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 Thursday, August 23, 2001
Syracuse's QB is no mystery ... on defense
By Marc Connolly
ABC Sports Online
After holing up behind enemy lines at West Virginia, coaching the defense for the past 17 years, linebacker coach Steve Dunlap has said he feels like "a kid in a candy store" at Syracuse. He realized that the endless snowstorms that start in October and run right through May were worth it when he took a look at his All-Big East middle linebacker, Clifton Smith.
"Here's a guy who is 250 pounds, close to 6-3, and runs around a 4.6," said Dunlap of the true junior. "I didn't see too many 250-pound linebackers at West Virginia."
|  | | Syracuse LB Clifton Smith has terrorized running backs in the Big East. |
Neither did many other coaches around the country.
Smith, entering his third year as a starter, is ranked as one of the top two linebackers in the conference along with Virginia Tech's Ben Taylor now that the wrecking ball known as Dan Morgan is playing on Sundays. While the Orange have more questions at quarterback than Connie Chung has for Gary Condit, there is no uncertainty whatsoever at who is leading the defensive huddle.
"We put a lot of onus on our Mike 'backer to make the calls, get us lined up and do a lot of things," said Dunlap. "And he does it all very well. He's a very intelligent player, so he can absolutely run the show for us."
Following up a year when he led the team in tackles with 108 (fifth in the Big East), the Freeport, N.Y., native's role as a leader will be more imperative since the Orangemen are replacing five starters on defense, including cornerback Will Allen, a first-round draft pick of the New York Giants, and four-year starting outside linebacker Morlon Greenwood, a third-round pick of the Miami Dolphins.
"I started my first few years with two upperclassmen to look up to in Keith Bulluck my freshman year and Morlon Greenwood last year," said Smith, who is a preseason candidate for the Butkus, Lombardi and Bednarik awards. "So I feel that I do have to step up and be more of a leader this year, especially being the quarterback of the defense."
Greenwood was the emotional leader of the defense last year at strongside linebacker and very close to Smith. In fact, Smith shunned several big-name programs such as Notre Dame and Ohio State to follow Greenwood to Syracuse after playing high school ball together at Freeport High School on Long Island.
"(Greenwood's) work ethic and the way he prepared himself rubbed off on Cliff," said Dunlap.
That work ethic includes several hours locked away studying film and analyzing plays. Smith includes Ray Lewis and Mike Singletary as players he emulates at his position, but he also admits to watching many hours of footage on kamikaze old-schoolers like Dick Butkus and Jack Lambert, who once defined the position. That's one of the things that has impressed his coaching staff tremendously, especially for someone who just turned 21.
"He's got all the tools, but I'm more proud of the way he studies the game," said Dunlap. "He's a coach's player. He asks intelligent questions and asks why we do certain things. That's what I like best about him. To tell you the truth, he's helped me. I came here from West Virginia and came into a great situation having a third-year guy like him here.
"Knowing where to go and what to do, I don't have to worry about him as a coach."
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We believe we can do something this year, and we definitely have the schedule to do something. The time to do something is definitely now. Our strength of schedule could put us in the Rose Bowl, which is the national championship this year.
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— Clifton Smith |
If anything, the only worry his coaches could have this year is his intense optimism. For starters, Smith is in select company by saying he'll miss chasing Michael Vick all over the field. This is also a kid who talks not about winning the Big East or getting to a New Year's Day BCS game, but about the Rose Bowl. Yes, the national championship game.
With a brutal schedule that includes non-conference tussles with Georgia Tech in the Kickoff Classic on Sunday (ABC, 2 p.m. ET), Tennessee on the road and Auburn and East Carolina, not to mention a Nov. 17 game at overwhelming conference favorite Miami, some would say Smith is anything but a realist.
It's not like the 'Cuse is supposed to challenge Miami or Va. Tech for the Big East title, according to preseason preview mags and various polls. No, they're supposed to finish middle of the pack behind Pittsburgh, Boston College and West Virginia.
"I feel that a lot of critics have us pegged wrong this year," Smith said. "Basically, they are just somebody's opinions. We believe we can do something this year, and we definitely have the schedule to do something. The time to do something is definitely now. Our strength of schedule could put us in the Rose Bowl, which is the national championship this year."
Taking on the 13th-ranked Yellow Jackets that feature a stud at quarterback in George Godsey and a burner out wide in Kelley Campbell right off the bat will let the rest of the country know whether his talk has some truth to it.
"We see this game as one that can break us or make us," said Smith, who looks odd on the gridiron wearing No. 9, which he kept from his Pop Warner ball days when he dreamed of being a running back, but was "too big." "They have a real good quarterback and an excellent receiver, both who I believe they are pushing for the Heisman. If we contain those players, we have a good shot of winning.
"We're not looking to just come out and have a good showing, we're looking to win this game and all our games this season."
Realistically, for Syracuse to make any kind of noise, it'll need Troy Nunes (likely to start at QB) to transform into a complete opposite signal-caller that he was a year ago. The Orange will also need to shore up its spots on the D-line next to All-American candidate Dwight Freeney at end. For a defense that ranked first in the Big East last year and 18th in the nation (311.9 yards per game) and returns a solid secondary with seniors Quentin Harris and Willie Ford, the greatest responsibility will ultimately rely on the man who dreams of Pasadena in January.
But whether or not Syracuse makes some noise in 2001 and turns that matchup against Miami into an unequivocal showdown come November, improvement over the last two years would be just as welcomed for a special player looking to be an All-American this season and who will certainly join his friend Morlon Greenwood in the NFL someday.
"Since I've gotten here, our record has been only 13-10, so I want to fix that."
Marc Connolly is a senior writer for ABC Sports Online. He can be reached at Marc.Connolly@abc.com
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