, Rhodes took a pitch 3 yards to the outside for a score.

Rhodes finished with 102 yards on 10 carries and two touchdowns. He single-handedly led SU’s first touchdown drive. With 11:33 left before halftime, he rushed twice. His first run was a 25-yard burst up the middle. His second, seemingly the same play, went for 44 yards and a score.

Reyes notched 237 yards on 19 carries, good for 12.5 yards per carry. It was Reyes’ second-highest rushing output, behind last year’s 241 yards against Central Florida.

‘I told everybody my breakout game would come,’ Reyes said. ‘Everyone was getting worried. ‘What happened to Walter?’ I’m here. Don’t worry. I’m not going anywhere.’

With the win, Syracuse climbed to a first-place tie with Boston College in the Big East.

‘It’s like we were on a roller coaster,’ Tarullo said. ‘It feels great. To go back and forth, back and forth. This was a big game and we beat them pretty good. It’s a great start to the conference season.’

Published on October 3, 2004 at 12:00 pm