HOUSTON — Terrel Hunt raced through the Reliant Stadium end zone and into the hearts of Syracuse fans 1,600 miles northeast.

With the pocket collapsing on him, Hunt side-stepped to his left and bolted up the middle with 1:14 left in the Texas Bowl, Syracuse’s last hopes of victory hinging on the heel of each swift stride. There were no Minnesota defenders in front of him and no penalty markers down on the field. Just a wide-open gap that Hunt wasted no time in crossing.

In the end zone, he dropped the football and held his hands in Jay-Z’s dynasty symbol toward the crowd. The touchdown clinched Syracuse’s (7-6, 4-4 Atlantic Coast) 21-17 victory against Minnesota (8-5, 4-4 Big Ten) in front of 32,327, but the passage signified the completion of a far bigger journey.

“It’s all coming together in time,” Hunt said. “It was a good experience and I’m ready to look forward.”

The Rosedale, N.Y., native who lost both his parents in high school completed a 10-month whirlwind ride Friday that thrust him from starter to backup and back to starter. Through late-night meetings with Jerome Smith in their University Village apartments last spring and a heartbreaking sit-down with head coach Scott Shafer before this season.

The same sophomore quarterback who went six games without a touchdown pass to start ACC play was named MVP of the Texas Bowl after his second straight game-winning performance. He finished with 74 rushing yards and two touchdowns, and completed 19-of-28 for 188 yards. After leading the Orange to its third bowl victory in four years and cementing his place as the program’s future quarterback, Hunt was fittingly given a cowboy hat, which he placed squarely on his head at the award ceremony.

“Hands down, it’s his turn. His team,” Syracuse defensive tackle Jay Bromley said. “They will go as far as he goes, period.”

One person who’s always believed that is Hunt. It’s what he said last spring when he earned the starting job following Ryan Nassib’s departure to the NFL, and what he echoed this fall even after Drew Allen transferred from Oklahoma and supplanted him.

His focus and resiliency never wavered.

Neither has the destiny he’s trying to complete. One of his mother, Katrina’s, final requests before passing was for him to come to Syracuse and succeed.
“He was raised by some really strong people that were great people and had to leave early because they were so good,” Shafer said. “Only the good die young, and I think that he remembers the lessons he learned as a youngster and he takes those to the football field.”

Two of those lessons are dedication and patience. Hunt spent countless nights in Smith’s apartment last season, pouring over the playbook and digesting as much information as he could. He won the starting job over veteran Charley Loeb and sophomore John Kinder.

But when Shafer told Hunt that Allen would get the starting job the following fall, Hunt accepted the news by the next day. There was no garbage can toss across the room as Shafer did when he lost the starting quarterback job at Baldwin-Wallace 26 years ago.

Even when Allen self-destructed against Penn State and Northwestern, Hunt waited his turn.

When he got his chance, he seized it: four conference wins including a magical comeback victory against Boston College on Nov. 30.

“What he puts out there, that’s what he is,” said Syracuse center Macky MacPherson. “He’s worked his butt off to get where he is.”

Two games ago, that place was still unclear, especially with three-star verbal commitments Alin Edouard and A.J. Long coming in to compete under center.

But Hunt orchestrated three scoring drives of 75-plus yards in the last five quarters of the season.

When the Orange faced a 4th-and-8 against Minnesota midway through the third quarter, he scrambled for nine yards, setting up his 5-yard touchdown moments later that gave Syracuse a 14-3 lead. And when he took over with 2:03 left following a two-touchdown implosion from the SU secondary that put the Orange behind 17-14, he jogged onto the field with confidence unparalleled to any other point this season.

The 14 yards he needed to gain would have seemed laughable at the start of the season. Now, they were not only attainable, but almost expected.

As he ran free into the end zone, Hunt proved his place at the helm of the Orange. His journey was complete.

“If you’re diligent and you continue to work hard and keep pounding that rock, eventually it’s going to split right down the middle,” Shafer said, “and that’s what I’ve seen with this youngster next to me.”

Published on December 27, 2013 at 10:01 pm

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