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How Have Syracuse Quarterbacks Fared in Their First Career Starts?

Syracuse redshirt sophomore Terrel Hunt will get his first career start at QB on Saturday. How have other recent Orange passers fared in their first starts?

By John Cassillo
Rich Barnes-USA TODAY Sports

Terrel Hunt is the new starting quarterback for the Syracuse Orange, as we learned yesterday. And with that, his name enters a long list of players who've started games under center for SU in the last decade or so -- a game of musical chairs only truly interrupted by Ryan Nassib's three-year hold on the job. Expectations are high for Hunt against Tulane this weekend after his strong effort in relief last week. But how have other Syracuse quarterbacks fared in their first career starts? A look at the last decade of Orange quarterbacks:

Player Date Opponent Result Comp Att Yards TD INT
Drew Allen 8/31/13 Penn State L, 23-17 16 37 189 0 2
Ryan Nassib 9/4/10 Akron W, 29-3 17 27 229 2 1
Greg Paulus 9/5/09 Minnesota L, 23-20 (OT) 19 31 167 1 1
Cameron Dantley 11/10/07 USF L, 41-10 21 38 276 1 2
Andrew Robinson 8/31/07 Washington L, 42-12 20 32 199 1 0
Perry Patterson 9/25/04 @Virginia L, 31-10 15 23 141 0 0
Joe Fields 9/5/04 @Purdue L, 51-0 8 15 93 0 1

... So, that's depressing. Obviously, a lot of this was during the darkest age in the history of Syracuse football. But a few things we can take out of this:

  • Ryan Nassib was the only SU quarterback to win his first start in the last decade (gulp).
  • Terrel Hunt will be the sixth consecutive Orange passer to get his first career start at home.
  • Somehow, Joe Fields would start more games after that debacle against Purdue.
  • Syracuse has been outscored 214-98 in QB's first career starts since 2004.
  • Overall stat line: 116-for-203 passing, 1,294 yards, 5 TD, 7 INT
  • On the bright side: Just one of these games was against a non-AQ opponent (Akron in 2010). Tulane is a non-AQ opponent.

Hunt's obviously got a game under his belt already, even if he didn't start, so that likely removes some of the jitters experienced by many of these players. And like Hunt, Nassib also had some playing time under his belt before starting, and look how that worked out. These previous players' numbers have nothing to do with Saturday's game either, of course, but it's nice to know that Terrel will be on a very short list should he manage to beat the Green Wave on Saturday at the Carrier Dome. While we're not asking Hunt to be the next Nassib, it sure would be nice to see the two players compared just this once, right?

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