Even if Terrel Hunt hasn’t improved physically from the start of last season, he feels he has mentally. And as Syracuse’s spring practice kicks up, he doesn’t need much more than that at this point.

He’s more of a student of the game, he said, than he was before his fractured fibula. And since the physicality of the Orange’s practice hinges on the addition of pads on Thursday, he has time to build himself back up to 100 percent.

“I feel good,” the SU quarterback said after Tuesday evening’s practice. “It’s kind of sore when I run, but other than that I could push through it. When I’m out there I really zone out, I don’t really feel it until after when I’m on the sideline and stop being active.”

In his first time speaking with reporters since before he suffered his season-ending injury during the Orange’s loss to Louisville on Oct. 3, the rising senior reflected on the time he missed — while SU sputtered to a 3-9 finish, including just 1-7 in Atlantic Coast Conference play — and how he grew from it.

After two spring ball practices, Hunt now resumes his role as Syracuse’s first-team signal-caller as offensive coordinator Tim Lester eases his group into the style of offense he wants to run.

“Not bad,” SU head coach Scott Shafer said of what he’s seen from his quarterback. “Did some good things at times. Got some other things where he was a little late with his reads. All in all, not bad. Trying to get that rhythm back, but it’ll come.”

Hunt’s up-and-down stint last season — starting with his ejection for throwing a punch at a Villanova linebacker in the season opener — ended abruptly when he left SU’s loss to Louisville early after taking a hit in the backfield. Although the timeframe for Hunt’s recovery was initially put at 4-6 weeks, Shafer officially ruled him out for the year on Nov. 20 with two games remaining.

From there, the reigning Texas Bowl MVP was forced to watch from the sideline as a combination of freshman AJ Long and sophomores Austin Wilson and Mitch Kimble struggled to carry the offense, as Syracuse went 1-7 after Hunt’s injury.

“It was frustrating,” Hunt said. “But I had to put my ego aside and help out the younger guys, help out Coach and do as much as I could for the team.”

His time off the field gave Hunt the chance to see the game from the coaches’ perspectives, watching games from the booths and studying more film than he usually would — and of more defenses than just SU’s upcoming opponents.

“I think it actually made my bond with the coaches even healthier,” Hunt said, “because I was up there and would see and hear the things they would go through.”

This isn’t the first time Hunt’s had to learn a new offense at Syracuse, but the fourth, he said. He has one more season of eligibility at SU, and one more season to prove himself as a pocket passer, which he said is one of the questions he wants to answer this year.

Give it a few more weeks, he said, and he’ll be fully healthy. Then his road back can truly begin.

“It was highly disappointing,” Hunt said of last season. “I had a lot of things planned and a lot of goals but I didn’t reach any of them due to the injury.

“Can’t think about. Just put it in the past and move forward.”

Published on February 24, 2015 at 8:37 pm

Contact Phil: pmdabbra@syr.edu | @PhilDAbb