Dino Babers said at Monday morning’s press conference that the decision on who will start at quarterback for Syracuse on Saturday will be “kept in house.”

On the weekly released depth chart, senior quarterback Eric Dungey was listed as the starter ahead of redshirt freshman Tommy DeVito.

DeVito relieved Dungey with just more than five minutes remaining in the Orange’s eventual 40-37 double-overtime victory last Saturday. After entering the game with SU down seven, DeVito threw three touchdowns, two of which came in overtime, while throwing for 181 yards and an interception.

“The big thing is just making sure that you’re fair and you’re always crystal clear with the family that they know what’s going on,” Babers said.

It was unclear if the Syracuse players knew who would start at quarterback on Saturday. When asked if he knew the starter, Babers declined to answer the question.

Babers complimented Devito’s play in saying he had a “good performance,” but then shifted his focus to Dungey. Babeers noted Dungey’s 17 of 33 performance for 225 yards could’ve been stronger.

“He had some drops and some locations of some balls that I thought that some receivers should’ve been able to get to,” Babers said.

On Saturday, Syracuse’s offense expanded vertically with Devito in the game. The backup quarterback hit two passes of 42 yards or more, including two touchdowns of more than 25 yards.

After the game Babers noted that the game plan didn’t shift with the quarterback play and that different things opened up as a response to the defense late in the game. Babers reiterated on Monday that no matter who the quarterback will be on Saturday, the offense stays the same.

“The other 10 guys are practicing the offense as well,” Babers said. “If you have a complete change that means you’re practicing two offenses and that means you’re not going to be as productive as you can be and you’re not going to have the efficiency that you need to have.”

Babers denied having a “quarterback controversy” within his unit. He said he’s worked on staffs which utilized two quarterbacks before, citing the 1998 Arizona Wildcats. Serving as offensive coordinator, Babers switched between two quarterbacks en route to a 12-1 season that finished with a Holiday Bowl victory.

Babers said he’s “not sure” if he’d entertain a two-quarterback system.

“Performances that (DeVito’s) put in mean that he’s good enough to play in the game and help us win,” Babers said. “And I think we should treat that position like any other position.”

Published on October 22, 2018 at 1:20 pm

Contact Josh: jlschafe@syr.edu | @Schafer_44