Syracuse football practice: Dino Babers runs through fake field goals & more

Syracuse Orange head coach Dino Babers showed his prowess Monday morning when he ran the team through a couple fake field goal scenarios during open practice.

Freshman punter and holder Sterling Hofrichter has quite a legacy to live up to, following in the footsteps of Riley Dixon. Now he has to deal with Dino’s attention as well.

The first play that the members of the media were shown, as described by Stephen Bailey of Syracuse.com, had Hofrichter taking off to one side of the field while junior kicker Cole Murphy split wide, opening up the option for Hofrichter to pitch it to him. Here’s a little taste of what it might look like live:

The second saw Hofrichter catching the snap from Matt Keller and tossing the ball up over his head to the right for Murphy to catch it on the run. The following is a sampling of Babers teaching Hofrichter the proper time to release the ball from the Daily Orange’s Jon Mettus:

In other noteworthy news, a trio of freshmen warmed up with different position units. Defensive back Scoop Bradshaw and running back Moe Neal worked out with the wide receivers while receiver Devin Butler was with the running backs. The purpose, according to the coaching staff, is to hone their route-running and ball security abilities.

Also, remember this GIF from last week of sophomore running back Jordan Fredericks?

He’s now got this drill down, and so does Dontae Strickland:

Redshirt freshman linebacker Shyheim Cullen was limited, indicated by him wearing a green jersey. Redshirt sophomore and true freshman safeties Rodney Williams and Devon Clarke observed practice dressed in their street clothes, according to Bailey.