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Syracuse football: players weigh in ahead of Wagner

Some thoughts before Dome-coming

NCAA Football: Virginia at Syracuse Gregory Fisher-USA TODAY Sports

Barring a monumental choke-job, the Syracuse Orange should be 5-0 after this week’s tune-up against the Wagner Seahawks. Before that, here’s the usual from the players:

Andre Szmyt

  • Has been working on adjustments since the spring and feels that extra work is why he’s been successful this year.
  • Tying the school record of 5 FGs in a game “means a lot,” but credit also needs to go to snapper, holder, and blocking.
  • Said that Coach Bob Ligashesky’s NFL experience has been a huge help to the special teams room since he took over this season.
  • “There’s people excelling at every position... like what I remember in 2018.”

Garrett Shrader

  • Feels that the Orange found their offensive identity this past week.
  • On SU having to play tough teams after the bye: “We’re one of those tough teams.”
  • Still focused on “next man up” mentality as injuries on both sides of the ball continue to mount.
  • Sacks were more on miscommunication with receivers than on O-Line. Some wrong routes involved.
Virginia v Syracuse Photo by Bryan Bennett/Getty Images

Garrett Williams

  • Team still has “so much to work towards” entering the roughest portion of the schedule.
  • Hoping this week goes by smooth with no injuries.
  • Players are preparing to have a much bigger target on their backs than they did to begin the year.
  • Already has last game out of his mind, locked into the next challenge.

Mikel Jones

  • Crowd playing into the “mob mentality” is a huge help. “You can tell on third downs. You can tell on big plays, on big stops, that they do shift the momentum of the game.”
  • Long homestand has given team some extra motivation to perform in front of fans.
  • Backups were all prepared to jump in and made the most of their opportunities.
  • Even with another win, feels that the team didn’t get “as much better” as they’d hoped to.
Virginia v Syracuse Photo by Bryan Bennett/Getty Images

Author Note: I’d like some feedback from everybody. Would y’all prefer if I kept doing player stories like this or switch it up and go with a weekly profile on just one or two guys? I feel like these stories usually don’t get as much engagement as my other stuff, but please let me know either way.

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    Quotes from all available players
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    Feature story on one or two players (In this case, I could make a poll on Sundays about who you’d like to hear from.)
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