Jarrod West isn’t particularly fast or big, and doesn’t have a sparkling resume.

But he is the most experienced player on a Syracuse wide receiving corps that has been without top receivers Ashton Broyld and Brisly Estime for much of the season, and showed that off against N.C. State on Saturday.

“Jarrod’s one of the best receivers in the country. That was on display today,” freshman quarterback AJ Long said after the game. “He made plays that he hasn’t shown in the past. He’s given the opportunity and he’s just doing what he’s capable of.”

West, a senior, doesn’t have much time left to keep doing that. Syracuse has three games left and needs to win all three to garner bowl eligibility. Its 24-17 loss to North Carolina State on Saturday puts it in a tangible hole. But he did turn one of his final games — bowl or not — into a noteworthy performance, catching seven passes for a career-high 161 yards while providing a reliable deep threat.

“Definitely not satisfied with that,” West said. “I felt like there were a couple of times where the team was depending on me to break one of those and I didn’t do that today.”

In the first two times Long played without Broyld and Estime — against Florida State and Wake Forest — he turned to fellow freshman Steve Ishmael as his go-to option. A week later, he connected with Broyld four times for 49 yards and also had Estime as an option, albeit sparingly, in the Orange’s loss to Clemson.

Then Long was without Broyld and Estime, who are considered SU’s most explosive receiving options at H-back, against North Carolina State on Saturday due to lower-body injuries for each. He did throw a touchdown to Ishmael for the third time this season, but he looked to West as his primary receiver.

Syracuse tried and failed to establish the run early in the game, which forced Long and the offense into the air and to West.

Long hit West for 17 yards on a first down on the Orange’s first drive, but the drive stalled out and he didn’t catch another pass until the second quarter. He caught a 35-yard pass in another fruitless drive, then hauled in a 30-yard catch in double coverage before Long connected with Ben Lewis five plays later for SU’s first score. He also caught an 8-yard pass to start Syracuse’s second and final touchdown drive.

While Ishmael wasn’t as big of a factor as West in the game, he did catch five passes for 63 yards and a touchdown. Long harped on West and Ishmael when asked about the receivers in his postgame press conference and West’s game against the Wolfpack could be the first step in adequately passing the torch.

“(West) hasn’t had the ball thrown to him as much as he’d like or as much as the offense would like,” Long said. “Having him and Steve, I mean those are two of the best receivers in the ACC, one graduating and one that is up-and-coming. I think he definitely gets overlooked a little bit.”

Published on November 4, 2014 at 12:25 am

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