Reyes likely out with torn shoulder
Walter Reyes suffered a torn muscle in his right shoulder Saturday, his mother Marylou Tinsley said, and is ‘very doubtful’ to play against Temple next week.
After the Syracuse football team’s 38-31 double-overtime win Saturday over Pittsburgh, Reyes underwent an MRI, which revealed the tear. Now, Reyes is wearing a sling, Tinsley said.
‘He was in pain,’ Tinsley said. ‘But his spirits are OK.’
Whether Reyes will play Nov. 27 against Boston College remains uncertain.
His Senior Day – and possibly his season – wasn’t supposed to end like this. Reyes’ last Carrier Dome moment came with him sitting at the Syracuse 18-yard line, lying face up and stamping his feet in pain.
SU’s starting running back left the game with 10:30 left in the third quarter with the right shoulder injury, prompting backup Damien Rhodes to replace the departed senior.
On the day when Reyes was supposed to wave goodbye to the Carrier Dome with a momentous game – and in some ways he did, rushing for 123 yards on 17 carries and a touchdown through two-and-a-half quarters – Rhodes ultimately won the game.
‘Damien was on a mission today,’ SU head coach Paul Pasqualoni said. ‘When Walter got hurt and wasn’t ready to go, you could see Damien had that look in his eyes that he was going to carry the mail and carry it home, so to speak.’
Rhodes did, single-handedly scoring Syracuse’s second touchdown with runs of 7, 16 and 2 yards consecutively in the second overtime.
While Rhodes secured the game, the main concern was Reyes.
Reyes injured his shoulder on the play before he went down, a 7-yard rush up the middle. But he asked to stay in the game.
On the next play, after the senior ran a simple dive up the middle, he stayed on the turf. After sitting up and receiving his customary applause, he left the game and never returned.
Enter Rhodes, who ran for 70 yards after the third quarter ended.
Afterward, he jumped on the postgame podium and took questions, the center of attention for the last time that day. Meanwhile, Reyes never showed up, receiving treatment for his torn muscle.
Reyes’ final home game started so promising. He rushed 38 yards on SU’s first possession, capping it off with a 1-yard touchdown run.
Rhodes ended it so elegantly, running around the left corner three times to win the game.
When he scored the last-second touchdown, it conjured up memories of the Nov. 9, 2002, triple-overtime win, 50-42, over Virginia Tech.
Back then, it was freshman Damien Rhodes dashing 25 yards on the third overtime’s first play in front of 48,239 at the Dome as SU upset the No. 8 team in the country.
Saturday, the junior Rhodes took three plays to reach 25 yards. And it happened in front of far fewer people.
Still, Rhodes called Saturday’s run more special.
‘This one is now,’ he said. ‘So I’ll take this one over the Tech one.’
Reyes averaged 7.2 yards a carry and had his fourth game of more than 100 yards rushing.
Whether he’ll have a chance to have another – who knows. In the meantime, Rhodes will enjoy the glory.
‘My teammates did a great job and made it easy for me,’ Rhodes said. ‘The offensive line was blocking well. Things just happened to work out pretty well.’
Published on November 7, 2004 at 12:00 pm
