Syracuse lists Amari Odom out, QBs in limbo vs. Louisville

Fran Brown has spent all week saying any of his 4 quarterbacks could start. The official injury report says the same thing.

Pete Thamel

@PeteThamel

Busy quarterback injury report for Syracuse against Louisville. Amari Odom is out, Steve Angeli is questionable and last week's starter, Malachi Nelson, is also questionable. Louisville RB Keyjuan Brown is also questionable.

It's hard to make that list look any worse. Angeli is the guy Syracuse built its season around, and he's dealing with soreness in the Achilles tendon he had surgically repaired. Odom, the backup, has a shoulder injury and is now officially out. Nelson was 3rd on the depth chart, started last week anyway, and came out of it with a shoulder/collarbone injury of his own. When your QB room has more injury designations than healthy arms, it's been a rough month.

Last week showed how thin it's gotten. Nelson got the start at Virginia with Angeli out, then got hurt, and Danny Lauter, the 4th-stringer, finished the game in the 4th quarter. Syracuse lost 28-25. That dropped the Orange to 2-3 overall and 0-3 in the ACC, which is a long way from what Brown was selling coming into the year.

Brown hasn't tipped his hand. He said 'there's a lot that's going to happen within these next 48 hours,' and that sounds right. If Angeli can practice like himself, he starts and this whole thing goes away. If his Achilles won't cooperate, it comes down to whether Nelson's collarbone holds up, and if that fails too, Lauter is the guy. Until there's a name, good luck with the betting line.

Louisville isn't totally healthy either. Running back Keyjuan Brown is also questionable, per the same report. Still, the Cardinals are coming in hot after hammering Florida State 44-20 and sit at 3-3 and 2-2 in conference. They'd love to stack wins against a team that might start whoever's left standing.

Keep an eye on Angeli in practice the rest of the week. For a Syracuse team that's 0-3 in the ACC, Saturday is close to a must-win, and right now the Orange can't say who's taking the 1st snap.