Syracuse’s secondary suffered a big blow Friday night.
Syracuse defensive backs Antwan Cordy and Juwan Dowels will miss the remainder of the season due to injuries sustained in last week’s contest against Louisville, Syracuse Athletics announced Friday night.
Cordy injured his forearm in the second half of Syracuse’s 62-28 loss, and tweeted Friday that his surgery went well. Dowels injured his knee in the first quarter and is scheduled to have surgery within a few weeks, according to the press release.
Surgery went well I'm hurt man that I won't be out there with my squad man
— Antwan (@CordyKidd8) September 16, 2016
Cordy, Syracuse’s starting strong safety, recorded eight tackles, one pass breakup and a fumble recovery in two games this season. Cordy started all 12 games last season as a sophomore, and ranked second on the team in tackles last season, with 68, and set the school’s single-season record for tackles for a loss for a defensive back, with 12.
Dowels, a redshirt sophomore, opened this season as a backup cornerback, before supplementing Cordell Hudson in the starting lineup last week prior to the Louisville game. Dowels finished with 40 tackles last season, and led the Orange in passes defended, with six, and pass breakups, with five.
Syracuse coach Dino Babers addressed the possibility of losing two of his key defensive backs in his postgame press conference following the Orange’s loss to Louisville.
“We’re taking a lot of hits in the secondary,” Babers said. “Hopefully we’ll have somebody else step up or we’ll have to move somebody else over that’s not playing the position right now.”
Hudson will most likely once again be moved into the starting lineup and start alongside redshirt senior Corey Winfield, with freshman Carl Jones working as Syracuse’s third option at cornerback.
Syracuse will need to regroup quickly, as the defense was gashed for an ACC-record 810 yards of total offense by Louisville last week and will face a similar offense in USF Saturday afternoon.
