3 Syracuse players win weekly awards following 32-29 win over Purdue

Get the latest Syracuse news delivered right to your inbox. Subscribe to our sports newsletter here.

Garrett Shrader, Mikel Jones and Caleb Okechukwu have all earned Atlantic Coast Conference weekly positional honors following Syracuse’s 32-29 win over Purdue.

Shrader was named the ACC Quarterback of the Week, his first weekly award since 2019, when he was the Southeastern Conference Freshman of the Week at Mississippi State. He earned the award after a strong second half against the Boilermakers, which led the Orange to their first 3-0 start since 2018. He threw for 181 yards and three touchdowns in the win, including a go-ahead 25-yard pass to Oronde Gadsden II with seven seconds left.

Despite a poor first half that saw Syracuse record just three points, Shrader stormed back with a simpler approach to the revamped offense.

“They had a great game plan … I credit our lack of success to me not making routine plays,” Shrader said after the win. “But we were able to overcome that, and guys were starting to get open and we just settled into the game and came out with a good result.” 

Jones led Syracuse in tackles once again with 11, including 1.5 tackles for loss and a sack against Purdue quarterback Aidan O’Connell. He tacked on four quarterback hurries to clamp down on Purdue just enough to make way for Shrader’s game-winning touchdown. Saturday marked the ninth time in his career that Jones has finished with 10 or more tackles.

Okechukwu, who finally saw playing time in 2021 before missing all of 2019, recorded a surprise interception — the first of his career — late in the fourth quarter to apply even more pressure to Purdue. As O’Connell fought off a swinging tackle from Steve Linton, O’Connell haphazardly threw a pass forward to avoid a sack, but Okechukwu was there to bobble, then return the pick to extend the Syracuse lead to 10 points. He also garnered two more tackles, leading an inexperienced defensive line unit.