Garrett Shrader Does A Flip...And Lots Of Other Crazy Things In Syracuse-Pittsburgh Game

Syracuse’s Garrett Shrader turned into a gymnast during a game against Pittsburgh, but that wasn't the craziest part of his day.

During the Orange’s 28-13 win over the Pittsburgh Panthers (in a game played at Yankee Stadium), Syracuse called a trick play. Shrader plays quarterback, but he lined up as a receiver for the snap.

The play developed away from Shrader, and the pass fell incomplete. But the signal-caller took the time to do something he normally can’t do under center.

After the play began, Shrader adjusted his feet and landed a perfect backflip in front of the defensive back. 

Shrader possesses no gymnastics experience, according to his bio on the team’s website. He did letter in basketball at Charlotte Christian School, so maybe that’s where his hops come from.

My question would be whether or not Shrader’s teammates dared him to do the stunt during the week’s preparation for the game. When offensive coordinator Jason Beck incorporated that play in the game plan, did one of his teammates go: “I’ll buy you a cheeseburger if you flip?”

The best part of this whole thing is the fact that Shrader played it cool and acted like nothing special happened after landing it. We might never know what prompted the in-game gymnastics floor routine, but it’s pretty epic nonetheless.

Shrader's Day Was Just As Wacky As The Flip

Shockingly, Shrader’s flip wasn’t the most unique element of his performance, or the game as a whole. Shrader threw the ball a mere two times the entire game, yet one of them went for a touchdown. Talk about being efficient!

But the passing attack was pretty much lifeless after that, and not a single wide receiver caught a pass in this game. As if that weren't insane enough, Shrader somehow led Syracuse in receiving yards - with just six. If you can find me the last time a quarterback led his team in this statistic, I'll give you a high five.

The Orange clearly preferred running the ball this afternoon. Of the 74 plays the offense ran, 66 of them came on the ground. And of course, Shrader scored what would be the game-winning score on one of those plays, because why not at this point.

This is what makes college football amazing. You never know what mind-boggling performances you’ll see on a given week, including a flipping quarterback accounted for two touchdowns despite throwing the ball just twice. I love this sport.