The Daily Orange

[Click to enlarge]

The starting cornerback for the Syracuse football team sat in the cafeteria at Manley Field House and started getting biblical.

"People look at the big numbers and get intimidated by that," Dowayne Davis said, referring to No. 18 Louisville, SU's next opponent. "But, you know, David slayed Goliath, so…he figured out his secret, and he's not telling anybody."

Perhaps Syracuse's secret lay in the enormous scouting report on the Cardinals sitting in front of him. Or perhaps the Orange has the advantage of having next to nothing to lose when it heads to Papa John's Cardinal Stadium in Louisville (Ky.) this Saturday.

Whatever it is, Davis spoke with confidence about his anticipation for the first Big East matchup of the season.

"This is what you should be geared up for," Davis said. "You want to play the best. You want to show people that we can go up against the best. From a personal standpoint, I'm excited. I can't wait."

What's not a secret is that head coach Steve Kragthorpe's Cardinals possess the top offense in the nation, a well-known home field advantage, a Heisman Trophy candidate at quarterback and some sure fury after last week's loss to rival Kentucky.

None of this bodes well for the 37-point underdog Orange.

"I'm going to tell you this: They are very good," SU head coach Greg Robinson said on Tuesday. "You're not going to stop Louisville's offense. If they are going to be stopped, they are going to be stopped by themselves. You can maybe control it, and that's what I think you have to work to do, is control it."

Controlling Louisville starts with quarterback Brian Brohm, who leads the Big East in passing yards per game (380.7) touchdowns (11) and total offense (1,161 yards). Last year against the Orange, Brohm had one of his least productive outings of the season, throwing for 203 yards and zero TDs. Syracuse has played Louisville well the past few seasons, falling 28-13 at the Carrier Dome in 2006 and 41-17 in Kentucky in 2005 - a game that was much closer than the final score indicates.

Davis, though, said he is pretty positive that Brohm will come out throwing against SU this time.

"They're definitely going to pass the ball a lot more," Davis said. "It's good for the defensive backs because we definitely want to get some work out there."

Long leg

Rob Long entered the locker room on the first day of training camp this summer and saw three jerseys laid out in front of him: Nos. 46, 47 and 48.

Knowing who No. 47 used to belong to - 2006 graduate and former SU punter Brendan Carney - he had to chuckle to himself.

Three games into the season, Long's not doing too bad an impression of Carney.

The freshman from Downingtown, Pa. - coincidentally minutes from Carney's hometown of Valley Forge, Pa. - Long is second in the Big East averaging 44 yards per kick and leads the conference in yards. He's currently 20th in the nation in yards per kick.

"I knew I was capable of being a good punter," Long said. "I didn't know how I would rank against the rest of the punters in the nation."

It's sometimes even hard for Long to remember he's just an 18-year-old kid playing a position he picked up just two years ago. He responded excitedly about kicking at Iowa ("That was wild. I got a chance to look around."), about already ranking at the top of the conference ("It's cool.") and about kicking in the Carrier Dome ("It's nice. You don't have to worry about weather.").

He didn't even start punting until his junior year at Downingtown West (Pa.) High School. Before that, he was primarily a place kicker, and not a bad one, either. He once knocked home a 58-yard field goal in practice. And several teams were looking for him to walk on as a kicker, including Colorado State and Maryland.

Syracuse, though, offered him a scholarship and the opportunity to step right into Carney's empty shoes as the punter. So far, the results have been everything SU could have hoped for. Long has made fans almost immediately forget the old No. 47. He's just hoping he can keep up the pace he's set for himself.

"(I don't want to) change what I've been doing," Long said. "I've been having good games. Mainly it's been focusing on each kick, one kick at a time. Hopefully all goes well."

Page 1 of 1

Article Tools