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The Daily OrangeFB | Diamond | Time for Robinson to get another shot at quarterback
By Jared Diamond
Posted: 10/20/08, 4:28 AM EST Section: Sports
"Yeah, there might have been a couple of them that were."
At least a couple.
Granted, until the second half Saturday, Dantley had not been terrible. Syracuse has only scored 26 points since halftime of the Pitt game, but the offensive deficiencies haven't necessarily been Dantley's fault. He has been serviceable, mostly, with seven touchdowns to three interceptions and a completion percentage of 55 percent. But this team needs better than serviceable right now. Dantley has started six games and has hardly made much of a statement in any of them. Heck, he's averaging 147 yards per game.
There comes a time when an offense is sputtering, it needs its quarterback to step up and make a big play. Brinkley can only do so much, and he isn't the type of tailback who explodes for the game-changing 75-yard run, anyway. It's up to Dantley, and he hasn't proved he is capable of doing that.
More alarming is Dantley seems to be regressing, having played progressively worse in each of SU's last three games. Pittsburgh, West Virginia and South Florida have good defenses, but at times, Dantley has looked lost. Bad throws are bad throws, no matter who is playing defense.
And the scariest part is it seems like he knows it.
"I just keep trying to make that one play to get me back on track and on rhythm," Dantley said, "but I just can't … I just haven't seemed to be able to do that yet this season."
Dantley is running out of opportunities, and that's why it is time to switch back to Andrew Robinson. He got a raw deal to begin the season, being benched after one poor performance on opening day coming off a solid season as the starter last year.
Greg Robinson even wanted to make the change Saturday. The head coach said he wanted to put Andrew Robinson in late in the game. "What happened was, I'm coaching over on the (defensive) side. I run over there (to the offensive side), and it's too late," Robinson said. "I think that Andrew deserves to get in there and do something like that."
I don't know if Robinson is much better than Dantley, but I do know Dantley hasn't been good enough to warrant keeping his spot. Robinson won't be worse than Dantley. He may even be better.
"This is a bye week, so we have time to assess a lot of things," Greg Robinson said.
Good. Start assessing.
Jared Diamond is a staff writer for The Daily Orange, where his columns appear occasionally. He can be reached at jediamon@syr.edu.
At least a couple.
Granted, until the second half Saturday, Dantley had not been terrible. Syracuse has only scored 26 points since halftime of the Pitt game, but the offensive deficiencies haven't necessarily been Dantley's fault. He has been serviceable, mostly, with seven touchdowns to three interceptions and a completion percentage of 55 percent. But this team needs better than serviceable right now. Dantley has started six games and has hardly made much of a statement in any of them. Heck, he's averaging 147 yards per game.
There comes a time when an offense is sputtering, it needs its quarterback to step up and make a big play. Brinkley can only do so much, and he isn't the type of tailback who explodes for the game-changing 75-yard run, anyway. It's up to Dantley, and he hasn't proved he is capable of doing that.
More alarming is Dantley seems to be regressing, having played progressively worse in each of SU's last three games. Pittsburgh, West Virginia and South Florida have good defenses, but at times, Dantley has looked lost. Bad throws are bad throws, no matter who is playing defense.
And the scariest part is it seems like he knows it.
"I just keep trying to make that one play to get me back on track and on rhythm," Dantley said, "but I just can't … I just haven't seemed to be able to do that yet this season."
Dantley is running out of opportunities, and that's why it is time to switch back to Andrew Robinson. He got a raw deal to begin the season, being benched after one poor performance on opening day coming off a solid season as the starter last year.
Greg Robinson even wanted to make the change Saturday. The head coach said he wanted to put Andrew Robinson in late in the game. "What happened was, I'm coaching over on the (defensive) side. I run over there (to the offensive side), and it's too late," Robinson said. "I think that Andrew deserves to get in there and do something like that."
I don't know if Robinson is much better than Dantley, but I do know Dantley hasn't been good enough to warrant keeping his spot. Robinson won't be worse than Dantley. He may even be better.
"This is a bye week, so we have time to assess a lot of things," Greg Robinson said.
Good. Start assessing.
Jared Diamond is a staff writer for The Daily Orange, where his columns appear occasionally. He can be reached at jediamon@syr.edu.
Viewing Comments 1 - 1 of 1
Brian Florida
posted 10/20/08 @ 9:49 AM EST
I think Dr Gross should start evaluating Grobs job performance which speaks for it self
Big east 2 wins 21 loses
overall 8 wins 34 loses
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