Fran Brown’s big gamble on two-sport athlete Joseph Filardi did not pay off on Friday night.
The Syracuse head coach plugged in Filardi as the Orange’s starting quarterback against North Carolina at the JMA Wireless Dome in Syracuse, N.Y. The moment proved way too big for the true freshman who was first recruited by Syracuse’s lacrosse team before getting looks from the football program.
What sounded like the plot to a low-budget Hollywood sports flick did not end with Brown hugging Filardi as the credits rolled. The Syracuse walk-on looked overwhelmed in his first-ever taste of college football action, throwing 4/18 for 39 yards in a 27-10 Syracuse loss. It felt like a borderline miracle that he didn’t end up throwing an interception…