Over the last two years, Shamarko Thomas has never started a game without Phillip Thomas by his side in the Syracuse secondary. The Orange’s safety duo has combined for 294 tackles, easily the most of any two SU players over that span.

But Saturday, for the first time since 2009, Shamarko will start without Phillip alongside him in SU’s defensive backfield.

‘It’s sad man,’ Shamarko said. ‘But I hope the best for him. … It’s a tragedy, but we just have to get stronger and play.’

Phillip was suspended from the football program for one year for an unnamed violation of the Athletics Department Policy. The suspension was announced on Nov. 18. The junior free safety leads the team with 82 tackles this year and also leads the Big East with six interceptions.

Syracuse head coach Doug Marrone said the team is treating Phillip’s suspension just as it would an injury. Sophomore Jeremi Wilkes, senior Olando Fisher and freshman Ritchy Desir will help fill in for the free safety as SU looks to snap a three-game losing streak Saturday at noon when Cincinnati visits the Carrier Dome.

‘I have 100 percent faith in Jeremi Wilkes and Olando and Ritchy,’ senior cornerback Kevyn Scott said. ‘They’re going to get the job done. They’re all great football players, so I feel like they’re going to get the job done.’

Wilkes has been the biggest contributor of those three so far this year. The sophomore has started three games, two filling in for Shamarko when the strong safety was injured and the other when SU opened in its ‘Okie’ package against West Virginia.

His main role throughout the year has been as the extra defensive back in the ‘Okie.’ SU uses five defensive backs and two linebackers in that package as opposed to the typical alignment of three linebackers and four defensive backs.

But while he has played in all 10 games for the Orange this year, Wilkes said his most valuable experience came while filling in for Shamarko at strong safety against Toledo and Rutgers.

‘It helped a lot because my main role was just the ‘Okie,” Wilkes said. ‘I just played a little base here and there, maybe if somebody got hurt. But definitely that game when Shamarko went down, it helped me a lot.’

And while Wilkes has seen the most significant action of the three fill-ins for Phillip, all three have gotten valuable experience with the first team throughout this season.

During preseason camp in August, every single one of the Orange’s starting secondary players suffered an injury that forced them to miss practices. Some of those injuries lingered into the first few games of the year and the defensive backs continued to get banged up.

And that allowed for the second-team players to get reps in games.

‘Things happen for a reason,’ Scott said. ‘As far as early in the season, how we had different injuries, they had to step in. I feel like the game experience in the beginning of the year helped them out now because they’re going to have full-time roles Saturday.’

But while Wilkes, Fisher and Desir have seen some key playing time, none of them have the experience that Phillip brought to the field. Scott felt that the junior’s playmaking ability and his knack for diagnosing what offenses were trying to do would be the biggest losses without him on the field.

Marrone, however, didn’t seem overly concerned about not having his usual free safety for the rest of the season. He compared the suspension to the injury defensive end Chandler Jones suffered in the season opener against Wake Forest that kept him out of five games.

And just like with that key loss, the head coach expects his other players to step up.

‘No matter what player, there’s someone behind him who is looking for that opportunity, who has been working extremely hard for it,’ Marrone said. ‘When those opportunities present themselves, no matter how they present themselves, you have to be ready to play.’

zjbrown@syr.edu

Published on November 24, 2011 at 12:00 pm