By all accounts, Mitch Browning should have been downright cheery following Syracuse’s victory over Northeastern.

After all, the Orange offensive line – the perpetual mess Syracuse’s first-year offensive coordinator was brought here to fix – had just played its best game in recent memory. It carved open holes while SU racked up 271 rushing yards. It kept quarterback Cameron Dantley upright and undisturbed, not allowing a sack in a game for – get this – the first time during Greg Robinson’s entire tenure at SU.

But Mitch Browning wasn’t satisfied. There were three holding penalties in the first half, he said, that needed to be eliminated. Three field goals the Orange settled for that should have been touchdowns. He wasn’t sold on his line’s performance.

‘Sometimes figures lie and liars figure,’ said Browning, donning a suit and tie to match his blunt, all-business manner. ‘But numbers-wise, it was good.’

But Browning wasn’t here for the first three years of the Robinson regime, so maybe he didn’t realize just how remarkable it was to see Syracuse’s offensive line dominate a football game.

Yes, it came against an undermanned and undersized opponent (the Huskies biggest defensive lineman was 5-foot-11, 272 pounds). But this was the same unit that has been a chronic malady – roundly and rightly labeled as the main culprit for SU’s offensive scuffles.

That’s not the case anymore. In fact, the offensive line is the only group on this Syracuse team that has really improved from last year. (We’ll forget the running backs, because the talent was there to begin with.) Think about it. Syracuse’s linebackers still can’t tackle. Its defensive line can’t get to the quarterback. Its secondary can’t defend the deep ball. Its wide receivers can’t get open.

There are a lot of reasons Syracuse won’t win many football games this year. But the offensive line isn’t one of those reasons anymore.

‘All preseason, all camp, all week, even week after week, the offensive line is still getting better and better, no matter what,’ said running back Doug Hogue who, with 100 rushing yards and two touchdowns, was one of the main beneficiaries of the line’s execution. ‘It is like night and day from last year.’

That’s obvious, because games like Saturday’s didn’t happen last year. Syracuse didn’t wear down opponents like it did the Huskies. Leading, 27-21, with six minutes left, Syracuse ran the ball five straight plays against the battered Northeastern defense, advancing 43 yards to the Huskies’ 10-yard line and wasting away the clock. The ensuing Patrick Shadle field goal sealed Syracuse’s first win in 11 months.

OK, so that’s what the offensive line should do against a Division I-AA team. But could last year’s unit do that? I don’t think so.

‘It’s a good feeling to know that we had the defense on their heels and were able to run the ball on them and go out there and dominate,’ said senior guard Ryan Durand. ‘I think after today, offensive line-wise, we can hang our hats on being able to play well this year.’

Durand was a major part of the group that allowed 54 sacks last season and was responsible for the nation’s second-worst run attack. So were sophomore center Jim McKenzie and senior tackle Corey Chavers. Sophomores Ryan Bartholomew (left guard) and Tucker Baumbach (left tackle) have provided a boost, but how did this group improve so quickly?

The answer, of course, is coaching. That’s where Browning comes in. He coaches his offensive line relentlessly. He preaches fundamentals and blocking as a unit. But more than anything, he preaches perfection. Hence, his harping on the holding penalties. During practice, he critiques every move and motion his linemen make. There’s no room for error.

Good coaches take the players they have and make them better, and that’s what Browning has done. So far this year, Syracuse has allowed five sacks in four games. Not too shabby.

‘I’ve been extremely happy,’ Browning said of his offensive line’s improvement. ‘Those guys have worked extremely hard. They’ve bought in.’

That sort of coaching has been missing at times the last three seasons. Add it to the list of reasons Robinson will likely lose his job in a few weeks. Despite Robinson’s reputation as a defensive coach, you don’t see any of Syracuse’s defensive players improving like the offensive linemen have this year. At times it looks like the coaching just isn’t there.

After all, it’s not like SU’s offensive linemen enjoyed the continuous criticism these last three years. All they needed was somebody like Browning to strike a chord. Tell them how to fix their deficiencies.

‘Nobody likes the feeling that your team’s not winning because of this group,’ Chavers said this summer at Syracuse’s media day. ‘I feel like every year I’ve been here it’s been kind of the same situation.’

It still doesn’t look like the Orange will do much winning this year. But at least this time around, it won’t be the offensive line’s fault.

John Clayton is the sports editor of The Daily Orange, where his columns appear occasionally. You can reach him at jsclayto@syr.edu.

Published on September 21, 2008 at 12:00 pm