With one simple mistake, West Virginia was playing right into Syracuse’s hands. The Mountaineers won the coin toss and chose to defer to the home team.

The Orange would receive the opening kickoff – just as it had in its upset over Louisville two weeks ago – and have a chance to take a lead before West Virginia’s offense could even take the field.

Now SU head coach Greg Robinson had his chance to show what he’d been scheming all week to exploit a run-of-the-mill Mountaineers defense.

It’s hard to believe this was it:

      – First play: A scramble by Syracuse quarterback Andrew Robinson for a first down.

      – Second play: It turns into a free shot as West Virginia jumps offside, and Greg Robinson could be seen yelling on the sideline at wide receiver Taj Smith to run deep. (That’s not really scheming, just good improvising). The ball was overthrown.

      – Third play: A Curtis Brinkley run into the line for three yards.

      – And finally: The oldest trick in the Robinson playbook: the quick slant on 2nd-and-2. And West Virginia was not going to be fooled. Smith is covered, the pass is deflected and WVU defensive back Ryan Mundy intercepts it.

The opportunity for momentum was gone. And you have to wonder, is that the best plan of attack this offense could think up?

Turnovers sucked out the Orange’s energy early in its 55-14 loss to West Virginia in the Carrier Dome on Saturday. But the plays that resulted in those turnovers and other lost opportunities were the same ones Syracuse has relied on all season. And the Mountaineers proved they’d been watching their film.

‘They game-planned for us for sure against the slants,’ Andrew Robinson said.

For a team so comfortable wearing all-orange jerseys, the SU offense has showed no color for most of the season.

Syracuse has found itself in a desperate situation. How ’bout some desperate measures and some willingness to mix things up in the playbook?

I’m not asking for an 80-yard bomb on the first play of the game. Not every defense can be as porous as Louisville (although Andrew Robinson said after the game, the biggest West Virginia defensive holes were down the middle of the field).

While the running game seemed to know how to attack the WVU defense, the passing game threw no surprises and seemed ill-prepared when in positions to keep the game close.

The most vital play of the game – when Mountaineer Keilen Dykes returned an interception for a touchdown on another deflected pass – was another one of Greg Robinson’s go-to plays, the screen. The end result gave WVU a 21-7 lead.

It looked like West Virginia had sniffed out the screen from the start. Linebacker Reed Williams just sat in the middle of the field waiting to pop Smith as soon as the ball hit his fingertips.

‘It was well-designed (coverage),’ Robinson said Sunday of the West Virginia’s slant defense. ‘Then another time, they did a good job getting the hands up and blocking (a slant pass).’

There seemed to be only one time when Syracuse was still in the game that the Orange added some spice to its playcalling.

In the second quarter, Robinson called a fake field goal run. The audacity was commendable. The playcalling made no sense.

Wrong place, wrong time. And there was also that glaring 50-pound difference at the kicker position as John Barker (155 pounds) had replaced Patrick Shadle (201 pounds) to run the fake.

Still, the head coach made a good point after the game when explaining why he chose to call that play.

‘I wanted to try and get seven points,’ Robinson said. ‘I felt like touchdowns were the way to get it going early in the ball game, and it didn’t work.’

Fair enough. Now apply that philosophy to an offense that went 6-for-16 passing the ball instead of a special teams unit that’s doing just fine.

The receivers have proven to be the playmakers of this team. Get them the ball and good things happen. And there are other ways to do it than simple screens and slants. I expected some more play action once Syracuse actually established a running game.

And the receivers realize their potential.

‘I think if (the wide receivers) get in the game early, help our team, let everybody know we’re here and get an early score,’ receiver Mike Williams said, ‘I think it’ll be a different turnout.’

It might be. First, the offense deserves the chance to open the playbook.

Matt Levin is an assistant feature editor for The Daily Orange where his columns appear occasionally. He can be reached at mrlevin@syr.edu.

Published on October 7, 2007 at 12:00 pm