Tyrone Wheatley poses the question himself, without a direct prompt. Syracuse’s second-year running backs coach believes the fate of SU’s rushing attack lies not on the shoulders of new No. 1 running back Antwon Bailey, but on the svelte shoulders of Prince-Tyson Gulley and the brutal shoulders of Jerome Smith.

‘Who’s the No. 2 guy?’ Wheatley said Thursday after practice.

With the backups — and whoever emerges as that No. 2 guy — will go Syracuse’s season. And this spring Wheatley and the rest of the running back corps is attempting to iron things out to keep up the 140-yard-per-game production of SU’s rushing attack from last season. It was a rushing attack that offensively carried the Orange to its first bowl game in six seasons.

Wheatley believes the Orange will be able to do it, even if the unit as a whole has to replace the 95 yards per game from departed senior running back Delone Carter — a 2011 NFL Draft prospect tabbed to be selected anywhere from the second to fourth round.

Bailey, a rising senior who logged substantial carries behind Carter and others for three years, averaged 43 yards per game and 4.9 yards per carry as a junior. Behind him, the third running back of the group, the rising sophomore Gulley, carried the ball only 13 times in his freshman year for one touchdown.

To Wheatley, Gulley was right behind two No. 1 players: Carter and Bailey.

‘Antwon by no means was a No. 2,’ Wheatley said. ‘So with that being said, this year, I wouldn’t say (the running back situation is) a problem, but the thing that we want to have is who’s the No. 2 guy? You’ve got Tyson and you have young Jerome back there pushing for the No. 2 spot. So that’s going to be the big question mark, No. 2.’

Wheatley is pushing Smith — who played in two games in 2010 until he injured his shoulder on Oct. 1 — and Gulley with the idea of keeping SU’s running backs corps in an elevated ‘esteem’ after last season.

The running backs coach feels the efforts of Bailey and Carter laid the foundation for that esteem.

To get there, Wheatley said the timing and understanding of plays are where Smith and Gulley need to improve — nothing unique for two young players in spring ball. Wheatley is waiting for plays in spring practice where one of the two separates himself.

‘They’re still getting the understanding,’ Wheatley said. ‘They’ve not yet turned that play and made it their own.’

Wheatley may call it ‘esteem,’ but for SU head coach Doug Marrone, the goal for Smith and Gulley is much more cut and dry. After Syracuse’s practice in Rochester, N.Y., on March 26 — one where Gulley was held out due to an injury he has since recovered from — Marrone tiptoed around the reality of the situation for the duo, before being prodded a second time.

He acknowledges the same truth as Wheatley. There needs to be a No. 2 guy who can produce like Bailey did last year, for they have faith Bailey can become Carter.

And becoming that No. 2 guy means becoming a BCS-caliber player in the spring.

‘I’m just looking to see if I can get them on the field to play in the Big East,’ Marrone said in Rochester. ‘If I can get that out of them, then we will be fine. We still got a ways to go.’

Difference in scrimmages

Saturday’s scrimmage in the Carrier Dome marked a distinct shift from what happened in the Orange’s scrimmage in Rochester a week earlier. In that contest, SU started off slowly on offense before getting in sync late. Syracuse’s defense dominated in the early going.

On Saturday, however, the SU offense came out with a bang. The unit started the scrimmage from its own 20-yard line. And right from the outset, running back Antwon Bailey broke free for about a 60-yard run into the red zone. Led by rising junior quarterback Ryan Nassib, the Orange marched 80 yards in just six plays. On the next drive, backup running back Prince-Tyson Gulley broke free for a big gain.

‘I thought offensively, we came out early and we made some big plays,’ Marrone said. ‘We had some big runs. It was exciting.’

The offense scored three touchdowns in its first three possessions. Things seemed to turn, though, when Dorian Graham dropped a deep pass from Nassib as he looked to be headed to the end zone. A few drives later, Marcus Sales’ fumble turned the remainder of the scrimmage in favor of the defense.

Marrone said he couldn’t compare his team’s performance from scrimmage to scrimmage. And with both sides experiencing ups and downs, he said that as a head coach, he couldn’t get too excited about either side performing well.

‘You’re playing against each other,’ Marrone said. ‘So me as a head coach, if I’m excited about the way we started off and the big plays, then I’m not too excited about how we were playing defense at the time.’

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— Asst. Sports Editor Mark Cooper contributed reporting to this article.

 

Published on April 4, 2011 at 12:00 pm