SU's Giruzzi lost for season

[Apis Bull]

SU's Giruzzi lost for season

Redshirt freshman linebacker breaks his leg when another player falls on him.

Wednesday, August 18, 2004

By Donnie Webb

Staff writer

Vincenzo Giruzzi, who was competing for a starting linebacker position on the Syracuse University football team, broke his left leg during practice Tuesday morning and will miss the entire season.

Syracuse head coach Paul Pasqualoni said Giruzzi was injured in a freak accident. He said another player was knocked off balance and fell on Giruzzi's leg, causing a break to the player's tibia.

"It was just a fluke, crazy thing," Pasqualoni said. "He's such a great kid. He's worked so hard and he would have contributed this year."

Giruzzi is a 6-foot-4, 231-pound redshirt freshman out of Utica's Proctor High School. He was working at the weakside linebacker position behind returning starter Kellen Pruitt.

However, Pasqualoni said Monday he was leaning toward moving Pruitt to the starting middle linebacker spot. With Pruitt moving inside, Pasqualoni said he would promote the next best linebacker available regardless of position into the starting lineup.

Giruzzi was clearly in the mix to win that starting job.

"It hurts," Pasqualoni said. "It really hurts to lose Vincenzo because he contributes on special teams."

Despite Giruzzi's loss, Pasqualoni said he will not move Pruitt back. He said he did move Luke Cain back to weakside linebacker from strong side linebacker after Giruzzi's injury. He said the other candidate at weakside linebacker is true freshman Jake Flaherty.

"I don't know how fast he'll learn everything," Pasqualoni said of Flaherty. "I mean, he's shown he can learn and he's smart, but he's a very physical player and he's very fast. It might force us to bring him along at a faster pace."

Pasqualoni said that starting

strongside linebacker Kelvin Smith can move to the weakside linebacker spot if the next best available linebacker is another "Sam" linebacker. In addition to Cain, a sophomore from Washington, D.C., the other primary strongside linebacker is junior Tommy Harris, whom Pasqualoni said is capable of stepping into the lineup.

"We've got some guys there," Pasqualoni said. "I like the group. As coaches, we've just got to get them in the right order."

Pasqualoni said he has no intention of moving senior safety Troy Swittenburg back to linebacker. Swittenburg spent spring practice working at outside linebacker before he was returned to safety.

Ferri case adjourned again

Syracuse starting strong safety Diamond Ferri, who is facing charges of charges of assault and resisting arrest, had his court case adjourned for a second time on Tuesday.

Attorney Gary Sommer, who is representing Ferri, asked for the adjournment before City Judge Karen Uplinger on Tuesday. He said the case is scheduled to be heard on Sept. 14.

"Discussions about the matter continue," Sommer said. "We're not ready to resolve it."

Frosh come to play

The Orange had its first major scrimmage on Tuesday. Pasqualoni said there was a lot to like, especially the effort by the players and the performances by some of the freshmen.

The scrimmage, which included game officials, focused on short yardage and goal-line situations. Pasqualoni said there are some other scripted situations. He said this marked the first time he has scheduled a scrimmage on the first day of double practice sessions. The Orange had been participating in single practices up until Tuesday.

"I'm very pleased with the progress of some of our young players," Pasqualoni said.

He mentioned a number of freshmen, including receiver Rice Moss, offensive tackle David Bouchard, offensive guard Corey Chavers and receivers J.J. Bedle and Quinton Brown. He said sophomore receiver Landel Bembo, who was ineligible last season, also made a number of plays.

On the defensive side, Pasqualoni said he and his staff have installed more pieces to their system than ever before. He said after six practices, the players have "a good feel for what they're doing. I'm happy with the overall effort."

Pasqualoni said he was disappointed in a rash of penalties.

"We're trying to make a conscientious effort to cut down on pass interference penalties and holding penalties," Pasqualoni said.

The Orange has three more scrimmages scheduled before camp breaks.

Notes

Redshirt freshman receiver Kyle Bell has been moved to free safety and will spent the year on the development squad. ... Freshman linebacker Jonathan Pierre-Etienne of Montreal has yet to clear the admissions process and has not arrived. Pasqualoni said he has not decided whether to bring one of three freshmen grayshirt players onto the team to replace Pierre-Etienne.

© 2004 The Post-Standard. Used with permission

Link:  SU's Giruzzi lost for season