2015 Football Season Preview

t h e i n de p e n de n t s t u de n t n e w s pa p e r of s y r ac u s e , n e w yor k

20 1 5 FO OTBA LL G U I D E

FRESH SLATE

the daily orange football guide 2015

2

t h e i n de p e n de n t s t u de n t n e w s pa p e r of s y r a c u s e , n e w yor k

Mara Corbett

Dear Readers,

EDITOR IN CHIEF

Brett Samuels MANAGING EDITOR

86

Sports Editor Presentation Director Photo Editor Web Editor Social Media Producer Multimedia Director Web Developer Asst. Sports Editor Asst. Sports Editor Asst. Photo Editor Asst. Photo Editor Design Editor Asst. Copy Editor Asst. Copy Editor Asst. Sports Web Editor

Sam Blum Chloe Meister Logan Reidsma Jesse Dougherty Laina Pisano Leslie Edwards Brendan Winter Connor Grossman Matt Schneidman Chase Guttman Moriah Ratner Colleen Simms Chris Libonati Paul Schwedelson Sam Fortier

General Manager IT Manager IT Support Business Assistant

Christopher Russo Maxwell Burggraf Tech Geekery Tim Bennett

Web Programmer Advertising Manager Advertising Representate Advertising Representative Advertising Representative Advertising Assistant

Advertising Assistant

Advertising Assistant Digital Sales Special Events Coordinator

Tyler Rand Lucy Sutphin David Baker Gonzalo Garcia Sarah Cookson Lauren Sinatra Lucy Sutphin Manuel Garcia

It's that time of year again. Our 2015 football preview provides a great inside look on the previous hurdles and forward-thinking goals of four of Syracuse's senior contributors. We'll delve into the recovery process and offseason regimen of quarterback Terrel Hunt. We'll show the injury struggles and perseverance of defensive lineman Luke Arciniega, as well as the maturation process of offensive lineman Ivan Foy and cornerback Julian Whigham. We also dive into stories from around the conference and the country, as well as look at the key stats for Syracuse football heading into the new season.

Thanks for reading, Sam Blum, Sports Editor Cover photo by Logan Reidsma | Photo editor

JJ House Angela Anastasi

Special Sections Coordinator Caroline Mahony Marketing Assistant Yuqi Zhou Advertising Design Manager Alexandra Perle Advertising Designer Alex Perle Advertising Designer Andrew Maldonado Advertising Designer Kerri Nash Advertising Copywriter Emma Melamed Circulation Manager

Charles Plumpton

Student Circulation Manager

Michael Rempter

c on tac t Editor@dailyorange.com News@dailyorange.com Pulp@dailyorange.com Sports@dailyorange.com

EDITORIAL 315 443 9798 BUSINESS 315 443 2315

Opinion@dailyorange.com

GENERAL FAX 315 443 3689

Photo@dailyorange.com

ADVERTISING 315 443 9794

Ads@dailyorange.com The Daily Orange is published weekdays during the Syracuse University academic year by The Daily Orange Corp., 744 Ostrom Ave., Syracuse, NY 13210. All contents Copyright 2015 by The Daily Orange Corp. and may not be reprinted without the expressed written permission of the editor in chief. The Daily Orange is distributed on and around campus with the first two copies complimentary. Each additional copy costs $1. The Daily Orange is in no way a subsidy or associated with Syracuse University.

All contents Š 2015 The Daily Orange Corporation

the daily orange football guide 2015

3

CLEAR VISION 12

54.2%

Interceptions vs.

Power Conference opponents

of Hunt’s touchdowns have come from rushing

3

10TH

Throwing TDs vs Power Conference opponents

Hunt’s ranking in all time SU history with 2,621 passing yards

TERREL HUNT

Hunt grows more comfortable in leadership role following lost season as he enters his final shot as Syracuse’s quarterback

4

staff photographer

T

AKE AWAY THE FANS. Take away the media. Take away the pressure. Terrel Hunt spent the summer on the Syracuse practice fields testing his teammates.

The only eyes watching were his, trying

to get everyone else to think the way he thought.

3

2

1

3

4 201

0

“Run a seam route,” he’d instruct, knowing the defense was positioned to ensure it wouldn’t work. He’d set his receivers up to fail, but hope they’d adjust their route and break off quicker so he could feed them the ball.

When Hunt lined up the offense, he told receiver Steve Ishmael to call out the type of defense they were opposing. Usually Ishmael was right, but when he was wrong, Hunt wouldn’t say a word, instead letting the failure breed success in the future.

Hunt knows how to get the most out of his teammates. He knows that if he wants to call out Ron Thompson, he better do it with no one else in earshot. He knows that with other

see hunt page 4

6

6

5

4

3

2

1

0

4

4.7

201

AVG. YARDS PER RUSH

5

5.6

6.8

201

Photo by David Salanitri 6

7

3

sports editor

players, being honest in front of everyone makes them motivated to work even harder.

“I always want them to think they can talk to me about anything, they can tell me, ’T-Hunt, you not doing well.’ But nobody ever has to tell me that, because I do my job,” Hunt said “…Nobody ever gets on my case because I don’t allow them to…If I’m doing more than you, you can’t say anything to me.”

In 2014, Hunt wasn’t the quarterback and leader he’s hoping to establish himself as in 2015. In the first half of the season’s first game, he was ejected for punching a Villanova defender in the helmet. Four games later, in the midst of a three-game losing streak, Hunt suffered a season-ending injury when he fractured the fibula in his right leg.

The expectations placed on him now are similar to the one’s he had entering last year’s lost season. But now he’s more equipped to handle them. After struggling to watch Syracuse lose six of its final seven games from the sideline, the Orange’s fifthyear senior quarterback has reinvented himself heading into his final season.

201

Text by Sam Blum

AVG. YARDS PER PASS

7

the daily orange football guide 2015

4

from page 3

hunt

“I think any time a young man at that position grows confident in his playing abilities, his ability to influence others on the team, it’s a maturation that’s exciting to see,” SU head coach Scott Shafer said. “He’s owned it. He’s embraced it.”

Every day after his injury Hunt would receive a call from his grandmother, Eunice Semple. Every time his message to her would be the same. “I’m OK. I’m OK.” Hunt didn’t want to open up, Semple said, but she knew he was hurting.

She knew that even when Hunt had the smallest of injuries, his late mother, Katrina, treated it like a catastrophe. A small paper cut would be bandaged up like he was seriously bleeding. As a child, Semple

I THINK ANY TIME A YOUNG MAN AT THAT POSITION GROWS CONFIDENT IN HIS PLAYING ABILITIES, HIS ABILITY TO INFLUENCE OTHERS ON THE TEAM, IT’S A MATURATION THAT’S EXCITING TO SEE. HE’S OWNED IT. HE’S EMBRACED IT. Scott Shafer su head coach

said, Hunt readily expressed his emotions.

Now facing the first significant injury of his life, he closed himself off.

“Terrel never really showed his feelings ever since his mother passed,” Semple said. “Whatever happens, ‘It’s OK. I’m alright. I can do it.’

But he never talked about his feelings. I felt like he didn’t want me to worry.”

When Hunt was a child and had a problem, he’d sit on Semple’s lap and put his head onto her shoulder and tell her what was wrong. The first time he came home following his injury, he

TERREL HUNT was unable to return from a fractured right fibula last season. He spent his offseason preparing to become more of a pocket passer despite the majority of his career touchdowns coming on the run. spencer bodian staff photographer

saw his grandmother, sat down next to her and put his head onto her shoulder.

At home, the talk of Hunt’s injury — aside from routine physical therapy sessions — was few and far between. Valencia Hunt, his guardian since Hunt was 14, said since everyone else was asking him about his injury, she steered clear of the topic.

Ben Lewis, his roommate and teammate, didn’t want to say Hunt was disappointed by the circumstances. But he remembered Hunt fruitlessly hoping that if the team played well

enough to make a bowl game, he’d make his triumphant return in December.

Hunt didn’t want to talk about what he’d been through. He wanted to move past it.

“That’s always the conversation with him,” Valenica Hunt said. “No matter what it is, it’s just, let’s move forward. Let’s move forward.

Deal with where you are, what you have to do with it, let’s move forward.”

Now with a new season, and a new — albeit final — chance to prove himself as a quarterback, he intends to come back as a different one

than he was before.

He tried losing weight in an effort to become more of a pocket passer. He doesn’t want to risk getting injured again. He’s always been a natural runner — 13 of his 24 career touchdowns have come using his legs — but taking that risk is what hurt him in the first place.

He spent a summer with renowned quarterback coach George Whitfield, who would take a broom and force Hunt to evade the bristles as he swept it back and forth near his feet. It was one of many drills to help him become more comfortable in his element, by taking him out of it.

During the few hours he didn’t spend working with teammates in Syracuse over the summer, he worked on his visuals. Hunt asked graduate assistant Joe Furco to test him on different coverages and fronts.

“He’s done a good job of just communicating in the huddle,” offensive coordinator Tim Lester said. “…All those guys, they need to be another coach out there. He’s done a good job of that.”

Hunt knows Lester won’t get upset at him as long as he has a reason for everything. It’s not always a good reason, Lester says, but at least having one can help correct the process.

Everything Hunt has done and continues to do leading up to the season has a purpose. It’s a type of leadership that even he admits he didn’t bring to the table as the starter last season.

“10 cent” he’ll yell at his receivers when they mess up on a route or drop a ball, taxing them for the mistake. “10 cent,” they’ll yell back at him for his own bad pass.

He’s holding them, and himself accountable.

He’s showing just how much every penny and every step really matters to him, even when no one else is watching.

“I really don’t care what anybody says. The media can write what they write. The fans can say what they say,” Hunt said. “But my teammates believe in me. And they know that I believe in them. It really doesn’t matter what’s being said. I feel like I got way better. I got smarter.” sblum@syr.edu @SamBlum3

the daily orange football guide 2015

FATHER TIME

Luke Arciniega graduated from high school in 2010, and has improbably found stability at 23

LUKE ARCINIEGA Text by Jesse Dougherty web editor

Photo by David Salanitri staff photographer

A

LL SPRING, LUKE ARCINIEGA WAS PREPARING for a season that could have never come.

He attacked a switch to defensive end with abandon, marrying himself to his playbook while reshaping a decade of linebacker training. He added muscle in the weight room. Then more muscle. A bag of protein sat next to his bed in his University Village apartment. Another in the kitchen. Everything geared toward a football career that may have finally slipped through his fingers.

Injuries had run Arciniega’s eligibility dry and there was a chance he’d played his last college game against Louisville on Oct. 3, 2014. Then he was in Syracuse’s athletic compliance office one afternoon last March and a staff member congratulated him.

“Wait, did I just ruin it?” they asked.

“I don’t know, what did you ruin?” Arciniega answered.

Soon Arciniega learned that, after months of hoping and waiting, he’d been granted two additional years of eligibility from the NCAA. He immediately called his parents, sister and girlfriend. When he got back to his apartment he joked to his roommate, former SU linebacker Josh Kirkland, that he’d be at Syracuse long enough to get a Ph.D. “No way,” Kirkland said to him. “You were only expecting to get one year back.”

If football has taught Arciniega anything, it’s to steer clear of firm expectations. His Division I career was supposed to start in 2010 at the University of Nevada, a 20-minute drive from his hometown of Spanish Springs, but he was medically disqualified for head injuries after sustaining a concussion in the first week of training camp. What followed was a jagged path to Syracuse, including three semesters away from football, a year at Sierra (California) College and a series of injuries that have hampered him in two seasons with the Orange.

Now he’s found stability as a 23-year-old junior defensive end, and one of Syracuse’s four captains, five years after graduating see arciniega page 6

5

HIGH FIVE Defensive end Luke Arciniega wears the No. 5, but some significant tidbits from his recent football career have meaning with the number as well.

1

All five of the upperclassmen on the defensive line for Syracuse are at least two months younger than Arciniega, who is 23.

2 3

It was in the fifth game of Syracuse's 2014 season, at home against Louisville, that Arciniega suffered another foot injury that sidelined him for the rest of the year.

It's been five years since Arciniega graduated from Spanish Springs High School, and he's been to three colleges in that time.

Arciniega's number at 4 Luke Syracuse, Sierra College and Spanish Springs High School.

5

On Aug. 5, Arciniega and his girlfriend Rachel found out that Rachel is pregnant with a boy.

5

the daily orange football guide 2015

6

from page 5

arciniega high school with two years left to play.

“You have to take advantage of being able to play while you can,” Arciniega said. “It’s not going to be around forever.”

Joe Imelli was sitting at his desk in the physical education office at Shaw (Nevada) Middle School when a scrawny seventh grader with flowing hair walked in. The kid introduced himself as Luke Arciniega and Imelli shook his extended hand. Imelli could see the physical outline of a football player but it was only a blank canvas, untouched by weights or Arciniega’s eventual growth spurt.

YOU HAVE TO TAKE ADVANTAGE OF BEING ABLE TO PLAY WHILE YOU CAN. IT’S NOT GOING TO BE AROUND FOREVER. Luke Arciniega su defensive end

In the next six years, the scrawny seventh grader grew into the centerpiece of an impenetrable defense. He drew college interest by his junior season and Spanish Springs shifted Arciniega to middle linebacker before his senior year. The Nevada coaches regularly made the short drive to see him play. When they offered a scholarship, Arciniega jumped to play for the team he grew up watching.

He was around 210 pounds after joining Nevada’s Class of 2010, and they told him they wanted him to be between 240 and 250 when he got to campus. Arciniega went to his mom Nancy’s pizza shop, Manny & Olga’s, every day for lunch and stomached pizza, wings and fries. The customers who came in and out told him they were excited to see him play for the hometown team.

But then came an unforgettable hit during a forgettable training camp play. A “misunderstanding” with the Nevada coaches about Arciniega’s concussion and concussion history led him to leave the team and sport all at once.

“One thing I do know is that they made a mistake,” said Lawrence Quadrio, who was Arciniega’s defensive coordinator at Spanish Springs. “However it went down, I have no problem saying it on the record that Nevada made a mistake.”

To keep his scholarship, Arciniega took an internship with the Nevada athletic department. With Arciniega standing on the sidelines, not in pads or a uniform, now-San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick led the Wolf Pack to a 13-1 record including a Western Athletic Conference championship, a win over Boston College in the Fight Hunger Bowl and a No. 11 national ranking at season’s end.

Jeremiah Green, then a sophomore linebacker and Arciniega’s roommate, would come home from practice most nights to find Arciniega laying on his dorm-room bed lamenting his situation.

“I just want to play, that’s it,” Arciniega said to Green one night.

“Well right now you can’t,” Green recalls telling him. “You just need to focus on how you can get better, and you can’t let one person tell you that you can’t play.”

In time, Arciniega listened. He added close to 40 pounds of muscle in the weight room, sought

a second medical opinion and moved an hour west to Rocklin, California after he was cleared.

He revived his career in a stadium that held just 1,500 fans, where his play with the Sierra Wolverines drew interest from a handful of power-five programs. After one junior college season, he committed to play linebacker for Syracuse.

“I think that once it wasn’t there for him he felt something,” Brice Anderson, Arciniega’s high school linebackers coach, said. “I think he really realized how much he missed it. And he was so excited to get the opportunity at Syracuse.”

Arciniega collected 18 total tackles while playing in all of SU’s 13 games in 2013. But hip problems, that had lingered since the start of his football career, became debilitating and he had one of his hips replaced days after Syracuse beat Minnesota in the Texas Bowl.

With a replacement for his other hip scheduled a month and a half after the first, Arciniega again found himself at the intersection of love and frustration. He got lunch with Quadrio, like he always did, at Bully’s Sports Bar and Grill in Spanish Springs. Sitting across from Quadrio was the linebacker who once blitzed on a screen pass and chased a speedy running back for 60 yards before tackling him at the doorstep of the end zone. It was one of the best defensive players he’d ever coached. It was still Luke Arciniega, even if there was heavy doubt in his eyes.

“I don’t think I’ll be able to finish this off like I wanted to,” Quadrio remembers Arciniega saying to him.

Instead, Arciniega underwent the second replacement and readied himself for the next year. Then he suffered a foot injury against Maryland, three weeks into the season. A quick rehab had him back two games later against Louisville in the Carrier Dome, but he re-injured his foot and sat out the Orange’s final seven games to avoid surgery.

While Arciniega made yet another comeback, his future was completely out of his hands. Quadrio had always urged Arciniega to apply for an additional year of eligibility for his lost freshman season at Nevada, and missing most of 2014 pushed him to do so.

When the NCAA surprised Arciniega by giving him two years — for his first year at Nevada and his most recent season with SU — he was knee deep in his transition to defensive end. During training camp, SU defensive line coach Tim Daoust monitored his progress daily and said he’s ready to stop the run and close to being a viable pass rusher for a defensive line that graduated three starters after last season.

Syracuse’s other defensive linemen, all younger than Arciniega, call the 23-year-old “Grandpa” and “Dad” to remind him of his winding road to now. Coincidentally, he and his girlfriend Rachel found out on Aug. 5 that she’s pregnant with a boy and is due in January.

“I hope he can look back at my film,” Arciniega said. “And whatever he wants to do, whether it’s sports or not, I hope he’ll be able to take something from it.”

One day, Arciniega’s son will hear stories about his father. He’ll hear about the fear he inspired in opponents at Spanish Springs. He’ll hear about what happened at Nevada. The year and a half away from football. The resurgence.

The injuries. The rehabs. The switch to defensive end and whatever happens next.

And then he’ll know that his dad never gave up. jcdoug01@syr.edu | @dougherty_jesse

the daily orange football guide 2015

7

CHANGING STANCE Fifth-year senior tackle Foy prepares for position switch after learning from past obstacles

IVAN FOY Text by Matt Schneidman asst. sports editor

Photo by David Salanitri staff photographer

P

AOLA FOY WAS GETTING READY to leave the house when her mother called in a panic.

It was Winter Break in 2013, just after Paola’s older brother and Syracuse’s starting right tackle, Ivan, helped the Orange to a 21-17 win over Minnesota in the Texas Bowl.

He was sleeping in bed, so Paola woke him up, confused why her mother feared for his future after getting off the phone with SU head coach Scott Shafer. But Ivan knew. He tried explaining to his sister that he’d been suspended from all team activities for failing a class in the fall, but words wouldn’t come out. He stayed in the same spot in bed for six hours, looking up at the ceiling, wondering if he’d ever play football for Syracuse again.

“I wanted to die,” Foy’s mother, Ramona Santana said. “When the coach called me and told me that, I wanted to die.”

Foy openly talks about his bumps in the road.

The immaturity as a freshman third-stringer. The academic struggles that threatened his future at Syracuse. The six-game absence last season because of a right knee injury that deflated his morale.

They’ve helped mold the fifth-year senior working to perfect the intricacies of a new position after switching from right tackle to left. It’s a challenge belittled by past obstacles, but one that could validate Foy’s career in the last chance to do so.

“I don’t ever want to come off the field and say, ‘Damn, I wish I would’ve had this block and maybe we would’ve scored,’” Foy said. “Nah, I need to get everything done this year.”

••• Foy doesn’t hesitate for a second when admitting that his freshman self was immature.

He went through the motions because he felt he wasn’t getting attention. Andrew Tiller, a senior offensive lineman at the time, said Foy cut class and didn’t listen. The way Foy says

this year’s freshmen are “so smart and so into things” was absent with him four years ago.

“I knew that I wasn’t playing so I kind of laid back and kind of tried to enjoy college freshman year and not so much focus on football,” Foy said.

The only reason people were patient was because they knew Foy had intangibles to complement a maturity if it ever developed, Tiller said.

But until then, a 6-foot-4, 318-pound redshirt stood on the sideline with untapped potential.

it can be if you don’t get your sh*t together well.”

He had to pass all his classes, get above a 2.0 grade point average, stay in shape and then, if

••• When Ivan Foy Sr. hung up with Shafer – Foy left it to the head coach to tell his parents – Paola broke down in tears.

“Oh my god,” Foy Sr. now says with a chuckle about the moment. “…I don’t even know how to describe it.”

Before Foy began his path back, Tiller had a stern message: “It’s not the end of the road yet, but

Ivan Foy

I JUST WANT TO BE THAT GUY THAT THE O-LINE LEANS ON, LIKE YOU WANT TO RUN IT TO MY SIDE TO HAVE PRESSURE ON ME.” su left tackle

he maintained all three, could rejoin the team if Shafer wanted.

Foy couldn’t be around the team in Manley Field House during spring ball. He estimates 95 percent of his time is spent with football players, so he felt uncomfortable not having them around.

When they were, he wouldn’t talk about football.

In the meantime, he watched TV in his room, played video games or shot hoops at Archbold Gymnasium. After being out of his element for an entire semester, he got a call from his advisor in the Falk College, who told Foy he’d met the academic requirements to return.

He was lying in the same spot in his bed, this time tearing up.

••• Foy ran down the MetLife Stadium turf against Notre Dame last September, looking to block a safety as the Orange ran an outside zone to the left.

“And out of nowhere, pop pop.”

Doctors gave him two options: end his season with surgery or rehab on his own and possibly play again. Foy chose the latter and began an eightweek stretch that included 2-3 rehab sessions per see foy page 10

8

THIRD DOWN Shafer enters 3rd season looking to rebound from miserable 3-9 year

SHAFE RECO 15

123-

SCOTT SHAFER walks with his head down during Syracuse’s 27-10 loss to Duke on Nov. 8, 2014. After the game, Shafer pounded the podium while answering a question about whether the season was a disappointment. The loss dropped Syracuse to 3-7 on the season and 1-4 in Atlantic Coast Conference play. Shafer had said the team’s goal was to win eight games in 2014, but SU fell well short.

margaret lin staff photographer

I ENVISION AN OFFENSE WITH A LOT OF JUICE. A LOT OF ORANGE JUICE … I WANT THIS TEAM TO BE AN OFFENSIVE UNIT THAT WHEN YOU COME AND WATCH THEM PLAY YOU BETTER NOT TAKE A BATHROOM BREAK. CAUSE THERE’S GONNA BE A LOT OF JUICE ON THE FIELD. I ENVISION AN ORANGE CRUSH DEFENSE THAT MAKES THEIR OPPONENT’S FAMILIES CRINGE WHEN THEIR CHILD’S TEAM COMES TO PLAY US.

STAR WATCH In Shafer’s two recruiting classes, he’s brought in twice as many three-star recruits as ones with none or two stars, according to Scout.com.

34 2014-2015 RECRUITS

2 17

1 Scott Shafer

3-STAR RECRUITS

at opening press conference

4-STAR RECRUITS LESS THAN 3 STARS

SCOTT SHAFER, seen here coaching against Clemson in 2013, screamed an obscenity at Tigers he ACC competition. Similar frustration reigned throughout the 2014 season, as the Orange stumbled to

JANUARY 9, 2013

JANUARY 11, 2013

OCT. 5, 2013

DEC. 27, 2013

Scott Shafer is officially named the head coach at Syracuse, replacing Doug Marrone after he was hired as the head coach of the Buffalo Bills.

Shafer had been the defensive coordinator at SU since 2008, where he inherited a defense that allowed 32.7 points per game before his arrival, and improved it to one that was ranked No. 7 in the nation in 2010. Shafer hired Chuck Bullough to replace him in that role.

Shafer is officially introduced to the Syracuse media. He breaks out his "hard-nosed" theme and expressed his desire to have a Carrier Dome "that shakes and intimidates and when we get the opposition in the Loud House, we lock the doors behind them and we don’t let them out for 60 minutes or more. Whatever it takes, they are locked in the Dome and aren’t allowed to escape.” 1

With Syracuse down 28 in the first half to No. 3-ranked Clemson, the Tigers went for the conversion on 4th down instead of attempting a field goal. Shafer screamed an obscenity across the field in the direction of Clemson head coach Dabo Swinney. Shafer later apologized for the outburst. The loss dropped Syracuse's record to 2-3.

After squeaking into a bowl game with a last-second touchdown pass from Terrel Hunt to Josh Parris, Shafer leads Syracuse to a 21-17 win over Minnesota in the Texas Bowl.

Brisly Estime's 70-yard punt return helped set the Orange up for its second bowl win in two years.

9

WINS

-156-1

LOSSES

Scott Shafer’s all-time career coaching record since he became a graduate assistant at Indiana University in 1991. He’s been a coach every year since.

YARD SALE Shafer helped bring SU’s defense to prominence, leading the unit to allow 114 fewer yards per game in 2010 than in 2008. But the offense has declined since Shafer took over at the helm of the Orange.

YARDS ALLOWED PER GAME

OFFENSIVE YARDS PER GAME

415

2012

After a 7-6 season in 2013 that included a Texas Bowl win over Minnesota, Shafer led the Orange to only a 3-9 record. This year, he’ll try and flip the script.

WELL, BECAUSE WE DIDN’T REACH OUR GOAL. THOSE QUESTIONS ARE HILARIOUS TO ME. I DON’T KNOW WHERE YOU COME UP WITH THOSE. WE WANTED TO WIN EIGHT, AND WE DIDN’T WIN EIGHT SO WE’RE DISAPPOINTED. OK, SO INTERESTING QUESTION RIGHT THERE.

476

2014

ER’S ORD

BOUNCE BACK

2010 2008

10

301

330

Scott Shafer after loss to duke 3

BEFORE SHAFER BECAME DEFENSIVE COORDINATOR

BEFORE SHAFER BECAME HEAD COACH

SECOND YEAR SHAFER WAS DEFENSIVE COORDINATOR

NOW

100TH IN NATION

7 TH

IN NATION

18TH

IN NATION

116TH IN NATION

NO DESPAIR. I’M THE LUCKIEST GUY ALIVE. I SEE ISIS IS OUT THERE CUTTING PEOPLE’S HEADS OFF. THE REAL WORLD’S GOT SOME MAJOR PROBLEMS. SOME MAJOR PROBLEMS. AND WE’RE JUST SO DOGGONE LUCKY TO BE COACHING AND PLAYING A SPORT AND BEING CRITICIZED FOR NOT GETTING A CALL MADE WITH A COUPLE SECONDS LEFT IN THE GAME, OR BEING CRITICIZED FOR NOT CATCHING A DEAD PIG WITH AIR IN IT. 2 Scott Shafer after loss to louisville

ead coach Dabo Swinney during the game, which was a blowout loss in one of SU’s first tests against top o a 3-9 finish and lost nine of its last 10 games on the season. sam maller staff photographer

SCOTT SHAFER gives high fives to the fans at Fan Fest during Training Camp.

Shafer is going into his third season at SU. david salanitri staff photographer

OCT. 3, 2014

OCT. 4, 2014

NOV. 8, 2014

MARCH 31, 2015

Following a blowout loss to Louisville, Shafer tries to contextualize the importance of football by referring to world events at the time, including ISIS killings. The comments made national headlines. 2

Shafer promotes Tim Lester to offensive coordinator, one day after a 28-6 drubbing from Louisville just five games into Syracuse's season. George McDonald, unhappy with his demotion to wide receivers coach, said if he knew he would only have 18 games to be offensive coordinator, that he would have stayed at Arkansas — the job he left for the higher position at SU.

SU loses to No. 22 Duke, 27-10, to fall to 3-7 on the season. When asked by a reporter if he thought Syracuse's season was a disappointment, Shafer slammed and broke the podium, upset with the question. 3

In the last question of the final spring football media opportunity, Shafer is asked if the lack of buzz around the team was by design. He'd previously tried to instill positivity around a team that just went 3-9, but said the seemingly less hype heading into his third season wasn't intentional. "No I don't think anyone designs a lack of buzz. I think that would be really stupid."

the daily orange football guide 2015

10

from page 7

foy

day, coaching his teammates from the sideline and somberly walking into the training room.

Foy never missed a game in high school due to injury, Fort Hamilton head coach Daniel

38 ACCORDING TO CUSE.COM ROSTERS, FOY HAS DROPPED 38 POUNDS SINCE HIS FRESHMAN YEAR. Perez said. He had trouble coping with being sidelined and Paola said he even pondered culi-

nary school as a backup career path.

But he returned Nov. 22 against Pittsburgh and has been at full health since shortly after the season, easing his transition to left tackle. The change in technique is nothing drastic, just doing the opposite footwork and hand maneuvers. The position comes with increased pressure since he’s protecting quarterback Terrel Hunt’s blindside, but Foy prefers it that way.

“He’s one of those guys, that if I was to get hit, he would get down on himself,” Hunt said.

“He really cares about playing that position.”

It’s a different pressure than what Foy has shouldered before and one he marvels at. It’ll make his teammates and coaches trust him, something they haven’t always been able to do.

IVAN FOY was immature as a freshman, got suspended for failing a class as a redhsirt sophomore and missed six games due to injury last year. Now in his final season, he’s matured into a different person both on and off the field. logan reidsma photo editor

••• Foy’s forehead drips with sweat at a post-practice interview, his “man bun” standing vertically on his head secured by a hair tie. He’s dropped 38 pounds since his freshman year and reflects on how the past guides who he’s become.

Whenever he’s in Brooklyn, Foy visits Fort Hamilton and preaches to the football team about staying on top of academics. This year he vows to lead strictly by example since he never liked being told what to do.

“Ivan’s like a new person, a new player,” center Rob Trudo said.

Paola, Foy’s only sibling of five that shares the same two parents, said he used to avoid all con-

versation with her. Now she feels comfortable going to him for advice in school or at home, and called his maturation mind-blowing.

Foy’s transformation off the field has formed a new player on it, and the hurdles he’s jumped have given him a new perspective on the delicacy of a football career.

He’s itching to capitalize on this year’s clean slate, which is something he’s several times thought would never come again.

“I just want to be that guy that the O-line leans on, like you want to run it to my side to have pressure on me,” Foy said. “…just knowing it’s my last year and I’m going to give it all I’ve got.” mcschnei@syr.edu | @matt_schneiman

the daily orange football guide 2015

11

HIS BALL Senior cornerback Whigham transforms offseason lifestyle to improve play on field for Syracuse Text by Paul Schwedelson asst. copy editor

Photo by David Salanitri staff photographer

J

ULIAN WHIGHAM RECEIVED a text message from defensive coordinator Chuck Bullough at 5:30 a.m. similar to others he received throughout the summer.

“It’s your ball,” the text read.

Whigham doesn’t respond with a message of his own, but instead heeds Bullough’s advice on the practice field.

“It just kind of gets your mind right when you get up out of bed,” Whigham said.

Whigham’s all about football from the moment he wakes up, and the texts justify his overhauled lifestyle this offseason. Everything he’s done has been to change what happened last season and Bullough’s texts serve as the reminder: Last year, it wasn’t his ball.

Whigham structured his routines off the field in order to regain his confidence on it. How Whigham, a cornerback, matches up against the conference’s best receivers will determine if it paid off.

“My focus was that much more intense knowing this is my last go-round being a senior,” Whigham said.

Last season, Whigham wasn’t physical enough. He was inconsistent with his stance at the line of scrimmage and failed to make enough plays on the ball. Receivers attacked the ball with more power and got to it first.

“When there’s no consistency, you end up with games that I had,” Whigham said.

By the end of the year, his confidence was shot and he felt like he let the team down. “‘Man, I really need to get my mind right,’” wide receiver Steve Ishmael recalled Whigham telling him at the end of the season.

He hid his PlayStation in his closet and stopped watching TV. Whigham hit the weight room instead of sleeping in on Saturday mornings. He put Netflix aside to go to the practice field and work on his technique.

“It kind of clicked once the season ended like I need to do more,” Whigham said. “… I finally focused up, put it together and I’ve come out an entirely different person.”

Whigham added 15 pounds of muscle, and when he went home to Florida in May and saw his close friend Bobby Puyol for the first time since Winter Break, Puyol said, “Dang Julian, you’ve gotten so much bigger!”

“If you watch the film, Julian is right there,” Bullough said. “… It’s not like he’s busting (the coverage) and the guy’s 10 yards in front of him. He’s right there. He’s just got to concentrate on making the play.”

Part of the issue for Whigham was becoming comfortable with the shadow technique, a type of stance he said Syracuse head coach Scott Shafer implemented in the spring of his sophomore year.

Whigham spent his junior season trying to figure out what was most comfortable for him — feet spread wide or narrow, hips lifted high or knees bent low. It all contributed to the season Whigham had.

But he’s decided the stance he will use this upcoming season and said he’s perfectly comfortable with it.

JULIAN WHIGHAM Off the field, Whigham completely altered his eating habits. He cut down visits to his favorite restaurants The Cheesecake Factory and Five Guys Burgers and Fries. He learned how to cook a few meals in his apartment so he didn’t have to go out. Whigham substituted the 20-piece Chicken McNugget meal for a bowl of homemade pasta.

In the past couple years, Whigham’s mother, Wanda, talked to him about cutting down on fatty foods.

Whigham’s attitude was that he would just burn off the calories when he worked out, but now with his back against the wall, he conceded his favorite delicacies.

“It stresses his mom out when she looks at his Twitter and sees pictures of a Cheesecake Factory bag,” Wanda Whigham said of her son’s previous eating habits. “Or I see him tweet out that he’s happily going to Five Guys for burgers because that’s not healthy weight.”

Despite all the adjustments Whigham made, Shafer didn’t guarantee him a starting spot at Atlantic Coast Conference Media Day in July. It was another effort to eliminate his complacency and Whigham said it was the best thing Shafer could have done for him.

“Last year, it was just kind of handed to me,” Whigham said, “and I just kind of sat around, did what I had to do and I didn’t get as good as I could have been last fall.”

Whigham still had an occasional lingering thought about 2014 during the spring and summer, but at the start of training camp, he washed them out. He changed his

routines in order to help put it behind him.

Syracuse has an annual tradition to kick off training camp called “Burn The Shoe,” in which players toss shoes into a fire pit and seniors give speeches to teammates. Whigham offered advice about “the little things,” since that’s what

CORNERED Whigham only has four interceptions in his three years as a cornerback at SU. 2012

0

3

2013 2014

1

Whigham focused on himself entering the season.

“I made sure that when I threw those shoes in there, everything from last year was gone,” Whigham said.

Now Whigham has just one season left to prove it.

He’s done everything he says he could in order to make Bullough’s texts ring true.

“The ball is mine,” Whigham says before pausing, preparing to finish his sentence like he hopes to do with pass breakups.

“At all times.” pmschwed@syr.edu | @pschweds

the daily orange football guide 2015

12

SYRACUSE FALL 2015 FOOTBALL SCHEDULE Date

Opponent

Time

Location

Fri., Sept. 4

Rhode Island

7:00 PM

Syracuse, NY - Carrier Dome

Sat., Sept. 12

Wake Forest

12:30 PM

Syracuse, NY - Carrier Dome

Sat, Sep 19

Central Michigan

12:30 PM

Syracuse, NY - Carrier Dome

Sat., Sept. 26

LSU

TBA

Syracuse, NY - Carrier Dome

Sat., Oct. 10

USF

TBA

Tampa, FL - Raymond James Stadium

Sat., Oct. 17

Virginia

TBA

Charlottesville, VA - Scott Stadium

Sat., Oct. 24

Pittsburgh

TBA

Syracuse, NY - Carrier Dome

Sat., Oct. 31

Florida State

TBA

Tallahassee, FL - Doak Campbell Stadium

Sat., Nov. 7

Louisville

TBA

Louisville, KY - Papa John’s Cardinal Stadium

Sat., Nov. 14

Clemson

TBA

Syracuse, NY - Carrier Dome

Sat., Nov. 21

NC State

TBA

Raleigh, NC - Carter-Finley Stadium

Sat., Nov. 28

Boston College

TBA

Syracuse, NY - Carrier Dome

the daily orange football guide 2015

FINAL EXAM

Virginia Tech fifth-year senior QB Michael Brewer looks to improve in 2nd, final year in ACC

MICHAEL BREWER lost his starting job at Texas Tech after an injury in his third year with the Red Raiders. He transferred to VT before the 2014 season, led a mediocre 7-6 Hokies team and now hopes to capitalize on what he’s learned from offensive coordinator Scott Loeffler to have more success. courtesy of virginia tech athletics

By Connor Grossman asst. sports editor

M

ICHAEL BREWER NEEDED to take his mind off football.

He transferred to Virginia Tech two months before starting at quarterback last season, forcing him to spend four to six hours a day during the summer digesting his new playbook.

His only reprieve came during Fourth of July weekend, fishing under 90-degree skies in Islamorada, Fla. Brewer’s tosses were his fishing line into the Atlantic Ocean. The highlight reel catch came in the form of a 150-pound tarpon jumping six feet out of the water.

“Michael didn’t think one thing about football,” Brewer’s father, Robert, said. “He didn’t run into anybody that knew who he was or asked about football.

“We never even talked about it.”

The silence sealed off fresh memories from a 7-6 Virginia Tech season that Brewer called a “constant struggle,” equipped with just a two-month crash course in the playbook before training camp.

The time for excuses is over, Brewer

said, and he’s overcome the adversity of abandoning his family’s deep Texas football roots because of an injury in his third season at Texas Tech. A season of experience and commitment to offensive coordinator Scot Loeffler’s intensive teaching methods, including take-home tests, have Brewer primed for a rebound season.

“I feel like I did a pretty good job of not really listening to the outside world,” Brewer said. “I’ve seen it so many times and been taught the right way to handle all that.

“It can’t do anything for you.”

Brewer has no choice but to listen to Loeffler, who’s working with a returning quarterback for the first time in his three seasons on the job. He demands every member of his offense understand the inner workings of everyone else’s jobs — linemen knowing receivers’ routes, receivers knowing linemen’s schemes, and so on.

Loeffler’s method of quality control is administering pen and paper tests.

Brewer’s responsible for drawing out entire offensive formations — 200 of them — and by mislabeling 18 of them on his first assessment, he wasn’t approaching his coach’s standard.

“I got it pretty good from coach Loeffler

that day,” Brewer said.

The quarterback struggled to embrace his coach’s criticisms and understand the minutia of each play like Loeff ler did.

Robert Brewer, a former college quarterback himself, told his son to “get to another level.”

Improvement on pen and paper tests translated to better communication on the field. Third-year tight end Bucky Hodges said Brewer’s improved on discretely tipping his receivers on the route he wants at the line of scrimmage.

It’s a sign of Brewer’s enhanced confidence under center, something that fluctuated trying to orchestrate an offense last season whose top three receivers were underclassmen.

“My expectation for him this season is to be one of the top quarterbacks in the (Atlantic Coast Conference),” receiver Isaiah Ford said. “He’s put in an extreme amount of work.”

Brewer is trying to live up to a name that success has always followed in football. His father, grandfather, uncle and great uncle were all quarterbacks at University of Texas.

Winning four state championships at Lake

Travis (Texas) High School, Brewer appeared on the same track. But injuries complicated his situation at Texas Tech, and the strenuous process of transferring “made Michael a man,” his father said.

Brewer was overwhelmed by his “whole new world:” Moving away and into his own apartment, teaching himself the long verbiage of Virginia Tech’s pro-style offense and seeking out a new kayak spot.

“Sometimes making you better doesn’t involve a pat on the shoulder,” Robert Brewer said.

Ahead of his final season, Brewer’s no longer jaded through the lens of year-toyear championships he experienced in high school. He’s no longer staring at the lowlights of his once-sidelined football career.

The ledger has evened out over the course of his college career, most recently in highlight-reel wins against Virginia and Ohio State last season while also losing five games by one possession.

“When things are going good, keep it even keel,” Brewer said. “When things aren’t going well, keep it even keel.

“I don’t feel any pressure going into my last season, I’m excited.” cgrossma@syr.edu | @connorgrossman

13

the daily orange football guide 2015

14

BEAT WRITER PREDICTIONS PAUL SCHWEDELSON BETTER CALL PAUL

MATT SCHNEIDMAN CLASS IS IN SESSION

The Orange has an opportunity to collect several nonconference wins early in the season, but once mid-October rolls around, SU’s young defense will be exposed by the perennial powers of the ACC. SU’s second-year players, including wide receiver Steve Ishmael, hybrid Ervin Philips and middle linebacker Zaire Franklin, could quickly develop into the backbone of the team. Despite breakouts from that trio, the Orange falls short of a bowl game as it sputters down the stretch.

When SU emerges from the Carrier Dome tunnel against LSU, the Orange will likely be 3-0, providing some false hope before an inevitable loss. USF and Virginia are beatable, but Pittsburgh has consistently had SU’s hand, and the next four teams have four of the top quarterbacks in the conference. It’ll all come down to a game at the Dome against Boston College, just like 2013, but this time the Orange won’t pull off any heroics to reach a bowl.

Projected record: 5-7

Projected Record: 5-7

Rhode Island — Win Wake Forest — Win Central Michigan — Win LSU — Loss USF — Win Virginia — Loss Pittsburgh — Loss Florida State — Loss Louisville — Loss Clemson — Loss North Carolina State — Loss Boston College — Win

Rhode Island — Win Wake Forest — Win Central Michigan — Win LSU — Loss USF — Win Virginia — Win Pittsburgh — Loss Florida State — Loss Louisville — Loss Clemson — Loss North Carolina State — Loss Boston College — Loss

Offensive MVP: Steve Ishmael Defensive MVP: Zaire Franklin

Offensive MVP: Ervin Philips Defensive MVP: Julian Whigham

JESSE DOUGHERTY

THE DOCTOR’S IN

SAM BLUM

THAT’S WHAT I SAID

Syracuse’s bottom-heavy schedule allows for a strong start to the season, with three straight wins in the Carrier Dome before LSU offers a dose of reality. Then comes the most important two-game stretch of the year, a visit to Virginia and a home date with Pittsburgh. The Orange wins the first in Charlottesville but then loses a close game to the Panthers in the Carrier Dome. Then a 1-4 finish — with four straight losses to Florida State, Louisville, Clemson and N.C. State — keeps SU out of a bowl game.

Syracuse catches an early break with a schedule stacked with likely wins. SU will run over Rhode Island before taking down WFU and Central Michigan — opponents that made up two-thirds of SU’s 2014 wins — and needs to win toss-up games against Pittsburgh and Boston College. A defense that has ability but little experience and an offense that’s injury prone doesn’t instill supreme confidence. But with a quarterback and as easy a schedule as the Orange could hope for, SU will reach a bowl.

Projected record: 5-7

Projected Record: 6-6

Rhode Island — Win Wake Forest — Win Central Michigan — Win LSU — Loss USF — Loss Virginia — Win Pittsburgh — Loss Florida State — Loss Louisville — Loss Clemson — Loss North Carolina State — Loss Boston College — Win

Rhode Island — Win Wake Forest — Win Central Michigan — Win LSU — Loss USF — Win Virginia —Loss Pittsburgh — Win Florida State — Loss Louisville — Loss Clemson — Loss North Carolina State — Loss Boston College — Win

Offensive MVP: Ervin Philips Defensive MVP: Rodney Williams

Offensive MVP: Steve Ishmael Defensive MVP: Ron Thompson

the daily orange football guide 2015

15

PATRICK TOOLE suffered a broken fibula and tibia in his senior year of high school. He’s had stints at Temple, Erie Community College and Tennessee before finding his last college home at Albany. He was awarded a scholarship in his final season and hopes to capitalize on his opportunity in his second season with AU.

courtesy of albany athletics

LAST LEG

By Chris Libonati asst. copy editor

S

ITTING ON THE FIELD WITH three minutes left at a high school showcase game, Patrick Toole looked at his lower leg bent in the shape of an L.

It wasn’t shock or pain that hit Toole when his tibia and fibula snapped, but the long-term reality that hit him hardest.

“I thought my career was over before I even really got to begin in college,” Toole said. “… especially for a kicker, someone who breaks their leg. That’s all they have.”

Toole’s injury stole his opportunity to walk across the stage at his high school graduation — instead he rolled across in a wheelchair. It robbed him of a chance to show off his kicking ability to the coaches at Temple, his first college destination.

It also helped him land at Albany, the first college Toole has stayed at for more than one year. The drive to Albany takes about an hour and a half from his house, but to get there and to earn a scholarship in his final season, it’s taken three years, two one-year trials at Tennessee and Temple and a year off from football at Erie Community College.

“Even the doctors told me that maybe it wasn’t the best idea for me to play sports anymore,” Toole said, “but I knew I could still do it.”

It took a only a year to get back to full strength, but Temple had only offered him the opportunity to earn a scholarship in his first year there. The injury forced him to redshirt.

Al Golden, the coach who had recruited Toole, left for Miami after the 2010 season and Steve Addazio replaced him. Toole didn’t have a chance to kick for Addazio’s staff in his first season and was unable to earn a scholarship.

“We realized he wasn’t going to play at Temple because of the coaching change and also their starting kicker is now the starting kicker for the (Denver) Broncos,” Adam Tanalski, Toole’s kicking coach said, adding that Toole’s injury also played into the decision.

Toole transferred to Erie Community College near Buffalo, New York, to get his associates degree and train with Tanalski, but didn’t play football. Tanalski used connections to help get Toole recruited by Tennessee, where he chose to walk on over Louisiana State and Kansas.

The coaching staff Toole committed to was removed before he arrived at Tennessee in the spring of 2013. Tanalski’s connections and head

Albany kicker Toole earns scholarship in final season after gruesome high school injury, multiple college stops

coach Derek Dooley were replaced by current head coach Butch Jones and his staff. Toole sat behind Michael Pardy, who is on the St. Louis Rams’ roster.

During Winter Break after the 2013 season, Toole’s father, Stephen, had diverticulitis, a diges-

EVEN THE DOCTORS TOLD ME THAT MAYBE IT WASN’T THE BEST IDEA FOR ME TO PLAY SPORTS ANYMORE, BUT I KNEW I COULD STILL DO IT. Patrick Toole albany kicker

tive disorder where pouches form in the colon, but the pouches burst, causing Stephen to contract blood poisoning. Stephen went to the hospital and had surgery 45 minutes after having an MRI done.

Toole’s father spent 21 days in the intensive care unit at the hospital, losing 60 pounds from surgeries and being sick. Stephen’s condition pushed Toole to transfer closer to home. This time, Toole only entertained Albany.

Unsure of Toole’s ability, Albany gave him the chance to walk on. Off the bat, Toole earned the starting kicking job. After three years with no in-game kicking experience, he started the first game of last season.

When Toole kicked his first field goal in the third quarter of last season’s opener, he missed from 35 yards. After the game, he texted Tanalski he hadn’t driven his leg through the ball.

“You could see a little bit of (apprehension to kick) early on in preseason camp last year,” Albany special teams coordinator Jeff Dittman said.

But after the initial miss, he kicked two extra points through the uprights, including the game-winning point with 44 seconds left against Holy Cross. Toole earned third-team All-Colonial Athletic Association honors after last year, and Tanalski said he had four of the five longest field goals in the CAA. After trying at Temple and Tennessee to not just kick, but also earn a scholarship, the Great Danes put Toole on full scholarship for his senior season.

“It’s rewarding to go through this journey,” Toole said. “… To be able to prove people wrong … is a really nice, humbling experience.” cjlibona@syr.edu | @ChrisLibonati

SEPTEMBER 6th, SUNDAY

9:30PM–12:30AM