Syracuse Football Camp: Orange Dawn

First of all, for your "pictures of Syracuse Orange football player shooting guns and carrying dummies" fix, head here and here. If the events of Red Dawn actually come to pass in Upstate New York, we're ready.

Coaches: I don't know what Doug Marrone is more excited for on Friday and Saturday, the scrimmage in front of the troops and their families or the potential paint gun war:

"We’re excited that we’re going to get after it," Marrone said of Saturday’s scrimmage, which will be held in front of soldiers and their families.

"I think there’s something planned. It’s my chance to get after some of the players, legally, with a paintball gun," he said, quickly adding that he was joking.

Joking? I've seen how pissed off Doug is about practice. I don't think he's joking...

"Unfortunately, we had to repeat a period to get everyone going," he said. "Like I told the players, everyone in the country is going through this type of working environment, being in camp. I told the players that type of inconsistency is not good enough for us."

Nate Hackett spoke with Andrea Adelson over at ESPN and told her that, despite what you've heard, the offense ain't changing that much:

Hackett said that the offensive system will remain the same from the past couple of years, the unit will try to present more different formations this season to keep defenses honest.

Later in that interview he talks about how the offense will be different. So, you know...

RB: Nate Hackett is absolutely raving about Ashton Broyld, the man, the myth, the legend...

"He's such a nice guy. He's such a wonderful guy, and he wants to be great. He doesn't want to be good; he wants to be great, and he wants to be great now...And the best thing about Ashton is he is not. He is not overconfident. He wants to work. He wants to do what we ask. He believes in us. He believes in [running backs coach] Tyrone Wheatley, and that's all you can ask, and that's why it's such a pleasure to work with him."

WR: Alec Lemon is back in Syracuse getting treatment for his lower body injury. Would be good to see him back on the field again soon.

The fear is that Marcus Sales will go back to Old Marcus instead of Pinstripe-y Marcus and he's apparently come down with a case of the dropsies.

Senior wide receiver Marcus Sales, whose productive return from a one-year suspension will be so important this season, dropped a perfectly thrown pass on a quick out. A few plays later he dropped another one on a perfectly thrown short slant.

OL: Justin Pugh has returned to Syracuse to continue his rehab. Totally fine.

DL: You know Jim "The Hammer" Shapiro, but when you really want to make someone play, you better call Markus Pierce-Brewster, Syracuse football's top "Law Firm."

"No one’s ever called me that," he said. "That’s completely new to me. When I started getting acquainted with the coaches they said Markus Pierce-Brewster, sounds like a law firm. Next thing I know it’s, ‘Hey law firm,’ and it slowly caught on."

If that doesn't work for you, Tim Daoust is apparently calling Pierce-Brewster "Peanut Butter," because "he is definitely a lot faster on the field than peanut butter." Awesome.

Meanwhile Eric Crume may have big feet, but those are agile big feet...

Another challenge had players navigating a zigzag course blindfolded while holding a 10-gallon water container in each hand and a teammate serving as a vocal guide dog.

"Y’all see those agile feet," Crume crowed as defensive tackle Zian Jones led the parade while being guided by Deon Goggins. "Size 14 agile feet."

Special Teams: With Steve Rene out 3-5 weeks, the Orange need someone else to step up as the punt returner. That person appears to be Ritchy Desir.

"I feel really good," Marrone said. "Ritchy Desir is probably our best punt catcher. That’s the first thing you think about, do you have someone that can catch."

"At the end of the day, we have Ritchy," Marrone said. "It’s not like we have to find someone, we just have to choose out of the players that are there."

"At the end of the day" is always a great way to go about sounding confident in someone.