Ryan Bartholomew isn’t worried about all the snaps that floated over Greg Paulus’ head Saturday against Akron. The junior center insists there are just some ‘little technique issues’ that he needs to work on, as he continues to fill in for injured starter Jim McKenzie.

But that doesn’t mean Bartholomew isn’t cognizant that another repeat performance this week against No. 5 Cincinnati could doom the Orange.

‘I know that if I mess up snaps like I did last week, the chances of beating Cincinnati would be very slim,’ Bartholomew said. ‘Therefore, I gotta make sure I get my snaps back and do my part to help the team win.’

Bartholomew will look to improve as the replacement center, when Syracuse (3-4, 0-2 Big East) welcomes the Bearcats (7-0, 3-0) to the Dome Saturday (noon, ESPNU). He will be making his third career start at center, after starting the first five games of this season at left guard.

‘I’ve been playing it for about three weeks,’ Bartholomew said. ‘I’m still adjusting to it, and it takes a little adjusting for anybody moving to another position.’

Bartholomew made his first career start at center against West Virginia on Oct. 10, after McKenzie suffered a hand injury. In his second start as a center last week, Bartholomew looked like a novice. He had about a half-dozen bad snaps, which essentially neutralized Syracuse’s shotgun offense at times. Though SU still won the game, 28-14, Bartholomew’s play was alarming.

Bartholomew said a portion of his snapping problems stemmed from his formation. He said his backside was tilted too high, which can lead to high snaps. Head coach Doug Marrone, a former offensive lineman, also saw a problem with Bartholomew’s hand placement.

‘Ryan tends to hold the ball a little flat handed, when you just want the fingertips being able to control the ball,’ Marrone said. ‘If you have smaller hands, you want the ball to be held a little higher. You want to hold the ball a little more toward the nose of the ball so you have a little more control over it.

‘If you hold the ball to the nose a little bit, and you use your wrist, you have to be very conscious of dropping your butt. There are a lot of little issues that go into it, but it is a concern.’

Even though he struggled against the Zips, Bartholomew was encouraged he did not let his problems affect the rest of his duties as center.

‘It affects you a little bit, but I’m a tough player and I got to do it even though it was happening over and over again,’ Bartholomew said. ‘I still didn’t miss my blocking assignments or calling out the plays or anything. It wasn’t a problem in that sense.’

RUSHING GAME GETS GOING

Tucker Baumbach saw flashes against Akron Saturday of the potent rushing attack Syracuse demonstrated last season – especially on an acrobatic leap by running back Delone Carter.

‘There was one play when Delone jumped over somebody,’ Baumbach said. ‘It reminded me a lot of Curtis (Brinkley) and the stuff Curt used to do.’

After struggling to establish a running game over the first half of the year, the ground game exploded for a season-high 234 yards in Saturday’s win over Akron. SU increased its season rushing average from 90.3 to 110.86 with its performance and will look to build off those numbers the rest of the way.

‘We were frustrated because we have a good scheme now and we were kind of annoyed because we really couldn’t get it going,’ Baumbach said. ‘I’m really proud to see we got it working this week.’

The running backs’ strong play was particularly impressive, considering the Orange utilized a makeshift offensive line. Bartholomew was only starting his second game at center, Andrew Tiller made his second start at right guard, Josh White got his first nod at left tackle and Adam Rosner lined up at left guard for the first time.

Yet the line paved the way for 109 more yards than it had in any other contest. Baumbach and Bartholomew both said there was no schematic differences against Akron compared to other weeks.

‘It’s always important,’ Marrone said of the strong running game. ‘It’s another avenue that you have to win football games. I think it’s hard to win games if you don’t have it.’

This and That

Syracuse has lost its last four Big East contests against Cincinnati by an average of 15.25 points, with the closest loss coming by six points in 2005. …Cincinnati leads the series, 5-4, with Syracuse’s last win coming in 2004. …Syracuse is producing the most offense it has since the 2004 season in points, yards and rushing yards per game.

mrehalt@sy.edu

Published on October 27, 2009 at 12:00 pm