Two practice snaps were all Austin Wilson got for a warm-up in his Syracuse debut Friday night.

After starting quarterback Terrel Hunt was ejected with 3:23 remaining in the second quarter for punching Villanova’s Dillon Lucas in the facemask, Wilson was thrust into the spotlight of Syracuse’s home opener against the Wildcats.

“Literally, I was focusing on what the next play was going to be, how to signal it in,” Wilson said. “At that point I just had to react.”

Wilson began his Orange playing career with a pair of screen pass completions before the half faded away with an illegal substitution penalty. Much of Wilson’s night followed a similar pattern as SU (1-0) beat Villanova (0-1) 27-26 in double overtime to open the season.

“In the second half he was up and down, missed a couple reads,” Syracuse quarterbacks coach Tim Lester said. “The thing I was most happy about is when he came off, he knew he missed it.”

An 83-yard touchdown drive to start the third quarter highlighted the redshirt freshman’s debut. Wilson completed six of seven passes on the drive for 45 yards.

But it didn’t kick-start the Orange offense. Not much did. The 45 yards were more than half of his total of 89 on the night. Syracuse never held the ball for more than 2:43 the rest of the game as Wilson’s 11-of-17 night included very few looks downfield while SU struggled to control the line of scrimmage in its run game.

Instead, Wilson was largely restricted to short, wide passes to the likes of Ashton Broyld and Brisley Estime, working through the game rather than taking it.

“We kind of had to tell him ‘Hey, these are the coverages they’re playing. This is where you’ll be good,’” Lester said.

Broyld, tight end Kendall Moore and SU head coach Scott Shafer singled Wilson out for quarterbacking a close win, but also pointed to the game as a long-term development opportunity.

Said Shafer: “You learn better from playing and not playing as well as maybe you want to than sitting there saying ‘I could’ve, should’ve done that.’”

Published on August 30, 2014 at 3:08 pm

Contact Jacob: jmklinge@syr.edu | @Jacob_Klinger_