Syracuse (2-2) rolled Tulane 52-17 Saturday in SU's second home game of the year. A week after coach Scott Shafer won his first game, Terrel Hunt followed suit capturing his first victory as the Orange's starting quarterback.
The redshirt sophomore picked up where he left off, leading the Cuse to eleven straight scoring drives at one point dating back to the game versus Northwestern.
“I thought his tempo was good,” Shafer said as he praised his QB. “His deep balls were better. They were joking about how he throws a gameday adrenaline ball. On gameday, he's got more adrenaline and throws the deep ball better than he does in practice.”
Hunt continued his stellar season going 16-21 for 181 yards with five touchdowns (one rushing.) Going by ESPN's Total QB Rating, which uses various metrics to rate quarterbacks on a scale of 1-100, the Rosedale, NY native has a score of 98.7 which leads the nation, although he has not played enough plays to qualify yet.
“At the moment, you feel unstoppable. You're on top of the world,” Hunt said after the game. “It's definitely been a lot of fun because in practice, everything's been going smooth. The game is usually a bit tougher, but same thing as practice.”
The Orange was also picked up by the defense and special teams. The Green Wave's passing attack was held to 209 yards and allowed 3 sacks. Add two blocked punts and a blocked field goal, and it was more than enough for SU's 700th win in program history.
“Means we're about a hundred behind Boeheim, right?” Shafer joked after the game.
Syracuse will get a week off to prepare for its toughest test yet - #3 Clemson. Despite the challenge that lies ahead, Coach Shafer said the following week will be no different.
“It's a work week where we want to try to get bigger, stronger, faster, build yourself up. You get beat up during the season.”
The Orange take on the Tigers on Saturday, October 5th. The game time will be announced Monday. You can catch WAER's coverage starting 30 minutes before game time with Countdown to Kickoff.