It’s clearly far from the ideal scenario if you’re Syracuse, but look at it this way: It can’t get much worse. In the wake of a three-game losing streak, and the offense getting pummeled from fans and media, the Orange will go into the Florida State game without its starting quarterback.
Syracuse will be without Terrel Hunt for 4-6 weeks with a fractured fibula, forcing an unproven signal-caller to take over the reigns of the offense. Hunt injured his leg Friday night against Louisville, and there was concern immediately following the game from George McDonald about Hunt’s future status.
Now, an offense that has been shut down by Maryland, Notre Dame, and Louisville will have to make do against the defending champs with serious inexperience at QB. Syracuse has scored just 108 points in 5 games, which averages out to almost 22 points per. But take out the 40 points outburst at CMU, and the Orange has scored a paltry 68 points in 4 games. Good for just 17 points per game. That’s a lot of stress to place on your defense.
George McDonald has come under heavy fire for his play-calling, and with the change to Tim Lester that may help things. Hunt was not helping matters. The passing attack was stripped down to pre-forward pass levels, SU often making a 7-yard pass as difficult as a Hail Mary.
No matter if it’s a redshirt freshman like Mitch Kimble or Austin Wilson, or a true frosh like A.J. Long, the Orange has picked a hell of a time to try breaking in a slew of new parts on offense.
Posted: Staff
9 responses to “Syracuse Dealt Another Blow, Terrel Hunt Out Injured”
The talk is we may go to QB by committee to replace Hunt. Do any of you think it is wise to burn the redshirt for AJ, the true freshman with 5 games already in the books? If you think the kid can play, why not get him ready in practice and the off season and give him 4 full seasons of play versus spot duty in 7 games? I would play the other two redshirt freshman QB’s first, and only play AJ if these two guys got hurt‚Ķ..‚Ķ‚Ķ
Dr Bill, only reason i can see is if it turns out to be effective, than this coaching staff is playing for their jobs. If AJ turns into some savior for the team then they’re gonna pounce on it as soon as possible not leave it till next year. In all honesty, none of the back ups are ready to do what terrell did, he took a struggling team and put it on his back. I don’t think any of these other players can do that, especially with brolyd still out with injury. It will be an interesting week for sure.
The injury makes me sad because I was in Hunt’s corner. Through all of the criticism, there is one thing no one can question and that’s his heart. Broken fibula…wow. Very gutsy type of player. Not comparing these guys skill wise, but I like the Tebow, Favre, Rothlesberger, college era Leftwich play until I die type of mentality.
It sucks for Hunt, but the team has to have the next man up mentality. Ideally, I’m with Doc in that a redshirt Freshman should get the go ahead. To me if you go with Long, then everyone must be prepared for all the freshman errors and be willing to give Long the reins for the long haul. Meaning if Long starts, then this has to be Long’s show. Otherwise why waste the redshirt. IF that scenario happens, I can see a qb exodus from SU leaving the team with a shortage ofcourse. Hunt technically has another yr of football eligibility but it would take a major major showing from him to get back the reins if Long takes over. I could see Kimble trying his luck out in the Midwest and Wilson finding a home and killing it on the FCS level a la Joe Flacco when he transferred out of Pitt. But all of this is rambling because we haven’t see this season play out.
Wilson to me should be the starter and like with Long, if he impresses, give him the reins(though I still maintain that Hunt wasn’t as bad as everyone thinks). You CAN lose your job due to injury if your replacement proves to be good(ask Bledsoe and others). Again, I was a Hunt supporter, but Wilson has a strong arm and some felt like he’d eventually follow a career trajectory similar to Ryan Nassib. With that said, Tim Lester and G McD have got to craft and then call plays that play up Wilson’s best qualities and the wr have got to find a way to A) hold on to catchable balls, B)beat coverages a little more and C) make plays with coverage on them. I’m looking at any and all of the tall receivers. Those fellas are going to have to go up and get it. Estime isn’t tall but I want to see him do damage in the slot. I still go back to the Texas Bowl where he ran a flawless route(wanna say it was a post) and caught the ball with an all big ten type safety covering him. Jeremiah Kobena and his downfield straight line speed should see this as a chance to work even harder in practice. I want to see the SU offense with Wilson threaten and attack defenses. FSU has the horses no doubt, but play with pride and show them that you can compete. We have some Fla talent, that should be chomping at the bit to knock off the big dawgs.
I wish Terrel well and a speedy recovery. Good luck young man.
Wild Card—Syracuse has a WILD CARD!!!! Everyone knows my thoughts about Terrel as QB. I feel bad that he got hurt and like I said earlier on other posts that by him running the ball 15-25 times a game him getting injured was inevitable.
I also said in those discussions that whomever was the #2 at the time would become the starter and lead the team over the next three years with Mitch Kimble becoming the back up. I think because of the “WILD CARD” coming into play that I will back off from making that prediction a little.
The way I see it is, because of injury Terrel will be out for the remainder of the season and Austin Wilson will be elevated to the starting QB with Mitch Kimble as the backup. AJ Long will remain red-shirted for the year unless there are injuries to the other QB’s. The ‚ÄúWILD CARD‚Äù in this whole mess is the 4* QB Alin Edouard who won’t be on campus until January. If he shows up and is good enough to win the battle for the starting QB,then maybe Wilson goes back to being the backup . OR AJ Long gets promoted to the back up and leaves Wilson and Kimble holding the bag as the odd men out. If that happens then look for Austin Wilson and Mitch Kimble to either switch positions or transfer out from Syracuse University.
One other thought,I wonder if given the chance what John Kinder could have done differently than Terrel Hunt? Just a thought gentlemen,just a thought. Brooklyn SU Football Fan
Wow,I never saw then going to a two QB system for a game. It kind of looks like Mitch Kimble is the odd man out here.
The starting QB on Saturday is going to Austin Wilson,DEPENDING on game situation it could be Kimble or Long going in replacing Wilson during the game.
it appears to me that no matter how good Wilson and Kimble play,the coaches are never going to embrace them the way they did for Hunt. I hope that neither player gets hurt on Saturday. If I was in either one’s shoes,knowing that no matter how hard I played the game and practiced the game,I wasn’t ever going to play QB at Syracuse ,at season’s end I would set with my parents and discuss all the options available to me. I hate to say this but I can see both Austin Wilson and Mitch Kimble transferring out at the end of the season. If that happens it’s going to be one of the biggest mistakes ever made by a coaching staff at Syracuse University. Coach Shafer has to realize that he’s not coaching in the MAC or MID American Conference’s anymore. We’re in the ACC Conference playing Div I football. The decisions he and his staff make will get magnified and scrutinized by the local and national media. I hope he’s strong enough to withstand all the BS that’s headed his way.
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