Syracuse Football Fanfest Observations

On Saturday, August 15th was Syracuse football’s 2015 Fanfest scrimmage. From what it appeared there were a lot of players rotating around throughout the scrimmage. It started with special teams work and gradually moved into a scrimmage-like play. The first-team offense went against the second-team defense and vice-versa.

Player to Watch: Though there are several stars on the Syracuse football roster, a freshman walk-on is proving himself as running back. Notably the shortest on the team at 5’6″, Jordan Hill has impressed coaches at practice. With a brother that plays football for Princeton, Hill himself came to Syracuse for academics and was good enough to join the football team. Hill has been impressing coaches because of his speed and hustle. During Fanfest he had the longest run for over 50 yards. Prince Tyson-Gully was the starting running back the whole time he attended the university, which leaves the position up for grabs. Redshirt juniors Devante McFarlane and George Morris III are the projected first and second string. Both have not seen much time on the field so there ability os questionable, which could lead to someone like Hill starting.

Sep 27, 2014; East Rutherford, NJ, USA; Syracuse Orange linebacker Marqez Hodge (33) makes a tackle on Notre Dame Fighting Irish running back Greg Bryant (1) during the third quarter at MetLife Stadium. Notre Dame defeated Syracuse 31-15. Mandatory Credit: Rich Barnes-USA TODAY Sports

Practice Highlights and Potential Break-Outs: The linebackers seems to be strong and explosive, being an extremely strong part of the Orange’s defense. Parris Bennett and Marqez Hodge looked strong on the sides and middle linebacker Zaire Franklin looked sharp as well. All three players excelled last season and appeared to be breaking up plays and coming in hard on the blitz during Saturday’s practice scrimmage.

Freshman defensive tackle Steven Clark, a freshman who has been impressing coaches all pre-season, was receiving reps with the first-team defense. Last years freshman standout Steve Ishmael was outstanding running routes and seemed to be Hunt’s favorite to pass to. Another freshman, running back Jordan Fredericks was very impressive as well, scoring and showing off speed. For the starting position it could potentially be him or fellow classmate Jordan Hill.

The offensive line carries three redshirt seniors that all have experience and could really lead the young guns next to them on the line. This includes converted center Rob Trudo, left guard Nick Robinson, and left tackle Ivan Foy. never did the offensive line have a false start and just seemed to struggle with allowing the linebackers to break through.

Defense looks stronger then the offense: Rumored is that offensive coordinator did not have his guys in full swing on Saturday so the defense seemed to outshine the offense. Tight end is still questionable with two redshirt juniors, Josh Parris and Cam MacPherson working with first and second teams. As I said before the linebackers seemed to be getting through the line, and cornerback’s Wayne Morgan and Julian Whigam were hitting strong and slapping down passes. Rodney Williams also had interceptions off of the third and fourth string quarterbacks Wilson and Dungey.

Projected Starters: (Projections and second-strings found here.)

Offense:

Quarterback – #10 Terrel Hunt
Running back- #29 Devante McFarlane
Hybrid back- #3 Ervin Philips
Wide receiver- #8 Steve Ishmael
Wide receiver- #82 Alvin Cornelius
Tight end- #89 Josh Parris
Left tackle- #72 Ivan Foy
Left guard- #68 Nick Robinson
Center- #55 Rob Trudo
Right guard- #59 Aaron Roberts
Right tackle- #57 Omari Palmer

Defense:

Defensive end- #51 Donnie Simmons 6-2 264 rSr
Nose tackle- #52 Kayton Samuels
Defensive tackle- #50 John Raymon
Defensive end- #13 Ron Thompson
Strong-side linebacker- #30 Parris Bennett
Middle linebacker- #4 Zaire Franklin
Weak-side linebacker- #33 Marqez Hodge
Cornerback- #2 Wayne Morgan
Strong safety- #8 Antwan Cordy
Free safety- #6 Rodney Williams
Cornerback- #1 Julian Whigham

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