TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — Julian Whigham lay motionless on the turf, just under the uprights in Syracuse’s end zone.

Jameis Winston had just found Rashad Greene in the end zone for his first touchdown pass of the day, and Whigham collided with the wide receiver and SU safety Jeremi Wilkes in the back of the end zone.

“I just knew he was in a lot of pain,” Syracuse linebacker Dyshawn Davis said. “I just laid down and had a good prayer for him.”

A stretcher came out for the injured cornerback for what ABC reported was a dislocated elbow. The network didn’t show a replay because of the graphic nature of the injury. Syracuse announced that Whigham would not return due to an abdominal injury.

He was hospitalized due to internal bleeding during the Orange’s 59-3 loss to No. 2 Florida State on Saturday, SU confirmed in a release after the game, and would stay at Tallahassee Memorial Hospital overnight. He is stable, according to the release.

Whigham’s mother, who lives in South Florida, attended the game and was staying with the sophomore at the hospital while the Orange traveled back to Syracuse.

“He’s had some surgeries in the past with his stomach and they just want to be really smart,” SU head coach Scott Shafer said. “They think there might be a little scar tissue and that probably is why he’s having some blood come up.”

The injury meant an expanded role for defensive back Wayne Morgan. Joe Nassib is the next cornerback down the Orange’s depth chart, defensive backs coach Fred Reed said.

Whigham was one of three Orange players who left Saturday’s game due to injury. Running back Prince-Tyson Gulley limped off the field with the help of Syracuse’s training staff after being tackled for a loss during the first quarter. He did not return after reinjuring the ankle that knocked him out of last week’s win over Maryland.

“He got hit on it again,” Shafer said.

Early in the second half, Syracuse also announced that Jarrod West wouldn’t return due to an upper-body injury. The wide receiver took a big hit from FSU safety Jalen Ramsey during the second quarter and didn’t return to action.

Tests on West’s collarbone after the game indicated no fractures, Shafer said, and he was traveling back with the team to Central New York.

“It’s all part of the game,” Davis said. “It’s just something we have to adjust to. Both teams have injuries and that defines the good teams and the average teams and the bad teams and we weren’t a good team today.”

Published on November 16, 2013 at 11:34 pm

Contact David: dbwilson@syr.edu | @DBWilson2