Injuries forcing Syracuse football to rely on young players to try to compete in ACC./
Cisco, Devito out; leaves young lineup
Syracuse Syracuse is struggling in this most difficult of seasons as injuries pile up and inexperienced players fill lineup holes where needed.
Orange coach Dino Babers now is faced with the prospect of finishing the season without two of his most important players — defensive standout Andre Cisco is already out for the remainder and starting quarterback Tommy Devito could join him.
Cisco, a preseason, firstteam AP All-american safety from Long Island who entered the season with 12 interceptions, most in the Bowl Subdivision, suffered a lower body injury in pregame warmups before a win over Georgia Tech just over two weeks ago and is out for the season.
Devito, a redshirt junior
from New Jersey, suffered an injury to his left leg when sacked in the fourth quarter — for the fifth time in a 38-24 home loss to previously winless Duke on Saturday — and had to be helped from the field by two staff members.
He finished the game watching from the sideline with a boot on the injured leg and leaning on crutches. Not a good omen.
Baylor:
Baylor had 32 active COVID-19 cases in its athletic department in the wake of having to postpone a football game for the second time this season. Updated numbers released Monday, which include studentathletes from multiple sports, showed 29 new cases since last week. The school’s weekly update came a day after the Big 12 rescheduled next Saturday’s home game against No. 7 Oklahoma State to Dec. 12. Baylor’s pause of football activities since last Thursday will extend through at least this week. Of the 32 active cases, 29 student-athletes had symptoms and only three were asymptomatic. The school said 44 cases were being monitored, including close contacts. A week earlier, the school reported 10 active cases, with six of those having symptoms.
Virginia: Coach Bronco Mendenhall said quarterback Brennan Armstrong suffered a concussion when he was knocked out of the Cavaliers’ 38-21 loss to North Carolina State on Saturday and will have to work through concussion protocols this week. The coach added that Armstrong may be available on Saturday for a road game at Wake Forest. “From my understanding, it is his first so it’s possible that he could return and be ready for this week, so it’s really day by day,” Mendenhall said on Monday. Armstrong was hurt with 5:49 left at the end of a 3-yard run. Wolfpack safety Tanner Ingle was called for targeting on the play.