Right before he falls asleep and every time he wakes up, Joe Fields asks himself what he can do to improve as a quarterback.

So far, it seems, he has yet to find any answers.

Fields, a true freshman, started each of the Syracuse football team’s first three games. But midway through SU’s 19-7 win over Cincinnati, sophomore Perry Patterson replaced Fields. In the 286 minutes since then, Fields has played none.

Now Fields contemplates life as a perennial second-stringer.

‘It’s really hard,’ Fields said. ‘But I’m not really worried about it. Coach (Paul Pasqualoni) made a decision. I’m just going to continue to learn and get better.’

This is Fields’ monumental fall. Just think back eight weeks. Fields led Syracuse out against Purdue with hope, a freshman fire that SU lacked the past two years. He was nave enough to think he could change SU. He jumped under center Matt Tarullo’s bum and started barking.

He was a freshman on national TV playing a Top 25 team and didn’t know any better. So what did he do? Play the role. He just tried to fit in, just tried not to mess up. And that buried him. A 51-0 loss to Purdue wasn’t the warm welcome he expected.

Over three games – all starts – Fields’ time diminished. By the time he reached the Cincinnati game, Fields played the first two drives of the game. He hit receiver Landel Bembo on a third-and-12 for a 5-yard gain with 1:21 left in the first quarter. SU punted, and Patterson played the rest of the way.

Fields completed 11 of 23 passes with two interceptions, 121 yards and no touchdowns in his time. Bad enough for one game. Fields spread it out over three.

‘I put what happened on my shoulders,’ Fields said. ‘There’s a lot of other things that played into (starting Patterson). But I take responsibility. I didn’t seize the moment. He’s doing a great job leading the team and managing the game.’

Now, as Patterson runs each play on the turf, Fields runs through those plays in his mind. He wonders what he would do differently, looking for new things. He imagines himself in the game.

‘I really feel like I just played one game,’ Fields said of rotating with Patterson. ‘I feel like I’m a whole different quarterback from the Purdue game. I haven’t really had the opportunity to show how much I learned from the Purdue game and the Buffalo game.’

Now, Fields works with the second team, runs the scout squad and continues learning the SU offense.

‘Don’t count Joe out,’ Tarullo said. ‘Joe’s one of the hardest workers I’ve seen at quarterback. He’ll be back. He’s a great kid. He’s doing what he needs to do to get back.’

So far, though, coaches haven’t given Fields the chance. When Fields struggled early in the year, coaches inserted Patterson. But when Patterson has struggled, Fields’ butt has stayed glued to the bench. In his second start – a 41-31 win over Rutgers on Oct. 2 – Patterson completed 11 of 25 passes with two picks, 131 yards and one touchdown. Coaches stuck with the sophomore.

Patterson even struggled Thursday (for a bit, at least), as SU lost, 27-6, to No. 15 West Virginia. Though Patterson’s final numbers looked good – 23-for-37 passing for 249 yards – the sophomore routinely overshot open receivers, especially early.

‘I didn’t think this would be the situation,’ Fields said. ‘I wish I could get something like Perry had against Rutgers. He struggled. But at the time, when the team needed him, he bounced back.

‘That whole game, he didn’t have to worry about getting pulled out of the game. He knew he was going to be back out there and he made some plays. I wish I had that opportunity, but the coaches didn’t feel like I could do that.

‘It’s very difficult (to start and succeed). When you step on that field, you’ve never been a part of anything like that before. You played games, but nothing compares to that. Just sitting back and learning – I think Perry had that advantage. He’s been around here three years. I’ve been around here a semester.’

NCAA rules stipulate that, to redshirt, a player must play in less than 25 percent of his team’s games. Since Fields played in SU’s first three games, that is no longer an option.

His only option is to keep working in practice until he can finally run back out and think he could make a difference.

‘I feel like if I got the opportunity again, I’d be that much better,’ Fields said. ‘I just learned how to manage a college game. I was never on a sideline at a college

game. Now I know.’

Published on October 24, 2004 at 12:00 pm