It seems Troy Nunes’ 15 minutes of fame for the 2002 season are up.

Despite engineering an 80-yard, fourth-quarter drive that sent Syracuse into overtime with Auburn, Nunes won’t replace starting quarterback R.J. Anderson, head coach Paul Pasqualoni said yesterday. Pasqualoni never even thought about making the switch.

“Robin is going to start because he’s the starting quarterback,” Pasqualoni said. “I really haven’t thought about making a change yet.”

Anderson completed just 5-of-18 passes against Auburn and tossed three interceptions. Anderson left the game with seven minutes remaining in regulation because of what he called a “minor concussion.”

Nunes took over and completed 9-of-11 passes for 80 yards and a touchdown.

“I didn’t remember half the game until I watched the film (yesterday) morning,” Anderson said. “But I feel pretty good now.”

But Anderson’s problems extend past last Saturday’s game.

In four games as starter this season, Anderson’s completed 42 percent of his passes and has thrown six interceptions.

Last year Anderson was picked just twice and completed half his passes.

“I haven’t been asked to do anything different this year,” Anderson said, “but turning the ball over is killing me. I’m not meaning to do it.

“But the tipped balls are killing me. They’ll be tipped and get intercepted. Last year that didn’t happen. I got lucky last year, I guess. But everybody has confidence in me and that’s why I’m still starting.

“It’s kind of funny between me and Troy because this stuff happens every year. Last year he was in situations where he came out and I came in. It’s not a rotation. It’s just the way it happened.”

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DeAmato not demoted

Walk-on long-snapper Dave DeAmato made his first mistake of the season Saturday — at a bad time.

DeAmato botched the snap on Syracuse’s field-goal attempt in the first overtime, which would have put Syracuse up three. Jeremiah Mason saved DeAmato temporarily by blocking Auburn’s field-goal attempt on the ensuing possession to force double-OT.

“Dave’s done a great job,” Pasqualoni said. “One ball kind of got muffed, but he’s had a lot of good snaps in four games. He feels bad about it, he really does. He’s a good guy who’s trying hard.”

Pasqualoni said DeAmato botched the snap because the nose of the ball got caught against the ground.

“That happens all the time,” said SU fullback Chris Davis, who competed with DeAmato for the snapping job. “The ball just gets caught against a little hole in the ground. It’s unfortunate but understandable.”

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This and that

Clifton Smith had his best game of the year, recording 17 tackles and recovering a fumble in the first half. “Clifton had a great effort,” Pasqualoni said. “He made some great plays for us.” … Pasqualoni said wide receiver Johnnie Morant, suspended the last two games for violating team policy, will practice with the team this week. Morant admitted to punching SU lacrosse palyer Mike Springer. “He’ll be suiting up for practice and hopefully be available for this next game,” Pasqualoni said. … Jamel Riddle, who left the game in the third quarter with blurred vision, underwent testing yesterday afternoon. His status for this weekend’s game against Pittsburgh is not yet known. … Jameel Dumas hurt his groin, but Pasqualoni said the starting linebacker should be fine for Saturday. … Will Hunter said yesterday that after Mason blocked the overtime field goal, the two considered doing their vaunted O-head celebration dance. “We wanted to do the O-head, but we were too tired,” Hunter said. The dance, once an in-game and post-game staple, has yet to be seen this year.

Published on September 30, 2002 at 12:00 pm