Tight end Joe Donnelly was the last Syracuse football player to stop signing autographs after the spring football game April 27. He was the last to stop talking to reporters inside a roped-off portion of the endzone.

But he was the first to make a good impression on head coach Paul Pasqualoni.

‘Usually a tight end is going to get what he’s going to get,’ Pasqualoni said. ‘People catch up with him, you get back in the huddle and you start again. Joe has the ability to outrun guys even in the secondary. That’s kind of exciting.’

Donnelly was also the last Orangeman to score a touchdown. After Cecil Howard led the second-team offense to its second touchdown of the day, it looked as if the subs deserved the starting nod.

Donnelly, a first stringer, changed that appearance in a flash. Running a crossing pattern over the middle, Donnelly caught the ball at his 35 and galloped toward an expanse of green turf.

Sixty-five yards and one end zone later, he stopped running. Quarterback R.J. Anderson pointed his fingers like six-shooters and fired away at the SU sideline.

The sight of a tight end scampering for a touchdown was unusual for Syracuse fans. The SU offense normally doesn’t use the tight end as a weapon.

Last year, starting tight end Graham Manley was used primarily as a blocker, catching only four passes for 33 yards. Donnelly doubled that, catching eight passes for 57 yards playing primarily a backup role.

‘That’s what got me on the field last year,’ Donnelly said. ‘I’m faster than most tight ends, maybe the fastest in the country.’

Donnelly said he’s always been known as a talented receiver, but the key to gaining a starting job was becoming a capable blocker like the graduated Manley.

Donnelly put on 15 pounds during the offseason yet improved his time in the 40-yard dash. At the Spring Game, he showed his offseason work, catching touchdown passes of 35 and 80 yards. After the second, a frustrated Will Hunter dove at his leg, knocking Donnelly to the ground. Donnelly scraped his knee, forcing him out with a burn from the Carrier Dome carpet he’d been burning up all day.

‘Will Hunter was trying to be cute and tackle me,’ Donnelly said. ‘I’ll be back in the weight room tomorrow.’

Hunting Howard

Cecil Howard didn’t disappoint a crowd eagerly awaiting his first game action in the Carrier Dome. Howard rushed for 36 yards and a touchdown on 14 attempts.

Although head coach Paul Pasqualoni inserted a few option plays for Howard, the majority of his yardage came on improvised scrambles.

But fans knew before the game that Howard could run. What they really wanted to know was whether he could throw and command a huddle. Howard struggled getting plays off during the first quarter-and-a-half, costing his team three timeouts because of miscommunication. He also headed the wrong way on an option.

‘It was a mix-up in the calls,’ Howard said. ‘I’m not blaming it on the rest of the team. We all were messing up. There were a couple plays where I didn’t get the formation set up straight. It was nervousness. I knew where people were supposed to go, but I didn’t take enough time.’

The second half was better. Howard didn’t use any timeouts.

‘I don’t know if anyone was paying attention, but they were in and out of the huddle as fast as I’ve seen a team come in and out of the huddle,’ Pasqualoni said. ‘Cecil running with the second team looked pretty good. I thought that was a product of the leadership he brought to the huddle.’

Howard ran the offense smoothly during the second half showing that he is not a one-dimensional running quarterback. He completed 9-of-14 passes for 182 yards and a touchdown, and added one rushing as well. Incumbent quarterback R.J. Anderson went 8 of 14 for 162 yards and two scores.

Quizzes and Riddles

When wide receiver Jamel Riddle was a USA Today All-American as a senior at Platt High School in Meriden, Conn., he received a number of recruiting letters. Two stand out: one from Florida, the other from Florida State.

Too small, they wrote. Just too small.

Riddle’s height, however, hasn’t stopped him from piling up accomplishments. Beside the All-America status, Riddle has been on two All-State and one state championship team.

Still, in his suitors’ eyes, only one number mattered: 5-foot-7.

‘I hear that all the time, but I just disregard all that,’ Riddle said. ‘I thrive off that.’

Last season Riddle put his miniature standing aside and started making a big difference. He averaged 13 yards per punt return and made perhaps the most important play of Syracuse’s 10-3 season when he returned a punt 51 yards for a touchdown at Virginia Tech.

‘That’s what I like to do every time I touch the ball,’ Riddle said. ‘I’m always thinking about getting into the end zone.’

Due to the graduation of wideouts Maurice Jackson and Malik Campbell, Riddle has his eyes on another goal — playing time at wide receiver.

With wideouts Johnnie Morant and David Tyree currently penciled in as starters, Riddle is slated to be the third receiver in the offense.

‘I just want to get in and hold the team,’ Riddle said. ‘Starting doesn’t matter.’

Playing on the second team, Riddle used his speed to burn the second-team defense for 128 yards on three catches in the Spring Game. He streaked past cornerbacks on a pair of fly patterns, jetting 61 yards for the touchdown on one of them.

On the other? Riddle turned off his afterburners a little early and was brought down by Thomas Whitfield at the 1-yard line after going 58 yards off a screen pass.

‘I’m going to get yelled at that when we watch the tape,’ Riddle said. ‘I slowed down a little bit, and he grabbed my ankle.’

Offensive obstacles

Due to an inordinate amount of offseason injuries, Syracuse was forced to give up its tradition of drafting players onto two teams, Blue and Orange. Instead, the scrimmage pitted the offense versus the defense and used an unconventional scoring system. The result was a 50-23 win by the offense.

Equipment manager Kyle Fetterly developed the system that handed points to the offense for first downs, passing plays of more than 16 yards, running plays of more than 12 yards and the usual touchdowns and field goals.

The defense scored for forcing punts, tackles behind the line of scrimmage and turnovers. Syracuse normally uses this system during its annual Ernie Davis scrimmage in the fall.

The system drew poor reviews from the players. The score was lopsided, and running back Barry Baker said it didn’t come close to what fans normally see in the spring game.

‘It wasn’t like it was supposed to be,’ Baker said. ‘If it was like it really was, we could have had a lot more fun. It would have been a lot more intense.’

Will Hunter said normally when two drafted teams play, the Orangemen place delectable bets on the game. The winning side takes a home a steak dinner along with its victory. The losers eat hot dogs smothered in ketchup and watch the winners devour their winnings.

‘I like it like it was last year, that way I get to eat steak,’ Hunter said. ‘Last year it was even, but I got to eat steak.’

Captains Coming Back

Teammates voted seniors Will Hunter, Troy Nunes, Chris Davis, Clifton Smith and David Tyree, as next year’s captains. Players vote in secret but only Pasqualoni knows until the official announcement is made before the Spring Game.

‘I was shocked, yet excited at the same time,’ Hunter said. “I’m looking forward to a year of this being my own team. When I step in my role, I take on the responsibility of getting everyone fired up around me.’

Published on May 8, 2002 at 12:00 pm