Syracuse Football Player Rankings (Week 7)

Normally I wouldn’t put a player who didn’t show up in the box score in the weekly power rankings, but Zack did play, and that one play was pretty memorable. Late in the second quarter with Syracuse on an 11 play- 50+ yard drive, Eric Dungey got hurt. The Orange were at the Virginia Tech 28; well within field goal range. Tackled by behind on a scramble, Dungey left the game for a play for what seemed like a right knee injury. He would later return the next drive with a brace on the knee which would stay the rest of the game.

Since it was 3rd & 10 to go on the next play, backup

Zack Mahoney went in at quarterback. He lined up  in the shotgun formation. He looked to the side clearly not paying attention to the center in front of him. Next thing he knows is the ball was snapped and it’s hitting him right off the chest. The ball is loose on the ground and can be recovered by anybody. Luckily, he woke up just in time to dive on it and recover, but for a seven yard loss. That made it a really hard field goal to attempt on the next play, a 53 yard field goal to be exact, on the left hash marks. A field goal Cole Murphy missed because it was slightly blocked. Thus keeping the Orange from being two touchdowns up. Instead the score remained 14-3.

So that leads me to say this: Thanks for nothing Zack. Now I know that might seem harsh, but we can’t afford plays like that if we want to pull it out against heavyweights like Clemson and Florida State. I don’t blame the center too much because it was a routine play. He has to play better, and that had to be recognized for how embarrassing it was. It’s just not acceptable as a backup quarterback to miss a hiked ball because you were looking away. Especially on your first play in relief of the starter who got injured.