Syracuse Football: Injuries a rough part of the sport, and they hit SU early

Syracuse football players, coaches and fans alike were simply jazzed up after the Orange opened its 2022 season with a 31-7 thumping of Louisville on the Hill this past Saturday night.

I’ve gone on record in saying that I think the ‘Cuse will go 7-5 this fall, despite a challenging schedule on paper. My Inside The Loud House colleague, Chuck Fiello Jr., is also high on Syracuse football in 2022.

But … and there is always a but … we both prefaced our positive prognostications for the Orange this season by noting that for Syracuse football to succeed, its roster has to stay healthy.

One week into the 2022 term, and the ‘Cuse already has suffered some pretty big-time injuries, which makes me so unbelievably sad for the players involved, but also the entire roster.

On Monday, according to media reports, Syracuse football head coach Dino Babers announced that redshirt senior fullback Chris Elmore (aka, the Rhino) and sophomore linebacker Stefon Thompson are out for the 2022 campaign due to the injuries that they suffered when the team smoked the Cardinals.

Syracuse football has lost two key players in Chris Elmore and Stefon Thompson.

Most importantly, sports are sports, but all of us Orange fans out there are sending positive vibes and love to Chris and Stefon. We wish them speedy recoveries.

Over the weekend, as the ‘Cuse got off to a 1-0 start in 2022 by thoroughly out-playing Louisville, multiple Orange players got at least a little banged up, including Elmore, Thompson, star running back Sean Tucker and outstanding linebacker Marlowe Wax.

Tucker ended up competing in the second half, on his way to nearly 100 yards on the ground and 85 receiving yards. I’m hopeful that Wax is okay.

While I believe that the ‘Cuse has solid depth on its 2022 roster, make no mistake about it, losing Elmore and Thompson for the entire stanza really stings.

Elmore, a versatile player who suits up at fullback but has played on both the offensive and defensive lines for Syracuse football, has had to deal with injuries in the past, too. I feel awful for him.

Thompson, meanwhile, I think was in line to have a terrific 2022 term, as he, Wax and Mikel Jones formed what some national and Atlantic Coast Conference pundits were projecting to be a top-five group at the linebacker positions this season.

Injuries are an unfortunate part of football. And the Orange isn’t the only college squad that will have to deal with injuries throughout the 2022 campaign.

Every squad will. UConn, for example, which hosts Syracuse football this coming Saturday night, already has lost its starting quarterback for the season due to an injury.

My fingers are crossed that the Orange doesn’t have more injuries to contend with in the coming weeks and months, but it probably will. And for a 2022 stanza that started off so promising, I’m really bummed out for Chris, Stefon, the entire Syracuse football roster and all of ‘Cuse Nation.