Justin Outten’s goals for the upcoming season speak to how atrocious the offensive line really was last year.

The center said after Saturday’s annual Spring Game he wants the big uglies to function better and actually use the techniques they’ve been taught in 2006.

Doesn’t get any closer to back to the basics than that.

Which is why whether the offense is to improve come fall, quarterback Perry Patterson or any running back or receiver won’t be the main reason.

It’ll be because of the offensive line. Everything starts upfront.

Last year, the line couldn’t run block – Orange ball carriers only gained three yards per carry. It couldn’t pass protect – Orange quarterbacks completed 46 percent of their passes. Really, it couldn’t do anything.

If one group deserves the most blame for the offense finishing ahead of only, ahem, Duke and Temple, it’s none of the skill positions. It’s the O-Line.

‘When you don’t have a line, you can’t do much,’ running back Curtis Brinkley said after the offense’s 34-25 win against the defense on Saturday. ‘There’s nothing really you can do. When you got an offensive line, you can take your time with different things.’

What’s troubling is offense’s core is even more nameless than last year.

The first team, as of Saturday, left to right: Corey Chavers. Carroll Madison. Outten. Ryan Durand. Eugene Newsome.

The second team: Ian Hammond. Mike Sklarosky. Marvin McCall. Ryan Ehrie. David Bouchard.

I don’t know who these people are either. But they make up the most important unit on the entire SU team in 2006.

Did the line show improvement on Saturday?

Got me.

When Brinkley scampers around right end for 11 yards, is that because the offensive line blocked well or because the linebackers took the wrong lanes to him? I don’t have a clue.

The stats help a little.

The running game only totaled 68 yards on 44 carries. Neither Paul Chiara, Kareem Jones or Brinkley stood out. Jones had the longest run – 17 yards.

The passing game seemingly fared better, but not from the line’s standpoint. While SU quarterbacks completed 20-of-29 passes for 286 yards, they were also sacked eight times.

‘There were some good things,’ Syracuse head coach Greg Robinson said. ‘We’re young and occasionally that showed up. There were a couple of third-down situations where we could have done a better job, but I saw some good protection and I saw some holes. They’re a work in progress.’

But really, the Spring Game is just another scrimmage. It just happens to be in front of fans. It’s inconsequential; forget the numbers. There was no way to tell from watching Saturday’s game whether the line has improved. We won’t know for sure until SU travels to Wake Forest on Sept. 2.

What we do know for sure is last year’s problems must be avoided. Outten basically said the line had no idea what was going on and as a result was tentative.

‘If (the coaches) make the call, we’re going to do it instead of second-guessing ourselves,’ Outten said. ‘We’re going full speed now.’

Forced to pick one aspect in particular the line wanted to improve on, Outten chose protection. SU was sacked 37 times last season, five each by those pass-rush havens, Rutgers and Cincinnati. It would’ve been more if Patterson or backup Joe Fields hadn’t tried to scramble at the faintest hint of pressure.

‘Last year was ridiculous with (Perry) running around the pocket,’ Outten said.

Outten insisted those days are done. A year under the line’s belt in the West Coast Offense will cure all evils, the senior said. Madison went so far as to say the unit is already playing better than all of last season.

But the Spring Game is like Spring Training. It offered no real clues. Only that hope springs eternal.

In reality, the truth is unknown. Going into last season, the offensive line was expected to be a relative strength with two returning starters in Steve Franklin and Quinn Ojinnaka and another senior in Jason Greene. Didn’t matter. The line more than any other position caused last season’s 1-10 fiasco. Greene even left the team in midseason.

With even less experience in 2006, prospects are ominous. And that doesn’t bode well considering the big uglies, not Perry Patterson, will decide whether the Orange wins games this fall.

Still, how much does it take to function better and actually use the techniques they’ve been taught?

Ethan Ramsey is the sports editor at The Daily Orange, where his columns appear occasionally. E-mail him at egramsey@gmail.com or comment on dailyorangeblog.com.

Published on April 17, 2006 at 12:00 pm