Scott Shafer isn’t revealing much about the quarterback situation. He doesn’t want media, fans and, most importantly, Penn State to know who will trot out on to the field at MetLife Stadium on Aug. 31.

But the head coach did say on Saturday that his players know “the direction we’ve been going.” With the season opener just one week away, the team’s main focus is preparing for Penn State.

“We’re just not going to make it a big deal,” Shafer said, midway through his 26-minute press conference. “Just like any other position, we’re going to stay with the same plan.”

Syracuse closed practices to the media starting on Aug. 21, citing a self-reported recruiting violation and an interest in keeping injuries quiet. Until that point, Drew Allen and Terrel Hunt had evenly split reps with the first team at quarterback.

Shafer also mentioned that running back Ashton Broyld could possibly take a few snaps during the season in the Wildcat formation. He was impressed by Broyld’s ability to play quarterback in high school — particularly in the New York State championship game — and said that Broyld can do just about everything on the football field.

“I think you always have to be ready for that Wildcat package,” Shafer said.

Shafer added that Broyld took snaps this week in practice in addition to spending time as an H-back. He said Broyld has incredible talent, but needs to focus on mastering the simple things before he becomes great.

Last season Broyld rushed for 171 yards on 36 carries, and scored a rushing touchdown in the Orange’s win over Stony Brook. Broyld also caught seven passes for 53 yards, but didn’t throw any passes of his own. In the limited open practice time this summer, Broyld did make one long throw to Prince-Tyson Gulley on a double pass during SU’s hurry-up drill, but the running back dropped the pass.

“He’s done some good things,” Shafer said. “We’ll see what happens.”

Published on August 24, 2013 at 12:26 pm

Contact Trevor: tbhass@syr.edu | @TrevorHass