FORT DRUM, N.Y. — Syracuse’s last on-field action at Fort Drum consisted of an intra-squad scrimmage Thursday afternoon. Wind swirled through the air, altering some field goals and even tilting one goal post completely diagonal.

Here are some observations from the Orange’s offense vs. defense affair, highlighted by head coach Scott Shafer’s high praise of freshman quarterback Eric Dungey.

Austin Wilson vs. Eric Dungey for backup QB

With sophomore AJ Long sidelined with a right hand injury, Dungey has emerged as the sophomore Wilson’s competitor for the backup job, according to Shafer.

In the portion of the scrimmage media was able to watch, Dungey threw two touchdown passes, one after bobbling the snap, rolling out and finding tight end Trey Dunkelberger on a 10-yard pass, and another when he hit wideout Brisly Estime for about a 20-yard score down the middle of the field.

“We’ve got a great battle for the No. 2 quarterback going on right now, Austin Wilson and Eric Dungey,” Shafer said after the scrimmage. “It’s really becoming a heck of a competition.”

Shafer added that Dungey showed real growth with some of the decisions he made at the line of scrimmage Thursday. As for Long’s progression, Shafer said he threw about 100 rehab tosses yesterday and is still day-to-day.

“AJ’s hand, he’s still coming back,” Shafer said. “You can’t be in a competition when you’re not on the field. So right now we’re waiting to get him back and then we’ll see how things go.”

Other notes from Thursday’s scrimmage

• Shafer said the first defensive play that stood out to him was a pick-six by redshirt freshman cornerback by Juwan Dowels. The media hadn’t arrived at that point, but Shafer said Dowels stepped in front of an out-cut and returned it 35-40 yards for the score.
• George Morris ran for a 50-yard touchdown before the media arrived at the field, Shafer said.
• “Steven Clark was in the backfield all day,” Shafer said of the freshman nose tackle. He also noted how freshman defensive end Qaadir Sheppard had a couple nice plays. With injuries to junior Ron Thompson and senior John Raymon on the defensive line, the two freshmen have stepped up.
• Wide receivers Sean Avant (ice on right knee) and Steve Ishmael (ice on left knee) both sat on the bench during the scrimmage.
• Terrel Hunt threw two touchdown passes, one of which was a score of about 20 yards where Estime caught the ball at the 5-yard line, turned and accelerated into the end zone. The other was a back-shoulder pass to hybrid Ervin Philips for a score of around 35 yards.
• Injured defensive starters Raymon and Thompson were both on the defensive sideline, Raymon carrying Gatorades in his left hand and Thompson wearing the team’s Fort Drum shirt, this time without crutches.

Published on August 20, 2015 at 3:05 pm

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