When Syracuse arrives at MetLife Stadium on Aug. 31 to face Penn State its quarterback will be a mystery to all outside the program. Scott Shafer doesn’t plan on revealing his starter until that day.

 

“We don’t have to play until the 31st, so the final decision won’t truly be made until we step on that field,” the head coach said.

 

The quarterback competition, which is down to Drew Allen and Terrel Hunt, has run neck-and-neck through the entirety of training camp with both signal callers splitting reps with the first team almost completely evenly.

 

Shafer said on Monday that there is a bit of separation, but even when he and the coaching staff reach a verdict, he won’t make it public. He wouldn’t even say when he hopes to have that decision made.

 

“I don’t want to tell half-truths,” Shafer said. “So we’re going to do the best we can to put that position together for the 31st.”

 

For Hunt, the redshirt sophomore, and Allen, the graduate transfer from Oklahoma, it leaves them in a unique position. On Monday, ESPN reported that the Orange is one of four teams that is not expected to name a starting quarterback until the day of its first game.

 

Allen and Hunt will likely know before that Saturday, but neither quarterback was concerned about when he’d find out.

 

“I wouldn’t care if it was Saturday morning or today because you work so hard and you prepare like you’re the starter no matter what position you are,” Hunt said. “If you’re second string, first string, you just prepare and when your time comes, you’re ready.”

 

Allen spent four years with the Oklahoma Sooners learning how to handle a situation like this. He was likely never going to pass Sam Bradford or Landry Jones for the starting job, but he was always there in case something happened.

 

Of course, at OU he was an injury away. At SU it’s a 50-50 competition.

 

“I approached every day as if I was a starter,” Allen said. “I prepared every day in the film room and I prepared every day on the practice field in order to be ready because there could’ve been an injury, a sudden change of plans. Somehow I needed to be ready.”

 

While a potentially frustrating position for the quarterbacks, it is one that makes sense: There’s no need to give the Nittany Lions an extra advantage.

 

PSU was not reported as one of the teams that will wait until opening day to make a decision, but it’s hosting a tight quarterback competition, too.

 

“We don’t know what we’re getting,” Hunt said.

 

So why let Penn State know what Syracuse has to show? — That’s Shafer’s thinking.

 

Every practice makes a difference, so Shafer will hold tight to as much information as he can for as long as he can.

 

“Why give anybody an advantage?” Shafer said, pounding his fist on the podium. “To me I just wouldn’t understand it. It’s just me. If it gives them one more practice to play against something they think one kid can do compared to the other, why give them that advantage?”

Published on August 19, 2013 at 9:26 pm

Contact David: dbwilson@syr.edu | @DBWilson2