Syracuse head coach Scott Shafer tried to loosen up the crowd at his press conference outside Manley Field House on Monday evening with an early joke.

“Let me guess,” Shafer said. “You guys want to know how the defensive back battle’s going, right? Is that the first question?”

Rather than addressing the quarterback situation, Shafer started by talking about his secondary, mentioning that sophomore Julian Whigham impressed during the first day of practice. He said Whigham, currently slotted behind senior Keon Lyn at one of the cornerback positions, intercepted a pass down the sideline.

“I was really pleased to see that,” Shafer said, “so he’s putting some heat on Ri’Shard (Anderson) and Keon Lyn, as well as Brandon Reddish.”

Whigham appeared in 11 games during his freshman season, recording three tackles against Connecticut and one in Syracuse’s Pinstripe Bowl win over West Virginia. The 2011 Sun Sentinel Big Schools Defensive Player of the Year, Whigham was one of four SU true freshmen to play last season.