Injuries Prevalent as SU Prepares to Face Wake Forest

As the Syracuse football team prepares to face a considerably less threatening opponent in Wake Forest, injuries are mounting on the offensive side of the ball that can potentially make this game a disaster.

With dual-threat quarterback Terrel Hunt already injured with a broken fibula that will cost him 4-6 weeks, backup Austin Wilson didn’t ease the pain, going down with his own upper body injury. The signal-calling duty will now fall to freshman A.J. Long, who was announced as the starter Wednesday.

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Long is kind of a prophet, NunesMagician.com points out. Earlier this year he predicted his fate that he would eventually get an opportunity to perform despite a small physical build.

Both center John Miller and wide receiver Ben Lewis didn’t finish Saturday’s game against Florida State, and their statuses for Saturday are uncertain.

“Both of those young men are working diligently to try to get themselves feeling good so they can go out there against Wake Forest,” SU head coach Scott Shafer said earlier this week.

Redshirt junior tackle Ivan Foy is also rehabbing from two lower-body injuries, Shafer said Wednesday. The 290-pound stud exited the Notre Dame game after rigorously working to improve his disappointing grades over the summer.

Sep 20, 2014; Syracuse, NY, USA; Syracuse Orange offensive tackle Ivan Foy (72) on the sidelines during the third quarter of a game against the Maryland Terrapins at the Carrier Dome. Maryland won the game 34-20. Mandatory Credit: Mark Konezny-USA TODAY Sports

“It’s really a shame because he was playing extremely well,” Shafer said. “He was really becoming the type of right tackle who we thought could be a very good player for this year and the following year.”

Shafer also added that the team is taking the rehab week-by-week to determine if For is healthy.

“I would rather not be playing all these young guys if we were a little bit more healthy,” Shafer said Wednesday.

But Shafer doesn’t have that option now following the surplus of abrupt departures from the football team. Many seem to believe that by limiting the hitting in practice these injuries will not happen, but Orange stars like Durrell Eskridge and Cameron Lynch think differently.

“It’s the second half of the season. We have a lot of injuries going on, so we don’t really want to be out there crash and crazy,” Eskridge said, “but we still do a lot of hitting to keep our momentum going. You can never get away from that, or then you’ll get a little soft.”

Sep 20, 2014; Syracuse, NY, USA; Syracuse Orange safety Durell Eskridge (3) and nose tackles Wayne Williams (75) and Eric Crume (52) enter the field through a cloud of smoke prior to a game against the Maryland Terrapins at the Carrier Dome. Maryland won the game 34-20. Mandatory Credit: Mark Konezny-USA TODAY Sports

“Coach Shafer is hard-nosed. Coach Bullough is hard-nosed. He’s not going to let us get away from it even if we wanted to, but we wouldn’t want to, so we still hit a good amount to keep our bodies ready for war.”

However, the team will still try to limit the full-contact, aggressive hits in practice. Syracuse.com reports that Lynch said the team had a few sessions of live hitting on Tuesday but plans to ramp it down later in the week, transitioning into more of a “thud” style, in which players are wrapped up but not taken to the ground.