Ala Hann Sport picks

Running back Carter to return for senior season at Syracuse

When talking heads give pointers on NCAA football betting, they invariably make comparisons of some sort. Weighing one player against another is part and parcel of sports analysis, the province of online betting experts. On Monday, college football analysts received a piece of news that will affect the way one team is perceived in 2010.

On Monday, August 9, Syracuse coach Doug Marrone said that star running back Delone Carter would indeed play for the Orange this season. Carter had been charged with misdemeanor assault stemming from a fight last February. He was suspended in the spring semester and did not participate in any of Syracuse’s spring practice sessions. The situation hovering over Carter was one big black cloud, but now, that ominous presence has lifted. (Whether it should have been removed or not is another matter.) For a program that has tumbled to the bottom of the Big East Conference, this announcement couldn’t have come a moment too soon… at least in terms of the Cuse’s on-field fortunes.

Last year, Syracuse won only one Big East game and endured a 4-8 trail of tears. One-time basketball star Greg Paulus – the quarterback of Duke’s halfcourt offense on the hardwood – struggled through an acutely painful Autumn in the Carrier Dome and other Big East football stadia. Marrone couldn’t do what former coach Greg Robinson failed to do in his ill-fated tenure in upstate New York: produce a winning season and, with it, a bowl bid. The Orange have a proud football history, from Jim Brown to Floyd Little to Ernie Davis to Don McPherson to Donovan McNabb. Yet, over the past several years, they’ve known nothing but misery between the white painted lines. Marrone was hired to change things, but he’s only in the second year of what is really a long-term rebuilding project.

The urgency of the Delone Carter story can’t be overstated. Without Carter – who rushed for over 1,000 yards in 2009 – the Orange would have had essentially nobody to turn to in the backfield. Why? Consider this: Marrone also said on Monday that tailback Averin Collier, who would have been starting his junior year, would not be back on the SU football team because of academic issues. Had Carter not returned, the only realistic candidate for the starting running back spot would have been Antwon Bailey. The junior would have stood out as the only returning player with significant playing time for Syracuse. Bailey was second on the team in rushing in 2009 with 312 yards on 67 carries and one touchdown. This team – in order to become more of a threat on Saturdays – needed the experience and proven ability of Carter, a more durable and productive back who scored 11 touchdowns for the Orange in 2009.

Any collection of sports betting diehards could tell you that Syracuse – while it might not win that much in 2010 – will certainly play a lot closer to the number as a result of Delong Carter’s continued presence in the backfield. The Orange should test the point spread as an underdog and prove to be pesky on home turf.