ATLANTA — Scott Shafer didn’t waste any time addressing defensive tackle John Raymon’s apparent right leg injury.

“First off, let’s start off the right way here,” Shafer said in his postgame press conference. “Thinking about John Raymon. Had a tough injury.”

Shafer said he’s still unaware of what the injury is, but the coaching staff has its suspicions. Raymon suffered a game-ending injury with 58 seconds left in the first half of Syracuse’s (3-4, 1-2 Atlantic Coast) 56-0 loss to Georgia Tech (4-3, 3-2) at Bobby Dodd Stadium in front of 45,704 on Saturday afternoon.

After tackling David Sims right in front of the goal line, the 6-foot-5, 323-pound Raymon – the man so large that Jay Bromley called him big earlier this season – remained stationary on the ground. Trainers and coaches tended to Raymon’s leg for a few minutes. They applied an air cast and then escorted him off the field on a stretcher. The crowd cheered for him as he exited the field.

Right after the injury, the Yellow Jackets called a timeout. Then they promptly punched the ball into the end zone on the ground to extend the lead to 28-0 going into halftime.

Bromley didn’t see what happened to Raymon on the play. For now, Bromley’s just hoping the injury isn’t as bad as it seemed.

“He’s a critical part of our defensive line,” Bromley said, “and we really hope to get him back as soon as possible.”

Georgia Tech used its size and strength to abuse the Orange all afternoon. The Yellow Jackets applied constant pressure to Terrel Hunt and made his day miserable.

Center Macky MacPherson, cornerback Julian Whigham and safety Durell Eskridge all missed time with injuries on Saturday, but all three returned.

“I’m OK,” MacPherson said, “it was just a little stinger, but I should be fine.”

Published on October 19, 2013 at 10:28 pm

Contact Trevor: tbhass@syr.edu | @TrevorHass