Syracuse Football: Terrel Time, Ashton's Education & AAM's Lament

Hey guys, what's going on with Syracuse Orange football? I don't know why I'm asking you...I'm the one who collected all the stories. So stop making me ask you dumb questions and just let me tell you. Jesus.

First up, it's Terrel Hunt's world and we're just catching 65-yard touchdown passes in it. Hunt gets the first start of his career this weekend against the Tulane Green Wave and, barring an epic shift in production or injury, it won't be his last.

"We'll take it one series at a time and one game at a time," Shafer said. "And as long as the production is where we expect it to be, then whoever is getting those snaps will continue to play."

Bless Scott Shafer. He's trying his best to remain publicly even-keeled. But you and I know better. Right?

One of the major subplots of Ashton Broyld's career so far has been his ability, or inability, to master the playbook. It's been openly cited as the reason he's seen his role in the offense come and go through his career. Given that Broyld is now a solid contributor every game, it looks like he's finally got that playbook grasped.

What we want to be able to do is continue to move him around and play him at different spots," Shafer said during his weekly teleconference on Tuesday.

Broyld, who’s listed as a running back on SU’s roster, leads Syracuse with 18 catches this year. His seven catches against the Seahawks matched a career-high he set a week earlier. His 145 receiving yards rank second on the team.

Punt returns were a sore subject for Syracuse last season. Not this year, however. Ritchey Desir is doing a good job not only advancing the ball, but preventing the Orange from starting with bad field position:

"He protects us from losing hidden yardage. He catches everything, and that ball doesn't bounce and go 15, 20 yards farther. If we catch a football and advance it for 10 yards or more, that's another first down for our offense before they even take the field. If we don't catch the ball and it rolls 10 or 20 yards behind us, that can be two first downs that we lost. That's crucial."

"There's more yards gained or lost in the punt than any other play in football, and you have to have a steady guy back there who can be extremely disciplined and extremely consistent in catching the football, and that's what we have in Ritchy Desir."

From one guy creating opportunities to another guy who seems to have lost his. Wither Adonis Ameen-Moore. Long gone is the Tank Package and now AAM seems to be a victim of a very crowded, talented backfield.

"We just have the competition going on, and we're just going to play the guys that we think give us the best chance to score touchdowns down there," Shafer said in his teleconference Tuesday. "Those are decisions we make. It's a difficult situation because we think we have some talented running backs, and it's hard to get them all snaps."

"But Adonis has done a nice job," Shafer said. "He's continued to grow as a young man. He's doing well in school, he works hard, never complains. He's a very unselfish team player. He's a pleasure to have on the team."

"He's doing well in school" is the ultimate backhanded compliment to a college football player. Sorry, Adonis.

Finally, speaking of guys who aren't seeing the field, how's Ross Krautman doing? It's been revealed that Das Boot has a slight tear in his pelvic area lower body injury. He's still talking to doctors and all signs point to him missing the Tulane game.

We better see you kicking in the Dome tip 3 a.m. all week, Ryan Norton.