Syracuse 2013 Football Camp: Catching Up After FanFest

FanFest went down Friday and the Syracuse Orange football team spent the weekend practicing in pads. What the hell happened?

Coaches

Shafer obviously had nice things to say about the turnout and FanFest overall...

"They took them to the ground for the first time today and all-in-all it was not bad," said head coach Scott Shafer. "We had some ugly missed tackles at times, but we also had some good hits. The offense did a good job making plays, which they couldn't have done without the offensive line."

"It was a great turnout today and we appreciate the fans so much," Shafer said. "We have a lot of holes to fill, kids are working hard, and looking over at the fans motivated the kids to push through what was a tough practice."

QB

Tim Lester basically admitted that even though Terrel Hunt is currently QB1, he's not technically "ahead" of Drew Allen so far.

"We told Drew from the get go," Lester said, "the only reason that Terrel was ahead in the spring is because he started in the spring game. You don't have to name a starter in practice, so we've split the reps between the both of them. They get the exact same amount with the ones, the exact same amount with the twos, much like the beginning of the spring."

He also refers to Charley Loeb as "Chuck." Blasphemy.

RB

Devante McFarlane had the big play of the day on Friday, bursting through the line for a 60-yard touchdown. All in all, the RBs all looked solid, including Adonis Ameen-Moore, who had some sizable gains from the FB spot.

WR

Ashton Broyld, Jarrod West and Adrian Flemming were the "first" receivers on Friday. Read into that whatever you like.

DL

The wind has been whispering the name Isaiah Johnson a lot lately. The 291-pound freshman caught Nate Mink's eye and has popped up in a lot of other pieces and anecdotes. If you're looking for that one freshman who seems to come out of nowhere and make an impact each season, it might be him.

John Raymon was sick and missed one day of practice but is back on his feet. Ryan Sloan returned from a small injury.

LB

Josh Kirkland returned from a small injury as well.

Saturday, the team needed a little kick in the ass to get moving. Apparently they got one...

"Everybody I guess groggy or whatever," linebacker Marquis Spruill said. "But it didn’t meet Shafe’s expectation, so he brought us out, talked to us and he got our mind right."

ST

Both Ross Kratman and Ryan Norton looked impressive at FanFest.

Darius Kelly, Brisly Estime, Corey Winfield, Prince-Tyson Gulley and Ritchy Desir are all in the hunt for the punt returner position. No Steve Rene, apparently. Or Ritchy Dene.