Syracuse, N.Y. — Syracuse football coach Dino Babers has consistently said throughout preseason camp and following the first two games of the regular season that he doesn’t want to make a decision on the quarterback competition between Tommy DeVito and Garrett Shrader.
His predetermined plan of playing both DeVito and Shrader during meaningful moments was exhibited in last week’s loss to Rutgers, and without giving much away, Babers said both players are aware of his strategy for this Saturday’s game against Albany.
“The plan is predetermined, but also you have to have liberties to change the plan if need be,” Babers said Thursday in an interview with ESPN Syracuse. “But they both know what my thoughts are and we’ll exercise that, and then after this game, we’re gonna have to decide.”
DeVito, a three-year starter under Babers, played the majority of Syracuse’s season-opening win at Ohio due to his complete control of the offense. Shrader, a transfer from Mississippi State, was inserted into the game on the team’s final possession, but the game was already out of reach.
DeVito started last week’s game against Rutgers, completing seven of his first eight passes before Shrader entered in the second quarter and commanded the offense for the final three drives of the first half.
Babers said Shrader — a dual-threat quarterback with the ability to use his feet to make plays — is still being evaluated despite his limited amount of snaps during games.
“I don’t enjoy doing this at all,” Babers said. “I don’t like splitting reps with the starting quarterback and I don’t like playing people on a schedule. I want to play the guy that is really the best to me.
“I’ve been in a situation where I cannot define clearly who’s the best, but it’s also time to make a decision, so we’ll play this game and we’ll make some decisions and we’ll move on with the season.”
Leaving the Albany game with a definite starting quarterback is the plan, but if not, Babers said it would be ideal to have the final decision made before the Orange begins conference play at Florida State on Oct. 2.
Babers will coach Saturday’s game after a close contact encounter with an individual outside of the football program who tested positive for the coronavirus. Babers did not experience any symptoms and took a PCR test on Wednesday, which returned negative on Thursday morning.
Babers’ goals for this weekend’s game against Albany are three-fold. He wants a win with success on offense, defense and special teams. He’d like to give fans an opportunity to regain their excitement, and he’d like a winner of the quarterback battle.
Said Babers: “I want to get an opportunity for the fans to get their swag back ... and to really start to build that home-field advantage that we need so much this year, and then for the team — after we make some hard decisions after these games are over — to come together and play as one.”
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