Thomas Looks to Improve on Last Week's Performance

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We all know that Phillip Thomas is an athletic specimen. Him and Shamarko rule the secondary for the Orange, punishing opponents with hard hits. But Phil has admittedly had a tough off-season, mainly because of his broken jaw. Because of this and an unexperienced linebacker core, I was unsure how Thomas would play against Wake Forest.

I asked Thomas if he was happy with his performance against Wake and he simply answered, "no."

"I got burned," he said. And I agreed with him because there were definitely times where Thomas got beat by Wake Forest receivers. While you can blame some of that on the linebackers missing assignments, Phil realizes that he was off his game.

Thomas said his jaw bothered him most of the game and the leg injury in the third quarter that forced him to the locker room didn't help either. He made five tackles, one being for a loss, but says he can play "a million times better."

Phil told me he is going to have a better game against Rhode Island. He has been watching film "day and night" and scouting his opponent tirelessly. He even added a Rhode Island wide receiver on Facebook in order to get in his head. Thomas is making all the stops.

The thing that bothered Thomas most about last Thursday's game against Wake Forest had nothing to do with what happened on the field. It was all about the fans.

We've seen on the news and on blogs everywhere that the fans at the Syracuse game left early. And no one was more disappointed than Phillip Thomas.

"I was pissed," he said. "Either you're with us till the finish, or not with us at all. I remember every face that stayed with us that night."

If you left that game early, Phillip knows. And he isn't the type of person you want on your bad side. He says players from other Big East schools have made fun of him, saying that would never happen at their schools.

So stick around this Saturday to see an improved Phillip Thomas. He is determined and ready to play.