PITTSBURGH – After Syracuse’s 34-17 loss to Pittsburgh on Saturday, SU head coach Greg Robinson pleaded with the media, asking if they saw any silver linings he could take from the Orange’s fifth straight defeat.

The positives were few and far between for SU. As the inefficient offense committed four turnovers, the oft-tested defense allowed 378 yards of total offense and the special teams missed two field goals.

Still, Robinson touted the Orange special teams as the thing that offered the most encouragement from SU’s fourth conference loss.

‘I thought that the special teams really was a plus,’ Robinson said. ‘I had no problem with the special teams.’

On the one hand, SU’s special teams unit struggled. Two John Barker field goal attempts hit the uprights and Pitt’s first punt of the game hit SU’s Dowayne Davis, bouncing to the Panthers’ H.B. Blades deep in SU territory.

But on the other, the special teams excelled. Kader Drame blocked a Josh Cummings field goal with five minutes to go in the second quarter and Anthony Smith blocked a punt that Reggie McCoy recovered for SU’s second touchdown of the day.

The Orange had been without a blocked field goal since 2003 and hadn’t blocked a punt since its Sept. 18 game against Cincinnati last season.

‘My thoughts were just going out there and making plays,’ Smith said. ‘We emphasize creating turnovers. We went out and did that and gave the team the spark they needed for a while.’

The blocked punt gave Smith six blocked kicks in his career, good for first in SU history. That element had been missing from SU’s game this season, a stark contrast to the three blocked punts Smith recorded last year.

SU had come under some criticism this season for not playing as aggressively on kicks, allowing easy field goal and punt attempts for opponents.

Smith said the Panthers offered the perfect opportunity for the Orange’s return to attacking special teams.

‘I knew I was gonna get back there,’ Smith said. ‘One, their wing (blocker) wasn’t that strong and two, we had a special plan against their protection.’

Robinson saw plenty of other positives beyond the kick blocks in his special teams, including Pitt’s choice to pooch kick on most kickoffs. The strategy eliminated SU kick returners Kareem Jones and Tim Washington but gave the Orange an average starting field position at their own 34-yard line.

Robinson said Steve Gregory couldn’t return any punts because SU put its manpower in rushing the punter, leaving no men left to block.

Brendan Carney continued to excel for the Orange punt team, averaging 43.5 yards on six punts, including one from the back of the SU endzone.

The only special teams member that didn’t play well was Barker, who followed a 3-for-4 game against Rutgers last week with a 1-for-3 performance against Pitt. He converted on a 32-yard attempt, but hit the left and right uprights on 39- and 42-yard tries, respectively.

‘What do you do? It’s a game of inches,’ Barker said. ‘The past two weeks I feel like I’ve been worse than my previous ones, maybe a midseason slump or whatever, but you just have to get back and find that form.’

Despite the two field goal misses, the SU special teams contributed 10 points, prevented three more and provided the offense valuable field position.

With the offense struggling and the defense on the field for more than 35 minutes on Saturday, Barker said the importance on the special teams is intensified.

‘We want our special teams unit to be one that goes out there and wins games,’ Barker said, ‘not just keeps us in games and doesn’t mess up. That’s what you look for as a special teams player.’

Published on October 23, 2005 at 12:00 pm