As the Syracuse football team prepares for Florida State this week, the status of its third-string quarterback is still in the air.

Xzavier Gaines met with head coach Paul Pasqualoni yesterday at 2 p.m. to discuss his situation.

‘Xzavier was going through some personal things last week,’ Pasqualoni said, ‘so we let him take the week off.’

Gaines could not be reached for comment.

Syracuse had declared a three-person race for the starting quarterback position in the preseason.

After freshman Joe Fields was named starter, Gaines slipped into the background, as a quarterback controversy ensued between Fields and sophomore Perry Patterson.

Patterson eventually won out, and Gaines has only played one game this year. He has four rushes for 11 yards.

With ultra-athletic Florida State coming to the Carrier Dome on Saturday, Syracuse will need to make due without one of its top linebackers.

Pasqualoni said linebacker Kellen Pruitt, who was on crutches Saturday, will miss this week’s game with an injury.

Wide receiver Steve Gregory also won’t play on Saturday. He missed his third consecutive game last Saturday against Rutgers.

Does Pasqualoni think that Gregory is done for the year?

‘No, I’m not feeling that way at all,’ Pasqualoni said. ‘It’s a day-to-day thing.’

Meanwhile, cornerback Tanard Jackson will return to practice this week after being stabbed on Sept. 26. He could play as early as this weekend.

‘We have to wait and see if we have Tanard back,’ Pasqualoni said. ‘He’s been a very consistent guy all the way through. It’s nice to have him back (practicing) because he has the most experience.’

Andre Fontenette had just one catch Saturday. But he saw it plenty of times last weekend and once more early Monday morning.

That’s because the catch, a 43-yarder, resulted in the wide receiver tripping over himself.

‘It happens,’ Fontenette said. ‘Hopefully, next time I’ll be able to stand on my feet. I’m glad I made the catch, at least.’

Fontenette’s grab – and stumble – came with less than two minutes left in the game and SU down, 31-27. If running back Walter Reyes hadn’t scampered 21 yards two plays later to put SU up three, Fontenette could have been the goat.

With SU’s 41-31 win, though, players looked past the gaffe in SU’s film session Monday morning. Coaches played the tape and rewound it. Over and over again.

‘We all started laughing,’ quarterback Perry Patterson said. ‘Andre was pretty mad.’

Said Fontenette: ‘It’s part of the game. I told Walter afterward that I wanted him to score anyway.’

Reyes won Big East Offensive Player of the Week. He rushed for 237 yards on 19 carries and scored two touchdowns. … Syracuse averaged 9.2 yards per carry against Rutgers, the most ever against an opponent. Against Cornell in 1952, SU averaged 8.5 yards per carry (40 carries, 340 yards). … Saturday is Dollar Day at the Dome. Before the game, SU athletes will collect donations for the United Way of Central New York.

Published on October 4, 2004 at 12:00 pm