Syracuse, N.Y. — Syracuse tight end Dan Villari, who was forced out of a breakout performance against Clemson with an injury, said he’ll be available for the Orange on Saturday when it visits North Carolina.
“I’m full-go this week,” Villari said. “Just banged up a little bit, but ready to go.”
His presence should be a boost for the Orange, whose pass-catching options have been whittled away substantially by injuries through the first five weeks of the season.
Syracuse’s star tight end Oronde Gadsden II is out for the season with injury. The team played last week without two other veteran options in Isaiah Jones and Trebor Pena. Gadsen and Pena do the majority of their work in the middle of the field, leaving the Orange with few options familiar with attacking center of the defense.
The remaining receivers struggled to get open against Clemson last week, leading to an inefficient passing day for Syracuse and quarterback Garrett Shrader.
The Orange targeted the sidelines repeatedly but frequently threw the ball out of bounds, a combination of quarterback Garrett Shrader throwing the ball off-target, a consistent pass rush and receivers failing to create separation from defenders and being forced into the sidelines.
Pro Football Focus listed Shrader as going 0-for-7 on passes of more than 20 yards against Clemson, with all of them targeting either the right or left side of the field. In the Orange’s two games against Power-Five opponents this season, Syracuse is 1-for-14 on such throws.
“It’s definitely tough,” Shrader said. “We’re trying to find guys. It’s the same thing we fought last year, a little more with the front. But we’ve got enough guys. We have to get them ready to play. The big thing is certain guys have to have bigger roles. They can’t go out and make a couple catches and be OK with that. We have to make sure those guys are ready to go and do it all the time. That’s what it’s going to take to win.”
Villari, who has…
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