MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – Former Heisman Trophy candidate Walter Reyes suffered from flu-like symptoms and didn’t play in Thursday night’s 27-6 loss to West Virginia at Mountaineer Field.Reyes stood on the sideline with a towel hanging from his head as Damien Rhodes, Jeremy Sellers and Marcus Clayton replaced Reyes.’Walter started getting the flu yesterday, and it really hit its peak today,’ head coach Paul Pasqualoni said. ‘If the game was another day or two away, he might have been able to go. But he was on antibiotics all day. There was just no way.’Rhodes rushed for 65 yards on 21 carries in his third start of the year. Sellers played Rhodes’ old role, second running option, and picked up minus-1 yard on one carry.Clayton replaced Reyes on kick returns, but didn’t get to return a ball.

The Syracuse football team added two wide receivers Thursday night – and looked slightly better in the passing game than the week before.Junior Steve Gregory and freshman Rice Moss, both out with injuries earlier this year, rejoined SU.’We had Steve all last week,’ Pasqualoni said. ‘He looked good.’Syracuse passed for 249 yards against WVU, compared to 207 last week against Florida State.Gregory made his impact felt immediately, catching a 19-yard pass just 45 seconds into the game. He finished with five catches and 58 yards.Moss played with a cast on his right hand. The freshman appeared in a game for the first time this year despite a broken hand, even though he didn’t make a catch.’Rice got cleared,’ Pasqualoni said. ‘He took his final test on Thursday. He wasn’t as prepared to play because it was at the end of the week.’While SU gained two players, it also lost one. Cornerback DeAndre LaCaille suffered a separated shoulder in the second quarter and did not return.Safety Diamond Ferri left in the third quarter with a hurt ankle but returned minutes later.’We’re gonna have to evaluate it,’ Pasqualoni said of LaCaille. ‘Right now, we don’t know how serious it is.’

Pasqualoni said SU was prepared, it just didn’t execute.But whatever the reason, West Virginia’s no-huddle offense confused, befuddled and seemingly surprised the Syracuse football team.Syracuse hasn’t seen a no-huddle offense this season. Though SU knew WVU used the hurry-up offense, SU struggled to keep up.’I thought at times we did well with it,’ Pasqualoni said. ‘We just had to play faster.’On the first drive, cornerback Tanard Jackson backpedaled out to his assignment as WVU snapped the ball. Safeties Diamond Ferri and Anthony Smith fanned out to their positions as plays started.Ferri said SU struggled getting the plays in before WVU lined up, a problem that SU had against Purdue.

WVU quarterback Rasheed Marshall now has 1,605 career yards rushing after his 87 yards last night. He passed former SU quarterback Donovan McNabb on the all-time career rushing yards list for quarterbacks. McNabb had 1,561 yards rushing in his SU career. Marshall entered Thursday night’s game with 1,518 yards. … WVU won the Schwartzwalder Trophy for the sixth time since it was created in 1993. … SU wide receiver Kyle Bell and Marshall attended the same high school – Valley Forge Military Academy in Pennsylvania.

Published on October 21, 2004 at 12:00 pm