With no game on Saturday to occupy Syracuse’s time, players and coaches could do something they don’t normally get to do.

Five weeks into the season, several players were able to heal up and nurse their “nicks,” defensive coordinator Chuck Bullough said. Others used the weekend for more exciting activities.

Senior punter Riley Dixon:

The Blossvale, New York native spent the weekend duck hunting at home with his family. Dixon recently picked it up as a new hobby and he said duck hunting season just started.

“One of my passions is hunting,” Dixon said. “It’s something I’ve grown to love … So I was happy to get to the outdoors and hunt.”

Dixon said the rest of his family influenced him to start hunting between a year and two years ago.

“It’s nice to get out and enjoy something a little other than football for a little bit,” Dixon said.

Senior cornerback Julian Whigham

Whigham spent his Saturday watching other college football games, something he doesn’t get to do when he’s playing. Whigham watched Notre Dame play Clemson, a team Syracuse will face on Nov. 14.

“It’s good to check out to see what they’re doing a little bit,” Whigham said of Clemson. “For the most part, I know what kind of team they are, but I was just seeing how they match up with everybody else. Just flipping through games, it was a lot of fun just watching other guys play. Sometimes it’s hard. I overanalyze the secondary too much.”

Sophomore linebacker Zaire Franklin

Franklin took advantage of the time not by doing something new, but doing more of something he already does daily.

“I got to sleep,” Franklin said. “That was pretty fun.”

Franklin said he didn’t want to completely get his mind off football, but the rest provided a break after four games.

“You still want to come in, watch extra film and stuff,” Franklin said, “but you definitely want to get your body a little bit of rest.”

Sophomore hybrid Ervin Philips

Philips left the Orange’s season-opening win against Rhode Island with a lower-body injury on Sept. 4. He’s set to come back for SU’s game on Saturday against South Florida, but still spent the past week trying to get healthy.

“I was just icing up and rehabbing as much as possible,” Philips said. “I wasn’t going out or anything like that. I was just focusing on getting back.”

Sophomore wide receiver Steve Ishmael

As a freshman, Ishmael totaled 415 yards and three touchdowns on 27 receptions. Entering this year, he was expected to be one of the most exciting players on the offense but so far he’s had an underwhelming nine catches in four games.

When asked what he did during the bye week, Ishmael paused. The reporter rephrased the question asking if he did anything exciting.

“Rest and watch film,” Ishmael said. “It’s still the season so that’s all I was able to do.”

Syracuse coaching staff

With no game, many SU coaches hit the recruiting trail last week. Offensive coordinator Tim Lester, defensive line coach Tim Lester and Bullough all mentioned their travels to reporters on Tuesday.

Several high school players tweeted that they received offers from SU this week and the Orange picked up a verbal commitment from Class of 2016 quarterback Lindsey Scott.

Syracuse head coach Scott Shafer was shown at his son Wolfgang Shafer’s college football game on the Time Warner Cable broadcast. Wolfgang Shafer is the starting quarterback for Ithaca College and the Bombers suffered their first loss of the year to Utica, 30-27, in overtime on Saturday.

Published on October 7, 2015 at 8:04 pm

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