ORLANDO, Fla., Dec. 21, 2004 – Finally, Walter Reyes was happy, healthy and ready to finish his Syracuse football-playing career the right way – on the field.

But in an instant, his SU career was over. Reyes injured his right shoulder with 13 minutes left in the second quarter and did not return Tuesday in SU’s 51-14 loss to Georgia Tech in the Champs Sports Bowl.

The injury occurred when Reyes was tackled and forced out of bounds on an 18-yard reception from quarterback Perry Patterson. Reyes exploded through the Georgia Tech sideline and flipped himself over the Tech bench. While Reyes didn’t appear to make contact with the aluminum bench, he landed on his right shoulder.

‘I had great momentum going into the sideline,’ Reyes said. ‘I tried to stop and knock the bench over, but the bench knocked me over, and I landed on my shoulder and reaggravated it.’

Reyes sat on the Tech sideline while he received medical attention. He later jogged off the field, clearly favoring his right shoulder. He spent the rest of the game on SU’s sideline wrapped in a gray sweatshirt with a splint hidden underneath.

‘Unfortunately this year, from the first play of the second half on against Pittsburgh, did not go real well for Walter Reyes,’ SU head coach Paul Pasqualoni said.

It ends a disappointing season for Reyes, who missed parts of five games because of illness or injury. Reyes sat out SU’s Oct. 21 game at West Virginia with the flu. On Nov. 6, against Pittsburgh, Reyes tore a muscle in his right shoulder and missed the Orange’s last two regular-season games.

Earlier this week, Reyes said he was finally excited to end his career on his own volition. That changed in the second quarter, when he was replaced by junior running back Damien Rhodes and freshman back Jeremy Sellers. Rhodes ran for 14 yards on nine carries and fumbled once in the third quarter. Reyes finished the game with three yards on five carries. He ran for 803 yards and seven touchdowns this year, down from 20 scores his junior year.

---

---

For Pasqualoni, it’s been a long season of answering questions about his job status.

With the Orange’s blowout loss last night, the questions resurfaced.

The coach appeared to have sealed a 15th season at SU after Chancellor Nancy Cantor‘s Dec. 6 announcement that Pasqualoni would return next year. Director of Athletics Jake Crouthamel conducted the evaluation of this year’s team. But Crouthamel – one of Pasqualoni’s closest allies – will retire on June 30, 2005.

Cantor said the new athletic director would be responsible for future evaluations of the football program. And SU’s new athletics director, Daryl Gross, said during the game’s ESPN telecast that he would re-evaluate the program in the coming months.

‘I think the AD has to do his job,’ senior center Matt Tarullo said. ‘If he wants to make switches, that’s his job. I couldn’t see why he’d want to make switches.’

Pasqualoni knew what he was in for with Tech’s 1-2 punch of quarterback Reggie Ball and wide receiver Calvin Johnson.

He knew of, and practiced for, Ball’s stability and accuracy. He’d seen the highlight reels of Johnson, a true freshman. Still, the Orange looked hopeless against Georgia Tech’s two stars.

Pasqualoni said SU attempted to double team Tech’s receiving combo of Johnson and Nate Curry. But Tech was still able to hit the duo. The two caught five passes for 166 yards and two touchdowns. That coverage left Georgia Tech’s running backs open for screen passes, Pasqualoni said.

Wide receiver Steve Gregory recorded his first receiving touchdown of his career with his fourth-quarter grab. … Damien Rhodes connected on a pass with long-snapper Brandon Darlington for a two-point conversion in the fourth quarter. It made the score 49-14, and made up for a missed extra point by Collin Barber. Quarterback Joe Fields entered the game with eight minutes left in the fourth quarter. He threw an interception on his second play from scrimmage and was sacked for a safety in a later drive.

Published on December 29, 2004 at 12:00 pm