Ryan Durand limped off the field midway through the second quarter. The junior guard and anchor of the Syracuse offensive line merely sprained his ankle. The rest of the offensive line looked hopelessly crippled.

The Rutgers defenders pushed past the SU linemen to sack Andrew Robinson five times, and the Syracuse quarterback thumped the turf several more times as Scarlet Knight defenders were constantly in his face. And an effortlessly blocked punt by Rutgers signaled another low point for the offensive line in the Orange’s 38-14 loss Saturday in the Carrier Dome.

The line performed adequately until the loss of Durand, the only Orange lineman to start every game at the same position during the past two seasons. The drive following Durand’s departure featured some of the worst pass protection the Orange had seen all year.

‘There was a couple breakdowns we didn’t catch – blitzes, they were faking a little more,’ freshman offensive tackle Jonathan Meldrum said. ‘We tried to pick up on it. We did as much as we could, especially with one of our main players getting hurt.’

Backup center Marvin McCall struggled early on to replace Durand at tackle. Robinson dealt with pressure up the middle while moving Syracuse near field goal range. But the line completed its meltdown on a first-and-10 at the Rutgers’ 34.

Rutgers freshman safety Joe LeFeged rocketed by offensive tackle Larry Norton and blindsided Robinson. The ball popped loose and ended Syracuse’s chance of scoring before the end of the half, as the Orange went into the locker room 24-14.

While the Syracuse offensive line strained to lay down blocks, the Rutgers defense would have no trouble pulling off the biggest block of the game. Trailing 14-7 in the second quarter, cornerback Devin McCourty burst past SU blockers to bat down a Rob Long punt. The ball rolled to the SU 1-yard line, setting up the game-tying touchdown.

Syracuse head coach Greg Robinson fiercely stated that the number of shots Andrew Robinson keeps taking sickens him. Yet the head coach seemed at a loss while trying to explain the pass protection or the blocked punt that he said the team had prepared for all week. The quarterback, though, preferred to keep his focus away from the protection problems and focus on himself. Andrew Robinson finished the game 15-for-32 with 158 yards, a touchdown and an interception.

‘If you have pressure in your face and you’re a quarterback, your throws are going to be off just a little bit,’ said Robinson, who was forced several times to throw off his back foot due to pressure. ‘But that’s the game of football. We have to deal with people in your face. We have to deal with throwing with guys coming at you; being a quarterback, you have to stay in there and take the shots.’

LeFeged particularly terrorized Robinson. He finished with two sacks, a forced fumble and LeFeged tipped one pass as Robinson released it, and the deflection was intercepted by lineman Jonathan Freeny. RU defensive end Jamaal Westerman tallied a pair of sacks.

The defensive pressure continued to hinder SU scoring drives in the second half. The Orange moved the ball to the Rutgers 30-yard line with a chance to cut the deficit to one possession. Two sacks later, Syracuse was out of field goal range.

SU freshmen tackles Meldrum and Tucker Baumbach earned more time than they had all season. However, neither did enough to stifle the Rutgers attack. During one pass rush, a defender zipped right around Meldrum before sending Robinson to the ground again.

‘I kind of underestimated their speed a little bit,’ Meldrum said. ‘They didn’t look as fast on film.’

Still, the head coach gave the rookies a vote of confidence. For an offensive line that has ranked 116th out of 119 Division I teams in sacks allowed entering Saturday’s game, it sounds like Greg Robinson’s best bet might be taking a step back and re-evaluating everything about the maligned unit.

‘I’m not going to say it was just players. It’s easy to say these guys aren’t good enough – I don’t know that. I’m going to say it starts right here,’ said Robinson, while pointing a finger at himself.

Published on October 14, 2007 at 12:00 pm