The wait is almost over.
With the Syracuse's season opener with Villanova just two days away, head coach Scott Shafer and the rest of the Orange are eagerly awaiting running out of the tunnel for the first time in 2014.
"I think it's a great thing for our kids, a great thing for our community and a great thing for our University to kick things off Friday night in the Dome," Shafer said. "We've had some great memories in those situations in the past. For me, West Virginia and Louisville especially come to mind. We're just looking forward to doing more of the same and kicking off the season against Villanova.
"This is your team. Our kids are excited, as well as our coaches, to get out there and go get after it on the football field after all the work we put in between those two white lines."
The Dome experience is nothing new to a large portion of the Orange, who bring back one of its most experienced rosters in years as more than half of the Orange's two-deep comprised of seniors.
All through training camp that experience has helped foster a close knit environment amongst the team with senior quarterback Terrel Hunt being one of the leaders in that department.
"He's been a good big brother," Shafer said. "Last year was different element, where he was competing to try and get that number one spot. This year he's helping bring along the younger brothers. He's done a nice job, he really has. I think we all know Terrel has a nice sense of who he is and part of his role this year is to be our starting quarterback but to also find out who are younger brothers are on the team and how can we help them help themselves and ultimately help the team. Terrel and so many other guys on the team have done a great job, not a good job with that. I'm very pleased with his presence."
Syracuse head football coach Scott Shafer will host his weekly radio show at Destiny USA this season. Shafer and show host Matt Park will broadcast from the first level of the Canyon Area for the live, hour-long show. Fans are invited to watch the show in person at Destiny USA or participate via telephone (1-888-7-Go Cuse or 424-8599) or via Twitter (@SUSportsNetwork) using #AskShafe. The show will feature coach Shafer discussing strategy, his team and its opponents this season. Fans are encouraged to stop by the canyon area of Destiny USA during the show to listen to the program and to meet Coach Shafer. The show will air at 7 pm on the following dates: Wednesday, Aug. 27 Thursday, Sept. 11 Thursday, Sept. 18 Thursday, Sept. 25 Wednesday, Oct. 1 Thursday, Oct. 9 Thursday, Oct. 16 Thursday, Oct. 23 Thursday, Oct. 30 Thursday, Nov. 6 Thursday, Nov. 13 Wednesday, Nov. 26
With the season opener just four days away, the Orange has released its two-deep for the Villanova game.The 'Cuse depth chart features a number of returning student-athletes who've seen significant playing time and plenty of seniors."We have a team with some experience," said head coach Scott Shafer. "There will be some guys at key positions that are younger guys who we're counting on, but the bulk of the unit is back. That's really a good thing going into the first game against a good opponent. Having some of that 'been there, done that' mindset is going to go a long way on Friday night."The Orange offense features nine seniors in starting roles, with seven seniors listed as starters on defense.Shafer hopes the experience will help the Orange against an experienced opponent in Villanova, that is led by quarterback John Robertson."He's a very good football player," Shafer said. "He's a bright kid with great feet. He's quick and throws the ball well but runs the ball really well. They're schemed such that we're going to see all different formations, jet sweeps, quarterback reads and quarterback inside-outside takes, so it'll be real interesting when we get into this thing because they like to push the pace."They like to up the tempo, especially against the BCS opponents. We're prepared to go against that, but I'm sure we're going to have some hills and valleys throughout the course of the game."
