BOCA RATON, Fla. (AP) — Garrett Shrader helped Syracuse get to the Boca Raton Bowl. He just won't be able to take part in what would have been his final game with the Orange.
The dual-threat quarterback had surgery to repair a tear in his shoulder after the regular season ended, Syracuse announced Monday. Shrader had been playing with the tear since October and wound up leading Syracuse to a bowl-clinching 35-31 win over Wake Forest to close the regular season.
That gave Syracuse a 6-6 record, meaning it would be bowl-bound.
"It was important for me to get our team to a bowl game," Shrader said in a statement released by the school. "I would have done it earlier in the season, but I wanted to wait until we got bowl eligible. This team has too much talent and works too hard not to play a 13th game."
That 13th game will be Thursday against South Florida in the Boca Bowl.
"I've just been so impressed with Garrett, everything about him, the type of young man he is," interim head coach Nunzio Campanile said. "He was banged up all year and he continued to compete, fight for the guys. There's no way that we're here if he didn't play in that last game and play the way that he did. He's really been a great teammate all the way through. He's really a special, special guy."
Shrader threw for three touchdowns — two of those throws coming in the fourth quarter — and ran for another score in that bowl-clinching win.
Shrader threw for 39 touchdowns and rushed for 31 more in parts of three seasons with the Orange, after transferring in from Mississippi State.
The change at quarterback comes at a time of major transition for Syracuse, with new coach Fran Brown coming in and the Orange making an immediate splash in recruiting and the transfer portal. Among the new commits: quarterback Kyle McCord, who started every game this season for Ohio State. He announced Sunday he is transferring to Syracuse.
The depth chart that Syracuse released Monday listed redshirt freshman Braden Davis as the expected starter for the bowl game against South Florida. Davis completed his lone pass attempt in the regular season.
