He still stares at the floor when he talks about it. He can still hear the reverberating sound, even though he hasn’t seen the video since it happened. He still speaks softly when he reflects back on Oct. 12, 2002, when he cost the Syracuse football team its game against Temple.

‘It’s not something I like to joke about,’ Syracuse kicker Collin Barber said. ‘When other people joke about it, I laugh it off. I’ll never think it was funny that I let my team down.’

Two years after what has become, for better or worse, the most defining moment of his Syracuse career, Barber still thinks about the clank.

‘Oh my God, I can still remember that sound,’ Barber said. ‘It makes me sick.’

At noon Saturday at Lincoln Financial Field, Barber and the Orange return to Philadelphia to take on Temple. Barber will have the opportunity to bury the ghosts of his past.

‘It’s been quite a motivating factor,’ Barber said. ‘I still think about it. It motivates me. I never want to let my team down like that again.’

Remember back, like Barber does, to Veterans Stadium in 2002. With 30 seconds left, quarterback R.J. Anderson hit wide receiver Jared Jones for a 14-yard touchdown pass, cutting the Temple lead to 17-16.

Thank goodness. Syracuse’s 1-4 start wouldn’t be dampened by a loss to poor, lowly Temple. Syracuse looked bad, sure. But at least SU could escape with a win in overtime and perhaps turn its awful start around.

Then Barber hit the left upright, and Temple celebrated its first win against Syracuse since 1982.

‘I can’t remember too much of what happened in that game,’ linebacker Tommy Harris said. ‘All I can remember is the ball hitting that goalpost. That doink.’

After the game, few players knew how to, or whether to, approach Barber.

Safety Troy Swittenburg, whose locker was adjacent to Barber’s, was one of the few who did.

‘He just kept talking to me, telling me to keep my head up,’ Barber said. ‘I don’t know if that kid will ever know what it meant to me.’

Barber went through a reclusive period following the game. Kickers need short memories. For whatever reason, Barber couldn’t move on.

Fast forward to this year. Barber has gone through a mental breakdown recently. After missing two field goals and an extra point against West Virginia, Syracuse coach Paul Pasqualoni pulled Barber in favor of punter Brendan Carney.

Barber sat against Connecticut. After Carney missed a 32-yard attempt against Pittsburgh, Pasqualoni informed Barber he would replace Carney.

His first kick back, Barber missed a 48-yarder, and it could have shook him. Instead, he later booted a 27-yard field goal and four extra points.

Unlike 2002, Barber casually knocked the game-tying and go-ahead extra points through, even as the Carrier Dome crowd panicked with every one. Ultimately, SU won, 38-31, in double overtime.

‘After the game, I was totally drained,’ Barber said. ‘I just wanted to stay positive the whole game. It took a lot of energy for that. And I just wanted to go to bed. I guess that’s how it should be after a game.’

If Barber felt emotionally drained after Syracuse (5-4, 3-1 Big East) beat Pittsburgh, Temple could kill him.

The Owls (0-4, 1-8) come in with a typically pathetic record. But SU coaches insist Temple can’t be overlooked.

Quarterback Walter Washington is a truck at 6 feet 2 inches and 240 pounds. And Temple’s 4-2-5 defense could complicate matters for the SU offense.

But if it comes down to special teams, Barber says he’ll be ready.

‘It doesn’t have anything to do with where we’re playing,’ Barber said. ‘I’ll do the same thing. Go through my routine and be ready to go.’

Published on November 11, 2004 at 12:00 pm