Garrett Shrader said he knew in August that this year's Syracuse football team had the makings of a unit that would play in the postseason.

“This team will be bowl eligible," Shrader said. "It's just now, what else can we do to win those close games?”

But what he didn’t know is how many twists and turns the path would take — from injuries to key players, to a five-game losing streak, to a goal line stand that sealed the win in the regular season finale against Wake Forest after the firing of coach Dino Babers.

“Nobody on this team ever for a second gave up. And I mean, a couple of times we're put in bad positions, guys aren't making plays, but throughout the course of the year, just staying steady," Shrader said. "And we knew that we were at a huge disadvantage. And it's just fighting, clawing, trying to find something that can work, and it just, it's awesome to see it come to a full completion this week and be able to get that sixth win. It wouldn’t be as fun if it was that easy, but I'm just glad we were able to get a bowl game. And it hadn't been done here in a while.

"Coming into the season, we're like, 'we're going to be a conference contender.' And then, you know, dudes just start getting hurt. It’s just like, ‘shoot, how will we win a game?’ But I'm glad we finished strong, and I'm proud of these guys and grateful for them. And it's been a heck of a ride and I'm grateful to good people I met up here.”

The hardest part, he said, was fighting through his own injury, an injury that severely limited his ability to throw.

“I definitely had a lot of different voices in my ear just in terms of what I should do regarding my career," Shrader said. "But there's too many guys on this team that work too hard, and I'm grateful for them. I mean, I want to send these guys out the right way.”

Shrader will likely be remembered as one of the most exciting dual-threat quarterbacks in the history of the program, a signal caller who would not have found his way to Central New York if it wasn’t for Babers.

“I'll sing his praises, my favorite coach I played for," Shrader said of Babers. "And you know, I understand the business side of it, but, you know, him and his family have been awesome to me, and just given me an opportunity. Just the guy that he was but in the meantime, let's get one more football game, and we get playing look for two and we got everything we need.”