running on empty

found this article on espn.com check this out about local running backs.
http://sports.espn.go.com/ncf/notebook?page=iform079

Running On Empty As Syracuse languishes near the bottom of the rushing statistics (73.5 yards per game, 113th) for yet another season, and as fans continue to withhold their support for coach Greg Robinson by withholding their presence from the Carrier Dome ( capacity: 50,000; average attendance at last three home games: 34,156), it's worth pointing out the multitude of New York state high school running backs now starting at schools other than Syracuse:

• Mike Hart of Syracuse, the Michigan senior who's third in the nation (154 rushing yards per game).

• One spot behind him nationally is Ray Rice of New Rochelle, who planned to sign with Syracuse until the school fired Paul Pasqualoni and instead went to Rutgers (142.6 yards per game).

• Michigan State senior Jehuu Caulcrick of Findlay Lake, a three-time all-state player who's tied for fourth in the nation in touchdowns with 16.

• Penn State senior fullback Matt Hahn of Dix Hills, a talented blocker who scored the first rushing touchdown of his career against Wisconsin on Oct. 13 before tearing his right ACL against the Hoosiers the following week in the fourth quarter, ending his collegiate career.

• And Boston College senior linebacker Jolonn Dunbar, who played running back at Syracuse Corcoran High before becoming a co-captain and leading tackler of the second-ranked Eagles in 2006 and 2007.

Robinson has run into a rough set of circumstances. The players that Pasqualoni recruited for his freeze option offense have struggled in Robinson's West Coast system. Injuries have waylaid some top players, including sophomore tailback Delone Carter, a talented back who dislocated his hip in practice shortly before the season began.

The question is whether athletic director Daryl Gross, who hired Robinson, will continue to support him despite the fan apathy. The Orange (2-6, 1-2) appear as if they have left square one and begun to move on, and a new hire surely would return them to that square. But no athletic director is immune to an attack of empty seats.