Many Syracuse fans were concerned about the health of starting quarterback Garrett Shrader when, at the beginning of training camp, it was announced he would be on a pitch count. That concern was understandable considering he has suffered injuries that has hindered his effectiveness down the stretch of the last two seasons. As training camp progressed, so did Shrader's reps. In week one, Shrader played the entire first half and one drive of the second. He was taken out after the game was all but decided and allowed the backups to get playing time.
All in all, Shrader finished 18-24 for 257 yards with four touchdowns and one interception. More important than that was how he felt physically after the game.
"I feel great," Shrader said. "I wish I could've played a little bit longer. Going into halftime they were talking about taking me out, but I was like 'I'm not going out' because I threw that pick. I was like 'I'm not ending on that.' So they were like 'alright we'll give you one more drive.' So we went down and got to go score again. That was nice. But I feel great."
A key to him staying healthy is protecting himself. That includes sliding or getting out of bounds. Both Shrader and head coach Dino Babers spoke to the importance of doing that after the game.
"I'm most proud of him with how he was trying to protect himself for the most part," Babers said. "Sliding, avoiding some hits and then getting some first downs with his legs but then getting out of bounds to protect himself. Because that's going to be extremely important this year."
Many of Shrader's weapons are returning from last season. Guys like Oronde Gadsden, Damien Alford, Umari Hatcher and Isaiah Jones, each of whom caught touchdowns from Shrader in the opener. He credits the success to not only their abilities, but being in the same system for the second straight year for the first time in his career.
"All the guys, it takes everybody," Shrader said. "It's just another year of having the same system is the biggest thing. Having that time, the reps. Even with missing spring and being limited in fall camp, everybody's together for one more year. That's why so many guys were scoring and so many guys were touching the ball and producing. Hopefully we can continue to keep this track even when we start playing in-conference teams and better opponents. I thought it was a good start to the season. There's definitely stuff to clean up, but there's a lot of good as well."
More must-reads: