Lying in bed is not what Syracuse needs Ervin Philips to be doing.

The team’s most versatile offensive weapon will be out 3-4 weeks after having surgery last Tuesday to repair his meniscus and his roommate, wide receiver Steve Ishmael, said that’s what the sophomore hybrid has been up to around their apartment.

Granted, his second-half absence had no adverse effect in a 47-0 drubbing of Rhode Island after he caught two touchdowns in the first frame. Nor did it in a 30-17 win against Wake Forest. And it probably won’t against Central Michigan next weekend.

But if Philips misses the four weeks Scott Shafer said he might, that’s an LSU-South Florida-Virginia stretch without the 5-foot-11 spark plug that would give freshman quarterback Eric Dungey another option as he grows accustomed to the offense. Hybrids Ben Lewis and Dontae Strickland, who combined for 29 yards on two touches against WFU, need to be used more if Syracuse wants to spread out the better defenses it will face.

“There’s certain plays that I’ll call more when he’s in the game because he’s just so fast and dynamic and getting into space makes a big difference for us,” offensive coordinator Tim Lester said of Philips. “We’ll still run everything but the quantity might change of each play.”

If that quantity is limited, it restricts the Syracuse offense. The Orange ran 37 times against Wake – only once to a hybrid – compared to 14 passes, one of which was to Strickland and none to Lewis. That’s two out of 51 plays directed toward the do-it-all position that hasn’t done much since Philips’ injury, aside from a Strickland garbage-time score against URI.

“You know Erv, he’s so swifty, man, he can move left and right in .0 seconds,” Ishmael said. “From the H position with Erv not there, I feel like (Dungey’s) a little more cautious…I feel like he’s a little more cautious, which made them run the ball a lot more today.”

It’s fine if Dungey gets his feet wet handing the ball off 73 percent of the time, but against a better team than Wake Forest, the offense needs to be a little less predictable. What better way to do that than integrate what was supposed to be the most unpredictable position?

LSU allowed six points through three quarters in a win over Mississippi State Saturday, USF held No. 9 Florida State to only seven first-half points and Virginia nearly knocked off No. 8 Notre Dame after allowing just 12 points in the first 30 minutes.

On Saturday, Lewis’ only carry came on a triple-option pitch for 17 yards on SU’s first drive. Strickland, after running for 42 yards and a score Week 1, had a sole carry for 12 yards while Syracuse’s offense struggled to get going.

Lester acknowledged it and he’s right, if Lewis or Strickland isn’t open or isn’t needed, then who cares if they get two total touches as long as the Orange wins? He said the pair looked good all week in practice, but Syracuse just didn’t need them against the Demon Deacons.

But if SU sticks between the hashmarks with Dungey adjusting to his full-time role, Syracuse will need as many viable options to make plays outside the hashes when the freshman strays away from handing it off up the gut. There won’t always be 89- and 53-yard scores to your top two targets to bail out a game.

“With what we were doing, it’s weird,” Lester said. “Because it could be one of those games that Z has 270 yards receiving and the X doesn’t and the next, the X could.”

It’s nice to have Brisly Estime be the Z and Ishmael be the X, but against others the Orange might need a U, W and Y more potent than Kendall Moore and Josh Parris, hardly big-play guys, but ones whose three combined grabs against WFU were three more than both backup wideouts.

For now, Philips listens to encouragement from Ishmael. They read Ishmael’s Bible together. They try to stay positive and focus on bigger things in life than football.

Until his return, Philips’ activity, and Syracuse’s versatility on offense will be limited.

“As we continue progressing, I know when he comes back, it’s going to change everything man,” Ishmael said. “…and when he comes, it’s going to open up a lot more.”

Published on September 13, 2015 at 7:48 pm