The Orange football team has elected four seniors as captains for the upcoming season. Quarterback Perry Patterson, linebackers Kelvin Smith and Jerry Mackey and punter Brendan Carney were selected by a vote of the team.
Orange head coach Greg Robinson released the news on his weekly radio show Wednesday night. He said Patterson and Carney were nearly unanimous selections for offensive and special teams captains, respectively. While voting was close between the linebackers, they collectively commanded some 90 percent of the ballots, Robinson said.
"I've been doing this for four years so I think a lot of the guys respect me in that way," Carney said. "On and off the field, I try to stay around the guys and get to know them and I think they appreciate that."
"Brendan doesn't (speak up) a lot," Robinson said. "But when he does, people listen."
Carney, a three-time all-BIG EAST performer, set a school record with 82 punts last year. He averaged 42.6 yards per punt and achieved a touchback on a third of his kickoffs in 2005.
Patterson enters the season as the clear number one quarterback for the first time in his career. Mackey returns to the regular lineup after leading the team in tackles in 2004 and working as a reserve last year. Smith, last year's leading tackler, has started 34 of the 35 games he's seen in an Orange uniform.
Patterson, Smith and Mackey are all expected to start when the Orange open the season Saturday night at Wake Forest. Kickoff is at 6:30. The game can be heard on the Syracuse ISP Sports Network and Orange All Access.