With two competent runners in the backfield, just think of all the Syracuse football team can accomplish.

After they swerve in and around defenses, the running backs can maneuver in and out of the rotation, confusing defenses as SU drives downfield.

As they rest and rehydrate, the backs can stay fresh as they wear down the opposition.

With Walter Reyes and Damien Rhodes each at their pinnacle, the Orange’s prairie full of talent is finally blooming.

‘It gives us that much more of a threat,’ wide receiver Andre Fontenette said. ‘We saw Damien his freshman year, and he showed flashes. Unfortunately he was injured last year, but we’re finally getting a taste of what we had hoped for.’

That taste included a combined 199 yards from Reyes and Rhodes – who missed eight games last season with ankle injuries – in Syracuse’s 19-7 win over Cincinnati on Saturday. The two backs scored SU’s only two touchdowns of the game. When the Orange plays at Virginia on Saturday at 3:30 p.m., both will be expected to play as impressively as they did against the Bearcats.

‘The beauty of us two is we can wear the defense out,’ Rhodes said. ‘(Cincinnati) was getting tired by the end of the game. Me and Walter were banging them out. We’re wearing down the defense when they’re tired and we’re still fresh.’

Rhodes went so far as to call he and Reyes the top running back duo in the country Saturday, putting them ahead of USC’s backfield of LenDale White and Reggie Bush and Auburn’s backfield of Cadillac Williams and Ronnie Brown.

Through three games, though, USC’s tandem averages 182 yards rushing per game. Auburn’s pair averages 189. Rhodes and Reyes? Just 127.

But the two have shown that, despite a lackluster passing game, two talented runners can still succeed.

‘It’s the reality of their situation,’ said Greg Schiano, Rutgers’ head coach and SU’s first Big East opponent. ‘Those two backs weren’t healthy together at the same time last year. Now they have a good weapon. It’s a scary situation as an opposing coach.’

While Reyes and Rhodes don’t offer the typical thunder-and-lightning tandem most two-person backfields do, they still use distinct styles.

Both are fast. But Reyes is more of a scat back, zigzagging in and out of would-be tackles and waiting for his linemen to block as he carefully treads up the middle.

Rhodes breaks to the outside more, using his corner speed to sprint outside the defense and bolt upfield.

‘We’re both fast,’ Reyes said. ‘But I don’t think calling us smaller backs is right. We’re not 180-pound backs. We’re both around 210. In that respect, we’re both speed guys. We can both break it at any moment.’

On Saturday, they showed the first glimpses of that. Reyes ran for 117 yards – his first game over the 100-yard barrier all season – including an average of 4.9 yards per carry.

Rhodes, too, showed his big-play ability on Saturday – which he also displayed the previous week against Buffalo – with a 52-yard run and a 7.5 yards-per-carry average.

So perhaps the potential for becoming the best running back duo in the nation holds. Even SU coach Paul Pasqualoni initially agreed when asked about Rhodes’ comments.

‘But,’ Pasqualoni said, ‘I would reserve the final determination for after the season.’

Still, the possibilities are intriguing.

‘When you have two great backs, you want to get them in as much as possible,’ Pasqualoni said. ‘Both are capable of making a big-play run. Both can be used in the pass. Both are into it. So both will be playing a lot.’

Published on September 20, 2004 at 12:00 pm