CINCINNATI – This statistic isn’t misleading.

Brendan Carney broke Syracuse’s record for punts, 250, with 29 seconds left in the first quarter of Syracuse’s 17-3 loss to Cincinnati. He punted eight times for 343 yards.

Mike Shafer, who was a punter for the Orange from 1999-2002 and a kicker from 2001-2002, held the previous record.

It shows how Carney has helped Syracuse earn comfortable field positioning for the past four years. But it also represents how ineptly SU’s offense has performed.

Saturday proved to be no exception. SU earned 12 first downs and only converted 6-of-17 third-down conversions, which gave Carney many opportunities to keep his foot fresh.

He did make one gaffe, though, in the third quarter when he nearly dropped the ball on a snap. Carney retrieved it but punted the ball 16 yards out of bounds.

Cincinnati running back Greg Moore capped the Bearcats’ six-play drive with a two-yard touchdown for a 10-3 lead.

‘I thought about (running) but then I remembered it was 4th-and-19,’ Carney said. ‘I didn’t know how far I’d get it. It sucks. You take that one play away it would’ve been 3-3 going into the final quarter. But I gave up field positioning there.’

Injury puts Brinkley on the bench

Without hearing Robinson’s explanation, the casual observer would understandably conclude that Delone Carter has established himself as the main go-to running back.

Curtis Brinkley rushed only for one yard off of two carries in the first two plays against Cincinnati. After that drive, Carter took over the tailback position. Carter rushed 21 times for 85 yards, which served as perhaps the only bright spot in an otherwise horrendous SU offensive performance.

But Robinson insists that the reason for the change had to do with a knee injury Brinkley apparently suffered last week in the third quarter against Louisville.

Brinkley averaged only 30 yards the past week for the Orange but said his fasting during Ramadan – the Muslim holiday that requires fasting while the sun is up – had no affect on his performances during that span this week. He gave no indication that his knee was bothering him, either.

‘He was practicing well this week,’ Robinson said. ‘But even on Thursday he was not 100 percent. I don’t want to risk it. He needs to have it all to do his thing.’

No Show

Sophomore punt returner Bruce Williams did not travel with the team to Cincinnati. SU officials said he did not suit up for personal reasons outside of football and academic-related issues.

Williams has fielded punts for the Orange the past three games. Walk-on Max Meisel previously held the starting spot until the SU-Pittsburgh game where he failed to call a fair catch, but he took Williams’ spot on Saturday.

Meisel returned one punt for seven yards and fair-caught the other punt.

Fullback Stephen McDonald didn’t make the trip either due to a foot injury. Tony Fiammetta took his place and rushed twice for four yards. It’s the first carry from an SU fullback since the infamous Iowa goal line stand on Sept. 9.

This and That

Joe Fields started again at free safety. He was taken out of the second half last week against Louisville. All week Robinson gave no indication if Fields would stay as the starter. …Jerry Mackey returned at linebacker after missing the past two weeks due to a broken bone is his left hand. He made five tackles.

Published on October 28, 2006 at 12:00 pm