PISCATAWAY, N.J. – For a team that just cut a 31-point deficit to 24 points, the celebration on the sideline seemed odd. When understanding the context, though, the celebration was appropriate.

Freshman quarterback Andrew Robinson had just completed a 14-yard touchdown pass to J.J. Nesheiwat late in the fourth quarter in SU’s 38-7 loss at Rutgers on Saturday, a seemingly inconsequential score in a game that had long since been decided. The SU sideline erupted – especially offensive coordinator Brian White, who greeted Robinson with a leaping chest bump.

The excitement was for the pass, not because it cut the score to 31-7. The pass had significance that will linger beyond this season. It was Robinson’s first touchdown pass and the culmination of a 10-play, 80-yard drive all directed by the freshman.

‘It gives the whole team a boost of confidence because we can see it as something that we have to build on,’ Robinson said of the scoring drive. ‘We can use that drive to learn from and look at what went good and what went bad and learn from that in practice and next season.’

Robinson played two drives on Saturday. The first was a second quarter three-and-out. The second was the final drive, which lasted 4:18. Syracuse didn’t get the ball back. Robinson finished 3-of-3 with 20 yards and a touchdown. He also carried five times for 37 yards and was sacked once. His final season statistics are 3-of-8 for 20 yards with a touchdown and an interception in a year when no one knew how much head coach Greg Robinson’s first quarterback recruit would play.

‘Andrew is a going to be a really good quarterback,’ Greg Robinson said. ‘I don’t think there’s any doubt about it. He’s an intelligent young man. You can see he’s a good athlete. He can throw it. I think he’s got a bright future.’

The closing of the 2006 season opened eyes to prospects of the 2007 season. Perry Patterson, who has held the starting quarterback spot for much of the past three seasons, is a senior.

Robinson is the only quarterback who returns next season with a completion. SU also returns junior Matt Hale and redshirt freshman Cameron Dantley. The Orange has verbal commitments from two quarterbacks for next season, according to various recruiting Web sites – Cody Catalina from Greensburg, Pa., and David Legree from Brooklyn.

It begs the question about who will enter next season’s opener against Washington as the starting quarterback.

‘I don’t think I won the starting spot yet,’ Robinson said after Saturday’s game. ‘I still have to build myself up to that. People don’t give you respect. You have to earn it. I just have to build on what Perry’s been teaching to me, work as hard as I can and hopefully good things happen to me after that.’

If there is such a thing as karma, Robinson has that playing in his favor. Robinson’s first college completion was to himself, a deflected pass he caught and carried four yards. Green Bay Packers quarterback Brett Favre, a future Hall of Famer, completed his first NFL pass to himself, too.

Certainly, that’s good company.

‘I wouldn’t go making those comparisons,’ Robinson said.

Published on November 26, 2006 at 12:00 pm