Border War: Orange Travels to Face Rutgers
11/7/2008 9:59:09 AM | Football
Game Notes
SYRACUSE, N.Y. – The Syracuse football squad will rekindle the Empire State-Garden State rivalry this Saturday (12:00 p.m., ESPNU) at Rutgers. The Orange holds a 28-9-1 advantage in the series against the Scarlet Knights.
SYRACUSE, N.Y. – The Syracuse football squad will rekindle the Empire State-Garden State rivalry this Saturday (12:00 p.m., ESPNU) at Rutgers. The Orange holds a 28-9-1 advantage in the series against the Scarlet Knights.
Running back Curtis Brinkley will look to extend his streak of consecutive 100-yard rushing games to six. The senior set the Syracuse record for consecutive games with 100 yards with his fifth such performance against Louisiville, gaining a career-best 166 yards on 33 carries. For his efforts, Brinkley was named to the BIG EAST Honor Roll for the fourth time this season. He is one of two running backs in the conference to have recorded six games over the century mark and ranks 15th nationally with 112.4 yards per game.
The Orange football team has nine gridders who call the Garden State home. Senior Paul Chiara, sophomores Mike Mele and Da'Mon Merkerson, redshirt freshmen Chaz Cervino, Ollie Haney and Lamar Middleton and freshmen Jarel Lowrey, Grant Mayes and David Stevens all hail from New Jersey.
Mele leads Syracuse with 56 total tackles this season. The Sea Girt native is tied for seventh in the BIG EAST with seven tackles per game and he logged his first career solo tackle for loss against Louisville last week. Mele's family has a history with Rutgers, as his father, Joe, was the Scarlet Knights running back from 1973-76.
Merkerson, a native of Passaic, caught a 38-yard touchdown pass against Louisville last week. Merkerson is one of many who have contributed on both sides of the ball this season. Merkerson started his Syracuse career as a wide receiver last year and moved to cornerback prior to 2008 Spring practice. Merkerson recorded a career-high eight tackles against Akron. Two games later he played both receiver and cornerback against Pittsburgh, becoming the first two-way player for the Orange since Diamond Ferri in 2004. In SU’s last three games, Merkerson has played exclusively at wide receiver.
Other players who have displayed versatility this season include redshirt freshman Cody Catalina, freshman Grant Mayes and senior co-captain Bruce Williams. Catalina moved from quarterback to tight end prior to SU’s game against Louisville, while Mayes is now a cornerback after playing receiver in the first eight games. Williams moved to receiver during preseason camp and returned to safety prior to the game against Penn State. Against Louisville, Williams had a fourth quarter interception that sealed the win for the Orange.
Syracuse will return home for its final home game of the 2008 season when it hosts Connecticut on Saturday, November 15 at the Carrier Dome (7:00 p.m., ESPNU).
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