Last night, Garrett Shrader had one of the greatest performances we’ve ever seen in a Syracuse uniform. In the 35-20 win over Purdue, QB1 was just okay through the air. 14-28 for 184 yards, no touchdowns and an interception through the air. But, on the ground Shrader was exceptional. The quarterback ran 25 times for a whopping 195 yards and a school record for a QB, four rushing touchdowns.
Multiple times, Shrader got the Purdue defense to bite on fake handoffs to LeQuint Allen. We’re still not sure how Shrader was able to hide the football like that. But, if he can continue to do it, it may be the best play in college football. Shraders runs came from designed options like that, but also from scrambles out of the pocket.
After the news broke that Oronde Gadsden would be out for the remainder of the season a few hours before the game, the focus was on what receivers would step up. However, none of them really did. LeQuint Allen got the most targets out of anymore. Just two wide receivers caught passes, Donovan Brown and Damien Alford. Neither Brown or Alford had more than 70 yards, and both had catches for more than 25.
Isaiah Jones and Umari Hatcher were both silent after the two both had over 100 receiving yards through the first two games. Hatcher didn’t catch the ball once, while Jones was never even targeted. The tight ends were out of the picture as well. Neither Max Mang or Dan Villari made any impact whatsoever in the passing game.
So, is this what we will see from Becks offense moving forward with the absence of Shrader? Running the ball 25 times with your quarterback is a risk. Especially, when it’s someone like Garrett Shrader who won’t shy away from contact. But, with who his weapons are on the outside, and neither tight end stepping up, it might be the only option for the first year offensive coordinator.
