Mo Hasan is no Lamar Jackson, but it’s the closest Syracuse was able to get before Friday. Hasan is a fifth-string walk-on quarterback. Jackson is a possible Heisman contender.

The former tried to emulate the latter in practice this week on the scout team, scrambling for 10-15 seconds at a time. Hasan played chase with Syracuse’s front seven to help the defense prepare for Louisville’s lethal dual-threat quarterback.

“I guess he got another conditioning, another summer conditioning,” defensive tackle Kayton Samuels said of Hasan. “He’s spinning out, we’re chasing him, literally 10 seconds, 15 seconds. ‘Nah get him, get him’ til way past the whistle just to train our minds… Mo did his thing.”

But no matter what tricks Syracuse (1-0) pulled out in practice, there’s only so much the Orange could do before the sophomore hits the Carrier Dome turf for the No. 13 Cardinals (1-0) Friday at 8 p.m. Jackson’s combination of athleticism and size make him a dangerous threat through the air and on the ground — a nightmare for defenses.

“You try to do the best that you can do with scout team players and stuff to try to emulate exactly what he does, which is absolutely impossible to do,” Syracuse head coach Dino Babers said. “But you try your best at it anyway.”

Courtesy of The Louisville Cardinal

Hasan, the floppy-haired freshman, didn’t dress for the Colgate game while Jackson passed for six touchdowns and rushed for two more in a 70-14 thrashing of Charlotte last Thursday. He was named the Walter Camp Offensive Player of the Week, the nation’s top individual offensive honor.

To contain Jackson, because that’s all Syracuse can hope to do, the front seven wants to force Jackson to pass. SU will have to collapse on the pocket but not allow sizable gaps that permit Jackson to dart through and up field for one of the electric plays he reeled off against the 49ers.

His biggest runs came when Charlotte blitzed, allowing Jackson to simply step up in the pocket and take off. He ran 11 times for 119 yards, amounting to over 10 yards per rush.

“He gets in the open field and he’s like a dangerous running back or a dangerous wide receiver in space,” Babers said. “Just a fabulous player.”

Contain and condense is about as specific as players would get for how to slow down Jackson. In the end, the unpredictability of what he will do once the ball snaps is something planning can only do so much for.

“We’ve got a couple things up our sleeves,” linebacker Zaire Franklin said. “I think everyone will see on Friday.”

It’s the first of several times Syracuse will face a likely future NFL quarterback this season. Notre Dame’s DeShone Kizer, Clemson’s Deshaun Watson and Florida State’s Deondre Francois all await down the line.

Syracuse’s first hurdle in that group will be standing under center Friday night, but he probably won’t be standing still for very long.

“It’s going to be a challenging task to say the least,” Babers said.

Published on September 9, 2016 at 12:40 am

Contact Matt: mcschnei@syr.edu | @matt_schneidman