IOWA CITY, Iowa – Ironically, the toughest pass thrown to Mike Williams all night was the one he finally caught.

It was a 12-yard cross near midfield, and he had to leap into the air to come down with the overthrown ball from Andrew Robinson. That was Syracuse’s first first down, with 9:33 remaining in the third quarter.

And that was just the start. Syracuse finished with a grand total of 79 passing yards. Williams dropped five passes on the night, including a few that hit right off his chest. Rice Moss had two more drops.

As Williams sauntered into the postgame interview room, he was at a loss for words – literally.

‘I don’t know what to say to these guys,’ Williams said before he faced the media.

No one on the offense did. Robinson’s first-career road start was worse than he could have imagined. He overthrew his wide receivers. He underthrew his tailbacks, popping out of the backfield for short screens.

And then, when he threw on target, his receivers dropped the ball.

‘I didn’t feel (the dropped balls) last week was an issue,’ Syracuse head coach Greg Robinson said. ‘But tonight we didn’t catch the football. I got to find out why.’

Andrew Robinson didn’t complete his first pass until the score was already 28-0, Iowa. He threw a slant to Lavar Lobdell for a 12-yard gain on a 3rd-and-18 midway through the second quarter. On the following play, Patrick Shadle’s 39-yard field goal attempt was blocked.

While the drops couldn’t have helped Robinson’s confidence, he was markedly worse in start No. 2 than his 20-of-32, 199-yard performance against Washington.

‘I’m a young quarterback, and I have some growing up to do real quick,’ Robinson said. ‘In order for this team to be successful, I have to start playing a lot better than I am right now.’

Robinson’s first completion Saturday night was to Hawkeyes linebacker Mike Humpal in the first quarter. Two plays later, Iowa held a 14-0 lead nine minutes into the game. His first official completion didn’t come until 6:45 left in the second quarter.

Andrew Robinson said the rocky start got to his head.

‘I think I might have been pressing a little bit,’ Robinson said. ‘I started out the game 0-for-7 [sic] and obviously, when you start out a game like that, you want to get a first down as soon as possible. You’re trying to get a completion. You’re trying to move the ball.’

On the first drive of the game, Robinson threw two incompletions on second and third downs, but both passes were catchable and dropped by Moss and Williams.

‘I guess dropped balls are dropped balls,’ Williams said. ‘We gotta catch them. We’ll catch them next time.’

On the next drive, Robinson threw a one-bouncer to an open Williams, and after a 1-yard run by Brinkley, Robinson underthrew his target and Humpal picked it off.

In the first quarter, Syracuse mustered minus 16 yards of total offense. Robinson was 0-for-4 and was sacked once. The dropped balls were something he needed to deal with, Robinson said.

‘I just try to worry about things that I can control: dropping back, reading coverage and throwing the ball,’ Robinson said. ‘Obviously, other guys have responsibilities they have to account for. It’s my job to put them in the best position to make those catches. There were a couple balls I threw that the wide receivers made plays for me.’

For the game, Robinson was sacked one less time (six) than against Washington, but it was obvious after the first few hits he took that the sophomore quarterback became cognizant, maybe even afraid of the lack of protection he received.

Once, on the first drive of the third quarter, Robinson took a massive hit from his blindside from Iowa defensive end Kenny Iwebema. But Robinson thought he could have gotten rid of the ball quicker in some situations to avoid the big sacks.

‘That tends to happen when you press,’ Robinson said, ‘and you try to make plays where you should just try to stay relax and calm and play football like you know how to play.’

Published on September 9, 2007 at 12:00 pm