BLACKSBURG, Va. – To hear R.J. Anderson say it last week was puzzling. After Saturday, though, he looks like a clairvoyant.In the week leading up to Virginia Tech’s 51-7 demolition of the Syracuse football team, Anderson, SU’s senior quarterback, professed he wanted to play better than he did in Blacksburg as a sophomore, when SU upset the Hokies. ‘I didn’t really play that well throwing the ball,’ Anderson said a week ago about his sophomore performance at Lane Stadium. ‘I think I played good enough to win, but I want to play better. Last time, I didn’t really have to do that much.’At the time, it seemed like Steinbeck wishing he could pen one more revision of ‘The Grapes of Wrath.’ After all, since SU had beat Tech, 22-14, what more could you ask?Well, now we know. Anderson played serviceably against Tech two years ago, completing 6 of 17 passes for 52 yards, but well enough to win. Saturday, he played poorly, completing 8 of 23 for 91 yards. That can’t happen if SU wants to beat elite Big East opponents. Though SU was out of the game early, Saturday proved that much.Anderson simply handing off the ball, not throwing interceptions then getting out of Walter Reyes’s and Damien Rhodes’s way works against lesser opponents like Central Florida and Toledo. All Anderson needs to do is manage the game. His job description doesn’t include winning games, just not losing them.For the Orangemen to have a chance against the Big East’s big boys, though, Anderson has to win games with his arm, not just careful decision making. As bad as Anderson’s stat line was against Tech, it might have been good enough to defeat a team like Rutgers because of one stat – zero interceptions. Anderson possesses a right arm as strong as a rocket launcher. Problem is, it’s been about as accurate as a pea shooter. Anderson completed 43 percent of his passes last year, a number that’s up to a respectable 59.7 this season. But Anderson showed a tendency Saturday to throw uncatchable passes over the heads or at the feet of open receivers.Apparently, Anderson understands his limitations. It’s the main reason he’s thrown 144 straight passes without an interception. But sometimes, he takes his conservative approach to the extreme.’You can’t worry about passing,’ Anderson said. ‘You can throw for 500 yards and lose the game. You gotta run the ball. You don’t have to do anything else.’When your leading rusher gains 40 yards, you need to worry about passing. Reyes, though gifted, can’t run for 100 yards against a defense like the Hokies when they’re stacking eight men in the box. If Anderson completed more passes and made himself a threat, Reyes could have been sprung.With Tech squeezing defenders near the line of scrimmage, Anderson could have exploited Johnnie Morant being single-covered by Garnell Wilds, a smaller cornerback. Only once was Anderson able to capitalize, and SU gained 37 yards, its most successful play of the game. Still, when SU ran the same play earlier, Anderson drifted a pass to no one in particular, presumably in Morant’s general direction. The next play, Anderson missed a wide-open Jared Jones for what could have been a first down.’I took more chances,’ Anderson said. ‘We didn’t complete anything.’More chances, yes. Enough? Maybe, maybe not. Anderson hasn’t thrown an interception this season, making Syracuse the only team in the country that hasn’t thrown a pick. That’s a remarkable stat, but it couldn’t help SU’s offense Saturday. No matter how careful and efficient Anderson is, 91 yards passing won’t beat a quality opponent 9 out of 10 times.So that’s the quandary Anderson faces in big games, when Reyes and SU’s offensive line can’t beat teams by themselves. Either try not to lose the game or try to win it. He’s got four more chances – against Boston College, Pittsburgh, Miami and Notre Dame – to figure out what’s best.

Adam Kilgore is the sports editor at The Daily Orange, where his columns appear regularly. E-mail him at adkilgor@syr.edu