Syracuse vs. Wagner: Questions Loom Over Quarterback & Injury Situations

When the Wagner Seahawks invade the Dome this Saturday, they might be seeing some very different players in significant roles for the Syracuse Orange.

We know that our punter will be different and Scott Shafer is leaving the door open that our kicker might also be different.

"We’ve got a couple guys that I think are going to be fine," Shafer said. "The one I’m waiting on is Ross Krautman."

Das Boot came into the season dealing with a strained groin lower body injury and it seems to have affected his kicking so far (FG & XP miss against Northwestern). If he's a no-go, Ryan Norton will be kicking for the Orange. According to Michael Cohen, Norton had an erratic camp, looking great one day and iffy the next.

Also on the injury front, no news on Lord Beckett Wales, who left the Northwestern game with an injury. Shafer seems to be erring on the side that Wales will not play, but no official word. Either way, expect to see Kendall Moore getting reps.

So now on to the most pressing question (that will continue to be pressed all season), I fear. Who's going to be our quarterback this weekend? Scott Shafer is basically setting us up for...both of them.

"I still believe in Drew Allen, and I believe in Terrel Hunt, as well," the head coach said. "And I think both of them have to be ready to play."

"The key to me is trust within our inner circle, which would be our staff and our players," Shafer said Tuesday.

"And we really can't have any regard for those outside our inner circle, and we need to stay the course that we set out months ago and really believe in the initial intent of the plan."

"I think that the biggest mistake I've seen over my years coaching is you feel like you get derailed because you get beat by two pretty good teams and then all of a sudden you start changing who you are and what you believe in," Shafer said.

"That will never happen here."

Wide receiver and emerging talent Christopher Clark echoed the sentiment in a piece by Bud...

"As a team, we have to remember that the season is not over," he announced. "OK, we lost two games. But the season is not over. Look at least year. We lost three out of our first four. And we came back hard. If we continue to work as a team, we can still make big things happen this season."