Tanard Jackson calls it the ‘moment of truth’ – the moment when ball carrier greets tackler.

The Syracuse cornerback knows he and his fellow defenders lost too many of those critical instants in Saturday’s 20-10 defeat at Wake Forest.

Jackson realizes the Orange must correct that most fundamental of error with No. 14 Iowa visiting the Carrier Dome this weekend.

‘I’m discouraged with our tackling,’ Jackson, a senior, said. ‘We missed a lot of tackles that ended up biting us in the butt. We just have to keep working and focus more at the moment of truth.’

The first sign of trouble came on the Demon Deacons first possession of the game. Twice Syracuse appeared to stop Wake Forest on third down before the black shirt burst through the white ones.

On third-and-1 from its own 13, Wake Forest running back Micah Andrews slipped through several defenders on the left side for a seven-yard gain after initially finding no room.

Then fullback Rich Belton caught a checkdown on third-and-5 and broke through an attempted tackle from linebacker Luke Cain and gained 12 yards.

Wake Forest finished off the 96-yard drive with a 14-yard touchdown pass from Ben Mauk to Willy Idlette to take a 7-0 lead.

‘These are young men in college playing football and they’re trying like all get-up,’ Robinson said. ‘They’re not always perfect. Sometimes when they’re not, all of a sudden you pay, especially against a team that’s effective.’

The other egregious error came late in the fourth quarter with the game still on the line.

Trailing 13-10 with less than two minutes remaining, Syracuse needed to stop Wake Forest on third-and-8 to sustain the one-possession margin.

But backup running back De’Angelo Bryant brushed off several Orange linebackers and scooted into the end zone for the clinching score.

‘Our goal as a defense is to be the best tackling team in America,’ Jackson said.

Drops

Tackling wasn’t the only fundamental aspect of the game Syracuse struggled with Saturday.

In a flashback to last season, Orange receivers dropped multiple passes.

Again, the issue flamed up early when Rice Moss couldn’t haul down a short bullet from Perry Patterson on third down.

Later in the game fellow starting wideout Tim Lane also failed to consummate several receptions.

‘They’re going to happen,’ said Lane, who caught three of SU’s five completed passes Saturday. ‘If you watched the game (Monday) night Miami had a couple of drops in critical situations. It happens and you don’t know why.

‘On one of the ones that Rice had the ball was thrown very hard and by the time he saw it come over the offensive and defensive lines’ heads it hit him in the chest. A lot of times it looks like an easy catch but it’s very hard.’

Still, the Orange should have made more plays in the passing game. Just like a couple more tackles could’ve turned the game, so could a few less drops.

‘I thought that the throwing game there was a couple situations where you catch a ball here or catch a ball there all of a sudden it’s a different tilt,’ Robinson said.

Robinson backs his QB

In the history of college football, there may not be as much praise for a quarterback that finished 5-of-18 for 45 yards than Patterson received.

‘This offense is so much further along than last year at this time,’ Robinson said. ‘It just starts with Perry Patterson. This guy three or four throws – I’ve been in the NFL a long time – those balls were NFL throws. The touchdown to Rice Moss – the timing of it, the set-up, the rhythm, the throw on the money – perfect.’

On the offense as a whole, Robinson took a page out of President Bush’s playbook after his team’s 11-first down, 136-yard performance.

‘I tell our offensive coaches to stay the course, stay the course,’ the head coach said.

Published on September 5, 2006 at 12:00 pm