Dorian Graham put his hands on his hips and shuffled away as Jordan Norwood and the rest of the Penn State offense celebrated behind him in the end zone. Norwood had just beaten Graham for a touchdown, a three-year varsity letter winner picking on a true freshman playing in his first game at cornerback. The blowout – already in session – now inflated to 35-3 late in the second quarter.

Graham looked down at his cleats. Safety Bruce Williams slapped Graham’s helmet twice, trying to offer encouragement. Defensive tackle Nick Santiago did the same a moment later. But that offered little solace – then or after the game – for a dispiriting debut.

‘Sure, I was frustrated,’ Graham said after Saturday’s 55-13 loss. ‘Because I don’t think that’s my game right there. What you guys saw out there today, that’s not me at all. I think I’m better than that. In fact, I know I’m better than that.’

But Saturday wasn’t the easiest day to make a first appearance – and it wasn’t the easiest day to be a member of the Syracuse secondary.

The Nittany Lions boast three superlative, senior receivers: Norwood (five catches, 113 yards, two touchdowns), Deon Butler (seven catches, 110 yards, two touchdowns) and Derrick Williams (two catches, 16 yards). And even if Williams, a PSU captain, had a quiet day, the receivers still made their mark.

‘I knew these would be the best receivers we cover this season,’ said sophomore cornerback Mike Holmes. ‘And, you know, it was pretty tough. I think we played man-to-man most of the whole game. Challenge ’em, you know, our athletes versus their athletes.’

The trio would be difficult for any defense to stop, but especially difficult for an Orange secondary beset by injuries and inexperience.

Bruce Williams moved back to free safety this week, after spending most of the season as a wide receiver, to fill in for the injured Randy McKinnon. Redshirt freshman Kevyn Scott started at strong safety in place of slumping senior AJ Brown. Graham and sophomore Da’Mon Merkerson played at cornerback in place of Nico Scott, who started the game but left soon after with an injury.

‘You can probably tell there’s a lot of young players out there playing on the defensive side of the ball right now,’ Syracuse head coach Greg Robinson said afterward.

So Penn State quarterbacks Daryll Clark and Pat Devlin took turns picking the patchwork Orange secondary apart. The Nittany Lions rolled up 344 total yards in the air and five touchdowns. They averaged 17.2 yards a completion.

Robinson still tried to draw positives. He defended Holmes, who was twice beaten by Butler for touchdowns (Holmes was beaten for two touchdowns in last week’s 42-28 loss to Akron). He emphasized the plus side of playing Graham and Merkerson. They would learn from this experience, he said.

‘The silver lining is,’ Robinson said, ‘you get those two young players some work and you get Nico (Scott) back and all of a sudden you’re a deeper team.’

Graham planned to watch the film after the game to go over his mistakes. He played linebacker at the St. Thomas Aquinas School in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., then switched to the secondary once he joined the Orange. He understands the schemes and coverages – but he’s still adjusting to his new position.

‘Being that I’m a freshman, I’m not perfect at all,’ Graham said. ‘I’m just going to really dissect the film. Slow-mo, see my footwork … I need my technique to get better.’

Saturday, ugly as it may have been, was at least a start.

‘The positive out of this game is, my first game’s over,’ Graham said. ‘The butterflies are out of there. And from here on out, I’m not a veteran, but you might as well say I have some experience. Now I just need to work on getting better.’

ramccull@syr.edu

Published on September 14, 2008 at 12:00 pm