After a week in which the football program looked to be clustered and disheveled, Syracuse played its most challenging game of the season against No. 1 Florida State and came up short, 38-20.
The coaching shuffle and quarterback fiasco led much of Orange Nation to believe the game against FSU would be a disaster, especially considering neither Austin Wilson or AJ Long had much, or any, collegiate experience.
There was plenty of speculation as to how new offensive coordinator Tim Lester would handle the offense and run the two quarterbacks. It did not start well, but it got better.
Austin Wilson started off strong, driving the Orange down the field. Wilson and the offense reached the Florida State 12-yard line, but Wilson threw an interception, which led to a Seminole field goal. He completed five of his nine passes, but could not really help Syracuse move the ball closer to the goal line.
Insert AJ Long. The true freshman had hopes of being the starting quarterback coming into the year, and wanted to compete for the job. He wasted no time in showing his coaches and the 43,295 fans who packed the Dome what he is made of.
Long has a bit of Terrel Hunt and Wilson in him. He can run for his own yardage, and he can make passes on the run. Even better, he can run the passing game – something Hunt has struggled to do effectively.
This is the start of the new season for Syracuse, with Long as the man under center. He is the best option because of the tools he has in whatever the situation is. He made the best passes in the right situation.
Although the coaching situation is still fresh, the quarterback decision is simple and one less thing to worry about. He threw for two touchdowns, connecting with Steve Ishmael twice. He performed well in the most difficult task of the season against a team that could very well repeat as national champions.
Keep calm, Orange Nation. AJ Long is here, and ready to do big things in his Syracuse career.
Posted:  Austin Pollack
8 responses to “Instant Reaction: FSU Wins, AJ Long Impressive in Syracuse Debut”
Agreed AP . As I said in another thread earlier …. Had SU made those 2 ( would be ) picks , and the dropped TD pass …. then the game would have been even tighter . I’m not saying SU would have won , just a much , much closer game . And considering who SU played today …. they did very , very well , in my honest opinion . A great team effort !!!
I was pleasantly surprised with how well AJ Long played, as I said on twitter, he is the QB we all hoped that Hunt was going to be. Lester called a good game with some nice wrinkles, and was happy to see PTG get uses more effectively.
However before anyone breaks their arm patting themselves on the back about Lester replacing McDonald, a couple things to keep on mind: Having a qb that can pass accurately really helps keep drives alive and opens up the playbook (something that Hunt has struggled with), FSU had little-to-no video to watch and to game plan for Long, future oppomen’s won’t be as fortunate, aside from the 2 INTs, Long made good decisions and didn’t panic. Hunt was getting goofy as a QB and trying to do too much…I still believe that the majority of our offensive problems were his- not McD.
The inability to score in the redzone is still a major problem. I liked the TANK package attempt, but the AAM runs were unispired.
Well I got my monies worth in watching todays game at the dome. I feel the fans got the message that was sent to them.. I feel the offensive showing was the best I’ve or anyone else has seen over the last 1 ¬Ω seasons. We moved the ball and scored 20 points against the Defending National Champions. Impressive!!!!
Points of Interest.——-for all of us that were worried about the coaching changes and troubles within the coaching staff over the last week,should feel a little more comfortable now that Tim Lester is the OC. His view of what should happen in a game is slightly different than what George McDonald’s view was. I didn’t see too many ‚Äúbubble passes today‚Äù Throwing the ball down field,novel idea Tim novel idea. Again Impressive!!!
Offensive Unit——-again the offensive unit struggled,first five trips into the red zone and we settle for 6 points. I will say that after todays efforts things are about to change for Syracuse.
Defensive Unit——struggled today and to finish the season has to become more disciplined. I hope they achieve that goal,if they do we go to another bowl game at the end of the season.
Austin Wilson——- on his first drive was moving the team down field until he threw that interception and was benched until 4 ¬Ω minutes left in the first half. I was hoping no one would get hurt,but Austin did and probably is out for the rest of the season. My son called and told me that he realized the ball and then hit and the FSU player should have been called for and ejected for targeting.
Surprise,Big Surprise—-From watching him in FANFEST and the Spring Scrimmage Football Game,AJ Long has improved his play 300%,looked impressive and probably played his way into the starting QB position for the rest of the year. Nice job young man,very nice job.
AJ Long accomplished more than what Terrel Hunt accomplished over the last 1 ¬Ω seasons. He threw for two touchdowns in the game against the FSU Seminoles. Terry and I have often discussed playing the freshmen if they were fit to play. Well those two TD’s were thrown by a true freshman and caught by another true freshman. Can you imagine what the game could have been if we had Brisley Estime and Ashton Broyld in the game today.
Steve Ishmael‚ÄîIn the first 5 games of the season Ishmael would get maybe 1or2 passes thrown to him. In todays Lester see something that others hadn’t and kept him in the game and made two throws from AJ Long for touchdowns. Why has it taken so long for him to look so good? Can you imagine what it would be like having Steve Ishmael and KJ Williams as receivers in the game at the same time? WOW!!
I feel after today’s game that there is a slight chance that Syracuse makes a bowl game this year. I feel all of the questions asked by the media and fans alike have been answered. Todays game should motivate the team to do their very best for the rest of the season and realize that all is not lost.
In the end Shafer had to make a very hard decision earlier in the week. Let’s all hope Tim Lester was the right man becoming the OC.
Coach Shafer and staff has nothing to be ashamed of here today. The team played hard and if we could have scored a couple TD’s in the first five trips into the redzone ,I believe the out come would have been different. This game was about redemption/respectability. There shouldn’t be any critizism of the players or the team after the game this week. Let’s get behind AJ Long and the team and wish them werel against Wake Forest on Saturday.
Hold our horses fellas. I really really liked AJ’s game, but lets not go too far. To Hunt’s credit, he helped rally the team last yr down the stretch and won a bowl game. Its not fair to say that in a loss, that AJ did more than what Hunt has done in 1 1/2 yrs. Its just not not matter how down folks are on Hunt and how optimisitic everyone(including myself) is on Long.
Like everything, I try to take the logical wait and see approach. I did manage to catch significant parts of this game(amen for the tv at work). And I really like what I see from Long. I will admit that in the spring game, I looked at him as a small qb and wasn’t so sure about him(despite the HS acclaim). He is still pretty small in terms of mass(his listed height is fine by me). But ofcourse this guy is fresh out of HS so he will definitely get his weight up in his time at SU. Its cliche to call every young smallish black qb Russell Wilson, but you have to liken his moxie to that of Wilson. Pretty fired up to be playing. I think that comes from being considered small and having that chip on his shoulder. I don’t want to go too far though because the reaction to Hunt this year is an example of what can happen in the what have you done for me lately world. If Long cannot duplicate or build upon this game, then people will be questioning him as well. Its the nature of the fan.
I said it in another posting, but while I support Hunt(even tweeting very positive get well messages to him), I do believe a guy can lose his job to injury if his replacement performs well enough to project him as a legit starter. It sucks but we have seen it happen in the NFL before(most prominently with Tom Brady). The crazy dynamic here is that AJ is a decently regarded true freshman and was recruited as a possible starter of the future. He has been vocal in his desire to lead the next era of SU football. He has some fellow classmates that he has a good relationship with and would have a few more yrs of development if he is labeled the guy. Because he is a true fresh and the team essentially took away the redshirt, it leans toward Long getting a real legit shot at being the full time starter.
So if Long continues over the next few games to show us that he can lead the offense consistently and the offensive parts start to step up around him, then I’d let him rock out for the the rest of the yr. If he is shaky, and Hunt is reasonably healthy, then I’d let Hunt have the chance to get his gig back. You know whats funny, I think most people outside of the SU fan circle, actually like and respect Hunt as a player MORE than the SU fans. I’ve tweeted Danny Kannell and Mike Felder of bleacher report and neither of them seem to hate Hunt as much as the vocal parts of the fanbase do. At any rate, good luck to AJ. If he can rally the squad and the incoming classes play up to their potential, SU can very well be ACC champ withing 3 yrs. I truly see that. It will take that flash of solid recruiting, luck, and out of their minds coaching to lead the team down a miracle type season when that happens.
Brooklyn SU Football fan
Everyone in attendance at yesterday’s game saw the difference in the game from having Terrel Hunt as QB to having Austin Wilson and AJ Long in at QB. The later moved the ball successfuly up and down the field playing FSU damn close to even.
Total yards SU 412, FSU 482,3rd down conversions SU7-14,FSU 6-10, Passing SU 256 yds,FSU 317 yds and rushing yds. SU 156,FSU 165. Those numbers were put on the board by a red shirt freshman and a true freshman QB against a Heisman winner QB on the National Championship team. Our quarterback play got people excited and the fans got very loud yesterday
Yesterday was a no win situation for Coach Shafer and Syracuse Football. With Terrel Hunt out with injury,if AJ Long continues to play like he did, will be the starting QB for the rest of the year. Shafer has to play Long because by playing him yesterday lost his red shirt season.Remember now Terrel is actually a senior this year and if he graduates,will Shafer let him play one more year? As much as I like Austin Wilson,I think he suffered a concussion yesterday and might be done playing football completely. I don’t think his parents will let him go through what his brother did at Penn St. before being forced to quit the game due to receiving way to many concussions. I can see Mitch Kimble transferring out at the end of the season and wish him the very best at another school. We were questioning why does a team have so many QB’s on the roster? Syracuse at one point had 6 of them,if things work out the way I explained,then it went from 6 QAB’s to maybe 2 if Alin Edouard shows up in january. If I was Coach Shafer I think I would want to recruit a couple more QB’s for 2015.
I’ve often asked whay they don’t use Ashton Broyld at times as a QB. He pllayed one in high school. Why not have him throwing the ball out of the back field once in awhile?
In conclusion if Terrel Hunt is reinstated as the starting QB when he gets well again,after what AJ Long accomplished yesterday,all HELL will break out with the fans. The team looked completely different,maybe just maybe under Tim Lesters tutelage/leadership the identity of the team will change and become more of what they use to be.
I think we are saying some of the same thngs as far as AJ Long going forward. I believe long CAN wn the job via injury and that hunt is not guaranteed to be starter upon his return.All of this is contingent upon how long plays going forward. Where we disagree is the sentiment that a good performance in one game instantly makes you more accomplished than a guy who played well down the stretch of a season and won the mvp of a bowl game. that doesnt compute with me. If you say he has done a better job throwing on the run and getting scores in the passing game this yr then ok..numbers kinda lead that way. Thats the ony issue I have.. The same way I,kept things in perspective after CMich is the same way I will be level headed now. Because if Long looks bad against wake and say Kimbl looks better whats going to be the narrative
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