Phillip Thomas had no doubts another interception would come. After the freshman’s first career collegiate pick against Pittsburgh on Nov. 7 was nullified on a holding call, Thomas was confident he would soon repeat the feat.

‘I told the newspaper last week, ‘Don’t worry about it,” Thomas said. ‘Another game down the stretch, I’m going to get another interception, and that’s what happened.’

Not bad prognosticating skills for a freshman.

Making his first start at cornerback, in place of the injured Kevyn Scott, Thomas intercepted his first career pass in Saturday’s contest against Louisville and has emerged as a future star in the secondary for the Orange. The Miami native has played in nine games and has 22 tackles for Syracuse (3-7, 0-5 Big East), which hosts Rutgers in its regular-season finale this weekend.

‘It was a good experience, I never thought I was going to start until next year because I knew I had good potential and play hard and everything,’ Thomas said. ‘So when I stepped in, I had the bubble guts; but I got that first play out the way, and I was comfortable in that position and played to my potential.’

Thomas’s first start immersed him into the life of a starting cornerback. Early in the second quarter, Thomas bit on a fake by Louisville wide receiver Trent Guy and had to run full-steam to catch up. Louisville quarterback Adam Froman under-threw Guy, and Thomas made a great leap to haul in his first pick.

In the third quarter, Thomas’s stingy defense took a Louisville touchdown off the board. While covering 6-foot-9 Josh Chichester, who scored the winning touchdown with 1:24 left, Thomas was pushed down, and Chichester caught a touchdown. The referees flagged Chichester for offensive pass interference, and Syracuse held the Cardinals to a field goal.

Thomas said with Scott being injured that it was his time to step up and play for a hurt player and that’s what he tried to do. He primarily played in man-to-man coverage and zone, and said he learned that he needs to ‘get better on maintaining the game.’

Syracuse head coach Doug Marrone has been pleased with Thomas’ development.

‘I thought he did some nice things, and I thought be broke on the ball well, and I thought he was in position, and I felt very comfortable with him out there,’ Marrone said. ‘Obviously, he had the pick during the game, and he’s somebody that’s consistently shown to be around the football.’

Sales speaks about drop

Marcus Sales didn’t think Louisville’s Andrew Robinson was anywhere around him. So when the sophomore receiver dropped Greg Paulus’s pass in Louisville territory, Sales didn’t even know the ball could be intercepted.

Little did he know, Robinson was close enough to make the pick and seal the Cardinals’ 10-9 victory over the Orange Saturday. Sales talked Tuesday about his drop that could have put SU in field-goal range, calling the ball ‘catchable.’

‘It hit my back shoulder and I thought I had it, and it just went through my hands. I should have caught the ball,’ Sales said. ‘It was catchable. The game shouldn’t have come down to that. We have to play better as a team.’

With the Orange parked at the Louisville 43-yard line and less than a minute left Saturday, Sales ran a quick slant and said the defender was playing off him. With nobody around him near the 30-yard line, the ball careened off Sales into Robinson’s hands and ended Syracuse’s chances at a win Saturday.

Sales didn’t seem fazed by the drop, saying he just has to move onto the next play. In Syracuse’s two games without former No. 1 receiver Mike Williams, Sales has caught just four passes for 36 yards. He had no catches in Saturday’s loss.

Paulus said his faith in Sales, who is the new No. 1 receiver, has not wavered despite the drop.

‘Marcus has made some good plays for us,’ Paulus said. ‘In the same situation, we’re going to make the same read and the same throw. He’s going to make that play for us. He’s done that before early in the season. In the same situation, whatever it might be, I trust Marcus, throwing that ball to him, I know he’s going to catch that ball.’

THIS AND THAT

Syracuse will honor 19 senior players before Saturday’s 3:30 p.m. contest against Rutgers. …the Scarlet Knights have won four games in a row against the Orange, including two straight in the Carrier Dome. …Rutgers ended Syracuse’s chances at a bowl game last year with a 35-17 win.

mrehalt@syr.edu

Published on November 16, 2009 at 12:00 pm