Syracuse (3-1, 1-0 Atlantic Coast) is back to game week following a bye and will travel to Tampa, Florida to play South Florida (1-3, 0-1 American Athletic) in the Orange’s first road game of the year. The game will be played Saturday at 3:30 p.m. and will be broadcast on the CBS Sports Network. Here’s everything you need to know about Syracuse’s final nonconference game of the season.

Back on track

Syracuse hung tough with then-No. 8 LSU despite missing its starting quarterback in Eric Dungey and arguably its best playmaker in hybrid Ervin Philips. When the Orange travels to face the Bulls, both are likely to be back and ready to play. Philips tweeted last week that he would return against USF and offensive coordinator Tim Lester told ESPN that both of those starters were looking good to go.

Philips played in just the first half of the first game of the season against Rhode Island, and scored two touchdowns. He had his knee scoped the following Tuesday and hasn’t played since. Dungey took a hit to head on a targeting play against Central Michigan and hasn’t played since.

But the bye week played right into Syracuse’s hands, and the Orange seems likely to be at close to full health as it tries to get two-thirds of the way to bowl eligibility.

Ground Jordan

Maybe the comparison to Michael “Air” Jordan is a bit too much just four games into Syracuse’s season, but the freshman has proven he’s worth the playing time he’s received. Jordan Fredericks has rushed for a team-high 220 yards — 69 more than George Morris and 150 more than starter Devante McFarlane — all while taking a team-high 38 carries.

SU head coach Scott Shafer said the reps would go to the man with the hot hand and so far that’s been Fredericks, who stamped his name on the season with a game-winning touchdown run against Central Michigan in overtime on Sept. 19.

Injury report

• Dungey and Philips are likely to play on Saturday
• Rob Trudo started at right guard against LSU because he still felt lingering effects from a lower-body injury suffered against Wake Forest. Jason Emerich started at center. It’s unclear where Trudo will start on Saturday.

Published on October 5, 2015 at 12:28 pm

Contact Sam: sblum@syr.edu | @SamBlum3