With one ill-fated plant in last year’s spring practice, it seemed Perry Patterson’s season had ended before it started.

The redshirt freshman, who at the time was challenging senior R.J. Anderson for the starting quarterback position, tore his left anterior cruciate ligament and underwent reconstructive surgery that was supposed to keep him out until mid-October.

But Patterson completed a near-miraculous recovery and reported to camp Aug. 10 with the rest of the Orangemen. He’s participated in every drill of every practice save for live scrimmages and will back up Anderson for SU’s Sept. 6 opener at North Carolina.

‘It’s an amazing recovery, I’ll tell you that,’ head coach Paul Pasqualoni said. ‘I’ve never seen anything like that. The other knee isn’t as strong as the one they did the surgery on.’

Patterson credited two-to-three hour daily rehab training that strengthened the knee and improved its range of motion for the quick recovery.

If Patterson remained sidelined, the backup duty would go to Xzavier Gaines or Darryl Kennedy. Gaines, a sophomore, has had problems with accuracy, and Kennedy, a senior, has played only fullback and safety in his SU career.

Patterson has had previous trouble with his ACL. He tore it the summer before his freshman year of high school and said it took him 16 months to heal. In high school, he proceeded to sprain his knee four times.

‘I went to a non-sports surgeon (after the first tear),’ Patterson said. ‘I would only rehab three times a week, so I don’t think he really did it right. I don’t know if I tore it throughout high school or what.’

Welcome back

After missing spring practice because of personal issues, senior outside linebacker Jameel Dumas rejoined the Orangemen at the start of camp.

‘It was like being reunited with your brothers,’ Dumas said. ‘I’m just real ecstatic to be here.’

Coaches and teammates feel the same. Dumas’ return gives the Orangemen five seniors in their front seven, which Pasqualoni said he’s never had before at SU.

If Dumas had not come back to SU, a redshirt freshman – either Luke Cain or Kelvin Smith – would have been forced to start. Instead, the only new starter will be 6-foot-3, 225-pound redshirt sophomore Kellen Pruitt.

‘(Pruitt’s) a real talented kid,’ linebackers coach Steve Dunlap said. ‘Physically, he’s not where we want him to be, but he’s a real good athlete.’

Senior Rich Scanlon, who beefed up to 255 pounds, moves to middle linebacker to replace Smith, who’s currently in camp with the NFL’s Washington Redskins.

Riddle me this

Wide receiver and punt returner Jamel Riddle had to sit out the first two weeks of camp because of classes he had to take at Onondaga Community College to maintain his academic eligibility.

Pasqualoni said Friday, the last days of classes at OCC, that Riddle would rejoin Syracuse ‘soon’. For his first two days of practice, Riddle is allowed to wear only a helmet and shoulder pads.

Riddle started 10 of the 11 games he played in last season and led SU with 626 receiving yards and five touchdowns. He was suspended for SU’s game at Central Florida for violating team rules. This season, the diminutive Riddle figures to be the No. 2 receiver behind Johnnie Morant.

Turning the corner

Syracuse hired Todd Littlejohn last winter to help rectify its secondary, which allowed a nation-worst 303.8 yards passing per game. Littlejohn replaced Tim Walton, who moved to Louisiana State.

While Walton coached the secondary, SU brought Littlejohn from UCLA to work with cornerbacks only.

‘He can emphasize more of what we have to do,’ said sophomore corner Steve Gregory, SU’s only returning starter in the secondary. ‘In a half-hour meeting, we can focus a half-hour on cornerbacks instead of 15 minutes on safeties, 15 minutes on cornerbacks. It helps out a lot.’

Players have taken to Littlejohn’s direct teaching style and enthusiasm.

‘He’s great,’ Gregory said. ‘He’s real energetic, he goes out there yelling and hyping us up. He’s cool. He’s just a different type of coach. He’s more running around and yelling and getting everybody excited and getting the whole defense hyped up.’

Super Dave

Dave DeAmato’s unusual football journey will conclude with a Hollywood ending. This summer, Pasqualoni rewarded the senior long snapper with a scholarship for his final season.

‘I wish it could have been sooner,’ DeAmato joked. ‘I still have a lot of loans to pay off. But I’m not complaining. My parents are very happy, and so am I.’

Earning a Division I scholarship was something DeAmato never envisioned. After graduating from Wilmington (Mass.) High School, he enrolled at Division I-AA Sacred Heart and joined the football team. But DeAmato left SHU before its first game because ‘it didn’t feel right.’

After a stop at Brandeis, where he didn’t play football, DeAmato wound up at SU. In the spring of his sophomore year, DeAmato walked on and made the squad, filling the Orangemen’s long-snapping void.

Last year, his first at SU, DeAmato was at times Syracuse’s most consistent player. He played in every game, flubbed just one snap – a field goal try at Auburn – and made 10 special teams tackles.

This and that

Freshman defensive lineman Kevin Osifchin left Syracuse on Thursday to pursue criminal justice, The Express-Times reported Saturday. ‘The coaches and people were very nice to me,’ Osifchin told the paper. ‘They respected my decision. I just lost my desire to play.’ … Because of new NCAA legislation and a later-than-usual Sept. 6 opener, Syracuse started training camp Aug. 10. … This summer’s big hit among the Orangemen: EA Sports’ NCAA College Football 2004 for PlayStation 2. ‘I started a dynasty mode with us,’ center Nick Romeo said. As of Aug. 11’s media day, Romeo had guided the Orangemen to 8-0 record. … Could James Wyche be the next Dwight Freeney? Wyche, a sophomore defensive end, gained 25 pounds of muscle (he now weighs 265) this offseason and trimmed his 40-yard sprint time to 4.43 seconds. … Captains for this year, announced last spring, are Anderson, Scanlon and fullback Thump Belton. … Littlejohn wore T-shirts during camp with the secondary’s motto: Six Seconds. Asked what it means, he responded, ‘I can’t tell you. By week five, you’ll know what this means.’ One guess: Littlejohn wants his players focusing for six seconds, the average length of one play.

Published on August 24, 2003 at 12:00 pm