Syracuse travels to Evanston, Ill., to face No. 19 Northwestern on Saturday — its second against a Big Ten team in as many weeks. The Daily Orange spoke with Rohan Nadkarni, a beat writer for The Daily Northwestern, about the Wildcats’ (1-0) injury situation and how they match up with the Orange (0-1).

The Daily Orange: Quarterback Kain Colter and running back Venric Mark’s statuses are both in question for Saturday. What’s the latest on their injuries?

Rohan Nadkarni: Kain Colter participated (Wednesday). Pat Fitzgerald was acting a little coy about it after practice, but it appears that he participated in contact drills and it looks like Kain is certainly going to factor in the game plan somehow on Saturday. How much he’s going to play, I’m not sure.

Kain is coming along pretty well. Venric, on the other hand, appears to be coming on a little slower than Kain Colter. It’s not clear how much Venric Mark is going to play.

The D.O.: If Mark plays, how much a factor will he be in the return game?

R.N.: If anything, they’re going to use Venric in the backfield where they feel like he’s protected a little bit more and he can impact the game a little bit more.

Returns with Venric is sort of a double-edged sword. Not only is there the potential for him to get hurt, but how much are teams actually going to kick to him? I think they’re pretty comfortable with having Tony Jones or someone else return punts and kicks.

The D.O.: Collin Ellis returned two interceptions for touchdowns in Week 1. What sort of linebacker is he typically?

R.N.: It seems that he’s part of a linebacking group that, for some reason, is in the right place at the right time.

Last year they showed the ability to create turnovers. I think Ellis is going to be a player that has an impact. Obviously, not two interceptions every week or anything like that, but he’s definitely just one of those players that Northwestern has done a good job of developing linebackers in recent years and having that group be a group that creates turnovers.

The D.O.: With Daniel Jones out for the year, Dwight White steps in as a starting cornerback. He played against California, but what can be expected of him in his first collegiate start?

R.N.: He kind of got picked on the very first play he went into the game, but then he came back and had a solid game. I think if you’re choosing between Nick VanHoose and Dwight White, Syracuse is going to choose Dwight White. White may be in a little bit of an easier position on Saturday considering he knows he’s going in, starting and he’ll just have a better grasp of his role.

The D.O.: Penn State did a good job to slow Syracuse’s running backs. How does Northwestern match up with a run-heavy team?

R.N.: They’re very lean up front. Coach Fitz used to say he recruits linebackers to play D-line and he recruits safeties to play linebacker. I don’t know if they’re a team that is going to hold up 30 times against a big, bruising back, but they’re going to play that bend-and-don’t-break style.

Published on September 5, 2013 at 12:57 am

Contact David: dbwilson@syr.edu | @DBWilson2