Syracuse (4-6, 2-4 Atlantic Coast) plays its last home game of the season at 3:30 p.m. on Saturday when it takes on No. 17 Florida State (7-3, 4-3). The Orange is coming off a 35-20 loss to North Carolina State, while the Seminoles crushed Boston College, 45-7, last Friday.

Here are three things SU head coach Dino Babers said on the ACC coaches teleconference on Wednesday.

Injury updates

The Orange missed two key starters on offense last week when both quarterback Eric Dungey and wide receiver Steve Ishmael sat the game out. Additionally, center Colin Byrne — who has been the starter since Week 3 after senior Jason Emerich hurt his shoulder in the second game of the season — had to leave last week’s game with an injury.

Dungey was knocked out of the Clemson game in the first quarter and never returned. He was listed as questionable last week, and then after the N.C. State game Babers called him doubtful to play this week. He is getting a second opinion on the injury but that hasn’t happened yet, per Babers.

Ishmael was a surprise scratch last Saturday, and Babers said that it was a nagging injury that slowed him down as the week went along. Quarterback Zack Mahoney said that Ishmael was a full-go in practice yesterday, but Babers refuted that today saying that he started yesterday’s practice but didn’t finish it.

Babers declined to expand on what Byrne was dealing with. Byrne took a shot to the head was lying on the ground for several minutes before he was be helped off the field.

“Well,” Babers said, sighing, “I think we’ve gotta leave that stuff all up to the ACC thing. We’re not supposed to be talking about injuries.”

“You saw the tape, you saw the game. I’m just gonna leave it there and you can see the (injury) report on Thursday.”

Mahoney will probably start if Dungey is out

Leading up to last week’s game, the quarterback situation for SU was murky. It was unclear if Dungey was going to play, and which of the two backups — Mahoney and Austin Wilson — would start in his place was also a mystery. Mahoney was second on the depth chart all year, but it was Wilson who came on in Clemson when Dungey left.

Mahoney started last week, but both were listed as backup options on this week’s depth chart. Babers said that based on last week’s performance, Mahoney would probably get another shot.

“Well I think right now, based off of how well Zack played, Zack should be the guy that goes up first,” Babers said. “But we haven’t decided yet, have to still see how everything fits in the game plan.”

In his first start of the season, Mahoney went 14-for-25 for 190 yards, one touchdown and one interception.

Dalvin Cook is better than Babers thought

FSU’s junior running back currently ranks second in the ACC and ninth in the country in rushing yards per game, with 124.2. In the conference, he trails only Louisville quarterback Lamar Jackson, the Heisman favorite who torched SU’s defense in Week 2.

After seeing Cook on tape though, Babers saw that the star running back is even faster, and better, than he first realized.

“I thought he was really, really good, but I didn’t know how fast he was until I saw the Clemson game, and I saw him run away from the Clemson secondary people,” Babers said.

“We couldn’t run away from the Clemson secondary people. He’s probably one of the fastest, or the fastest, back we have in the conference.”

Published on November 16, 2016 at 12:20 pm

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