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Four's a crowd Syracuse QB situation even more muddled than '99
Posted: Saturday April 29, 2000 05:55 PM
SYRACUSE, N.Y. (AP) -- Spring practice for the Syracuse Orangemen ended Saturday just like it did a year ago -- with no starting quarterback. The big difference now is that there are four faces to pick from instead of two. The good news is that all four -- junior Madei Williams, sophomore Troy Nunes, redshirt freshman R.J. Anderson, and junior college transfer Chad Elliott -- are showing progress. Each took 18 snaps on Saturday, with the Orange team led by Nunes and Elliott beating the Blue team of Williams and Anderson, 13-0. "I thought it was good," head coach Paul Pasqualoni said. "We had a long, hard practice yesterday and they came back hard today. We tried to give everybody an opportunity to get a significant number of reps. Considering that the team is split, I thought it went as well as you could expect it to." Especially for Nunes and wide receiver Pat Woodcock, who combined to score both touchdowns. Woodcock, who was elected co-captain for the upcoming season along with fullback Kyle Johnson and linebacker Morlon Greenwood, opened the scoring on a 65-yard reverse. "Everything just opened up wide," said Woodcock, who also caught a 38-yard scoring pass from Nunes. "I came around the corner and saw two offensive linemen out in front of me and I started smiling." Pasqualoni said earlier in the week that replacing middle linebacker Keith Bulluck was his biggest concern. Nice try, coach. Quarterback has been the big concern ever since Donovan McNabb took his last snap in the Orange Bowl at the end of the 1998 season, and not much has changed since. The position was unsettled last season, with Nunes and Williams splitting time until Nunes played the entire game in the victory over Kentucky in the Music City Bowl, ending a 6-4 season on a positive note. Now, everything is back to square one, with all four players in the running. And Pasqualoni said a final decision on his starter won't be made until just before the season-opener in the Carrier Dome against Buffalo on Sept. 2. If he has a favorite, he's not saying. "Right now, I'm not going to make any comments," Pasqualoni said. "We have a big scrimmage here to evaluate. I was very, very impressed with some things that each of the kids did. We're not in a situation where we have to make a decision right now. We've got to get all the spring grades together, go through that whole process." While Nunes proved the most productive on the day, Anderson and Elliott got the most applause from the several hundred faithfuls who sacrificed one of the few picture-perfect days of what has been a dreary spring to watch. Elliott's first play of the day was memorable -- a perfect, high arcing spiral that floated 50 yards and was headed right for the arms of junior college transfer Kwazi Leverette until Andre Brinson broke it up with a sparkling defensive play. The two nearly combined on a similar play moments later, but Elliott's pass down the left side was slightly out of Leverette's reach. "I'm coming along day by day," said Elliott, who enrolled at Syracuse in January after transferring from American River Junior College in California. "I think we're all equal right now. We're trying to do our best day in and day out, bring what we can bring to the game. It's something that I've been thinking about for a while." Elliott finished 3-for-6 for 64 yards, including a 45-yard bomb to David Tyree. Not bad for a guy who said he didn't even know how to call the cadence on the first day of practice. "I'm really happy to be here," said Elliott, who began his college career at Arizona State in 1997. "It's exciting for me, and it was one of the best springs I've had. I'm excited at the progress I've made, but I just have to continue learning the playbook, continue working hard every day, and try to make strides on improvement. That's all I can do." Although Anderson was plagued by bad snaps and sloppy play by his offensive buddies, he gained 28 yards on seven carries and looked a lot like McNabb on his runs. "It was just a tough day for the Blue team," he said. "I did the best that I could do with what I had. But I still didn't make the plays that we needed to win. We didn't get the ball down field." Williams was 3-for-8 for 30 yards but lost 15 yards on six rushing attempts. Still, the coaching staff said all four did commendable jobs, which means making that final decision probably will be quite difficult. "It's not easy," offensive coordinator George DeLeone said. "I wish it was, because I'd sleep a lot better than I am right now."
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