Cuse TV: Shafer previews final home game of 2014

11/3/2014 12:56:00 PM | Football

The Orange hosts Duke on Saturday

Syracuse will close out its home slate on Saturday when the team hosts Duke at 12:30.

Prior to the game, the Orange will honor 30 young men (29 student-athletes, 1 student manager) will be honored in a brief ceremony prior to the game for their commitment to the Orange program. They are: Adonis Ameen-Moore, Luke Arciniega, Travon Burke, Clay Cleveland, Eric Crume, Dyshawn Davis, Ritchy Desir, Durell Eskridge, Adrian Flemming, Quinta Funderburk, Jaston George, Prince-Tyson Gulley, Keenan Hale, Sean Hickey, Darius Kelly, Josh Kirkland, Jeremiah Kobena, Cameron Lynch, John Miller, Joe Nassib, Brandon Reddish, Micah Robinson, Sam Rodgers, Ryan Sloan, Greg Tobias, Trevon Trejo, Robert Welsh, Jarrod West, Jesse Wolf-Gould and Steve Fantigrossi (mgr.).

"It's a good group of kids, I was involved in recruiting so many of them years ago and they're a very unselfish group of young men who are playing football the right way," said head coach Scott Shafer. "They go to class, we're never had any major issues with any of these kids. They're true student-athletes. They're very well representative of what we're looking for, with regards to high character young men that will go out and be productive citizens when they're done playing football. I'm very proud of this group, probably the biggest thing is that they're an unselfish group that really takes ownership of what they do on a daily basis and they're a joy to see every day."

In order to send the seniors out with a win, the Orange will have to contain a high-powered Blue Devil offense that is averaging over 35 points per game.

"It goes through Anthony Boone and a very good wide receiver in Crowder. Between the two of them they've accounted for a bunch of offense," Shafer said. "I think they're putting up 420 or 425 yards per game and they're very well balanced on offense to get to that number. Coach Cutcliffe does a great job mixing things up. They're going to try to get the ball out quick, they're going to try to run the ball out of a shotgun formation. They'll bring a tight end in and run some lead family plays and some split zone reads that we've seen throughout the course of the season that we've seen from other teams. But they probably do it as well as anyone and that's why they're at the top of the Costal Division."

For more of what coach Shafer has to say about Duke, catch his full interview on Cuse TV: Coach Shafer interview

Tickets are available online (www.Cuse.com), by phone (888-DOMETIX), at Destiny USA kiosks and at the Carrier Dome Box Office (Gate B). In addition, discounted group tickets (20+), with prices as low as $10 each, are available by calling the Ticket Sales office (443-3212).

For complete coverage of Syracuse and Syracuse football, follow us on Facebook (Syracuse Orange & Syracuse Football) and Twitter (@Cuse & @CuseFootball). Check out exclusive videos on Orange All-Access and behind-the-scenes pictures on Instagram (cusepics).