The Syracuse wide receiving corps clearly has some growing pains.

And it’s not just Taj Smith’s season-ending collar bone injury or Rice Moss’ mild separated shoulder injury.

In SU’s 40-34 double-overtime victory over Wyoming, quarterback Perry Patterson threw for only 121 passing yards with one passing touchdown – a 19-yard pass to tight end Tom Ferron in the second quarter. Aside from that, SU kept with its running game, backed by Delone Carter’s 129 yards and four touchdowns.

The play before Ferron’s touchdown catch clearly showcased the struggles the receiving corps is experiencing right now. Patterson placed a pass that wound up a few inches shy of Ferron’s fingertips. On top of that, Ferron nearly knocked into the railing in front of the student section. But Ferron put his hand through the banner to stop his momentum.

‘I probably should’ve dove for that one,’ said Ferron who led Syracuse in receiving with four catches for 64 yards and a touchdown. ‘If I did, I probably would’ve caught it. But it’s a hard decision to make when you’re going after the ball.’

It’s also telling that Patterson felt more relieved knowing SU wasn’t going to throw the ball in overtime because it put less pressure on him. While he publicly reasoned it was because he was having an off day (11-of-25), there had to be doubts that such a young receiving corps could pull through.

Nonetheless, Ferron and Mike Williams stood out as promising options. Williams caught three passes for 36 yards. On all three of his receptions, Williams caught the ball after turning around facing Patterson. With Williams’ back against the Wyoming defense, he often maneuvered his body around for extra yardage.

‘That’s what I try to do,’ Williams said. ‘Every time I catch the ball I try to get yardage on the field. I try to prove I can get yardage on the field. You can move around a defender that way.’

Still, Williams had a ball hit him in the numbers, which bounced in the air and was picked off by Wyoming.

Williams said he pleaded with Patterson to trust him and look at him as an option. But it didn’t seem like Patterson had any reason to trust his other receivers. Tim Lane and Moss caught only one reception each, both for nine yards, while Lavar Lobdell had one reception for six yards.

But Patterson also made his passes hard to catch. In the first quarter on a play-action pass, Patterson found Jeremy Horne wide open, but the ball zoomed like a bullet over his head. Nonetheless, it was a catchable ball. In the second quarter, Lane dropped a pass as he slipped on the turf. A few plays later Lobdell missed a pass that zipped past his hands.

When Moss went down in the first quarter, Lobdell played the X spot on the other side of the field, despite not having much experience in that position. Normally he plays the Z spot behind Lane. Robinson said there is a good possibility that Moss will be ready to suit up this weekend. But if he isn’t ready, Robinson acknowledged they will focus on familiarizing all the positions to the receivers.

‘He’s been around the offense enough to be able to flip the switch,’ Robinson said of Lobdell. ‘He wasn’t getting a bunch of reps in practice doing those things. Many of the things are mirrored where the techniques are the same. The blocking he had to be on his game. For the most part he did OK.’

The question players had to constantly answer last week was, ‘Who would replace Taj Smith?’ All pledged no one would know for sure until the game. Now that it has passed, Patterson said the best approach is for everyone to become more versatile and not rely on a go-to player.

‘They made some great routes. They just have to finish it,’ Patterson said. ‘I did my best to try to put the ball right where it needed to be. I have total faith in those guys. We have a good group, but we have a young group. So it’s my job to be a leader and help them along the way as much as possible.’

Published on October 1, 2006 at 12:00 pm