Photo by: Charles Wainwright
Cuse TV: Shafer Previews Season Finale
11/24/2014 1:31:00 PM | Football
Orange take on Boston College Saturday at 12:30 p.m.
As the Orange prepare to close out its season on Saturday at Boston College, head coach Scott Shafer likes what he sees from a number of his young players.
Against Pitt, 'Cuse freshmen showcased some of their talents against the Panthers, with rookie's serving as the leading receiver (Steve Ishmael) passer (AJ Long) and tackler (Zaire Franklin) as well as Antwan Cordy coming on to intercept a pass and Ervin Phillips rushing for 18 yards on five carries.
"There's some good things," Shafer said. "When you ask guys to step into a situation you're hoping they can be productive even though they're young kids. Stevie Ishmael, we knew we were going to play him this year right from the get go, but probably started to use him even more than we thought we were going to with Ashton Broyld and Brisly Estime being out. I thought Steve had a good day.
"Watching the tape after the fact, I thought AJ had a better day than I thought he did coming off the field. His reads were good, he was going where he was supposed to be going with the ball, now we just need to do a better job improving accuracy and his tempo in his throws. Those were positive things on that side of the ball and I thought Erv Phillips did some things as well.
"On the defensive side, we were really pleased with the was Marquez Hodge was playing, but when he went down with an injury, we knew Zaire was a capable player and seeing 10 tackles at the end of this Pitt game was good to see. Unfortunately we lost Julian Whigham and Corey Winfield at corner within about a five-minute span, so we played Antwan Cordy and he played well. He had four tackles, an interception and almost two interceptions, where he came underneath a slant route and made a nice pass breakup. So even though you have some frustration with all these injuries, it is good to see that we have some freshmen who are playing some productive football here in the ACC."
The Orange will need to keep that productivity going if it hopes to knock off a Boston College team that's coming off a late 20-17 loss to No. 1 Florida State. 'Cuse will have to start by containing Tyler Murphy
"He's done a nice job this year, he's got 10 touchdowns both running and passing," Shafer said. "You see him run the ball well, he's a very good athlete and coach Addazio has done a nice job being creative with ways to let him find his way in really his first year playing.
"They play a lot of tight ends and fullback type guys. They run the ball well with power and counter type schemes, but they also find ways to utilize that athleticism at the quarterback position."
For complete coverage of Syracuse and Syracuse football, follow us on Facebook (Syracuse Orange & Syracuse Football) and Twitter (@Cuse & @CuseFootball). Check out exclusive videos on Orange All-Access and behind-the-scenes pictures on Instagram (cusepics).
Against Pitt, 'Cuse freshmen showcased some of their talents against the Panthers, with rookie's serving as the leading receiver (Steve Ishmael) passer (AJ Long) and tackler (Zaire Franklin) as well as Antwan Cordy coming on to intercept a pass and Ervin Phillips rushing for 18 yards on five carries.
"There's some good things," Shafer said. "When you ask guys to step into a situation you're hoping they can be productive even though they're young kids. Stevie Ishmael, we knew we were going to play him this year right from the get go, but probably started to use him even more than we thought we were going to with Ashton Broyld and Brisly Estime being out. I thought Steve had a good day.
"Watching the tape after the fact, I thought AJ had a better day than I thought he did coming off the field. His reads were good, he was going where he was supposed to be going with the ball, now we just need to do a better job improving accuracy and his tempo in his throws. Those were positive things on that side of the ball and I thought Erv Phillips did some things as well.
"On the defensive side, we were really pleased with the was Marquez Hodge was playing, but when he went down with an injury, we knew Zaire was a capable player and seeing 10 tackles at the end of this Pitt game was good to see. Unfortunately we lost Julian Whigham and Corey Winfield at corner within about a five-minute span, so we played Antwan Cordy and he played well. He had four tackles, an interception and almost two interceptions, where he came underneath a slant route and made a nice pass breakup. So even though you have some frustration with all these injuries, it is good to see that we have some freshmen who are playing some productive football here in the ACC."
The Orange will need to keep that productivity going if it hopes to knock off a Boston College team that's coming off a late 20-17 loss to No. 1 Florida State. 'Cuse will have to start by containing Tyler Murphy
"He's done a nice job this year, he's got 10 touchdowns both running and passing," Shafer said. "You see him run the ball well, he's a very good athlete and coach Addazio has done a nice job being creative with ways to let him find his way in really his first year playing.
"They play a lot of tight ends and fullback type guys. They run the ball well with power and counter type schemes, but they also find ways to utilize that athleticism at the quarterback position."
For complete coverage of Syracuse and Syracuse football, follow us on Facebook (Syracuse Orange & Syracuse Football) and Twitter (@Cuse & @CuseFootball). Check out exclusive videos on Orange All-Access and behind-the-scenes pictures on Instagram (cusepics).
Players Mentioned
WR
/ Football
CB
/ Football
WR
/ Football
LB
/ Football
WR
/ Football
CB
/ Football
CB
/ FootballBuilt in the 315 | Episode 1: The Foundation
Friday, March 06
Built in the 315 | Episode 1
Friday, March 06
John Wildhack Interview
Wednesday, February 11
Calvin Russell Interview
Tuesday, January 13
