With his first glance at Kevyn Scott’s 33-yard interception return for a touchdown, Nathaniel Hackett exuded elation by way of a fist pump. At second thought, he recoiled into his usual offensive coordinator’s mindset.

On any ordinary day, Hackett would comb through each aspect of a Ryan Nassib failed pass to discover why his starting quarterback threw a pick-six. But Saturday, in Syracuse’s annual Spring Game, Nassib was on the other team: the White team. And Nassib’s mishap didn’t hurt Hackett — the head coach of the Blue team for the day — in his game versus usual SU defensive coordinator Scott Shafer, coach of the White team.

Rather, it helped.

‘First I forgot it was Nassib, so I saw (Scott) pick it off and take it for a touchdown, so I was all excited,’ Hackett said. ‘And then I saw it was Nassib, and I go, ‘What the heck was he doing? What was he seeing there?”

Hackett’s body language and reaction to Scott’s first-quarter interception summed up the game. In an abbreviated 48-minute contest in front of 4,206 fans in the Carrier Dome, SU head coach Doug Marrone split his team up into two teams. What resulted was a low-scoring, methodical exhibition where the SU offense struggled, failing to score many points as the White team edged the Blue team 13-7.

And with the first-team offense and defense sprinkled as evenly as possible among the White and Blue teams, the seasoned backfield of the White team — led by Nassib and rising senior running back Antwon Bailey — propelled the White team to victory in a blasé game. Bailey ran for 118 yards on 20 rushes while Nassib threw for 227 yards, completing 14-of-24 attempts.

In the end, the pedestrian offensive production of the White team was enough to beat the poor production of the Blue team. Among Syracuse’s usual offensive starters, tight end Nick Provo and offensive guards Zack Chibane and Andrew Tiller joined Nassib and Bailey in leading the White team to the win.

The other three starting offensive linemen — Michael Hay, Macky MacPherson and Justin Pugh — as well as wide receiver Marcus Sales and fullback Adam Harris, started for the Blue team.

And to end a spring where Syracuse’s defense somewhat unexpectedly got the better of the SU offense in most practices, the common thread continued. Despite more youth on the Orange defense, the Syracuse offense is rustier than its defensive counterparts. Bailey and Nassib attributed the struggles to the fact that the usual learning curve requires time.

‘We definitely have to improve, but you have to look at things,’ Bailey said. ‘When you flip-flop O-lines, flip-flop receivers, chemistry is kind of off. But I think they did an all right job overall.’

The structure of the scrimmage was a changeup for Marrone in his third year as SU’s head coach. In 2010, with not enough players for a split-squad game, Marrone conducted a controlled scrimmage pitting offense versus defense. And with a point system in place to reward the defense for select accomplishments, the offense won 66-58.

This year was different, though. And as a result, Hackett attributed much of both units’ offensive struggles to the simple fact that unfamiliar players were working with one another.

‘A lot of people will never understand how hard it is to divide up the team and put all of these random guys right next to each other,’ Hackett said. ‘It is difficult.’

But Bailey and Nassib’s numbers came about slowly. In the first half, not a single offensive touchdown was scored. In the second, only one was converted.

The contingent of SU’s first-team skill players on the White team eventually steered Shafer to victory. And after a slow first half, play opened up. The White team finished with a surprising 343 yards of total offense, an average of 6.7 yards per play on 51 plays.

‘I think our mental errors have decreased substantially, like knowing the play,’ Nassib said. ‘Knowing where to line up, what route to do and what adjustments to make.’

In 2010 the offense went for 400 total yards on 88 total plays, including four touchdowns. On Saturday both teams totaled 104 plays.

After the game, Hackett said he was happy with the play of his offense. The numbers and especially the points may not have been there, but it wasn’t about points Saturday.

It wasn’t about wins and losses either. Even if his Blue side lost.

Said Hackett: ‘I’m supposed to be morose.’

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Published on April 15, 2011 at 12:00 pm