Steve Ishmael remembers meeting Ervin Philips during the summer before their freshman seasons. Then-head coach Scott Shafer called for a team meeting. The wide receiver from Florida recalls gravitating toward the then-running back from Connecticut.

“Erv just has this little swagger to him,” Ishmael said. “I went up to him, said ‘What’s up’ and we just clicked after that.”

Ishmael was immediately one of the top weapons for Syracuse during his freshman and sophomore seasons before having an underwhelming campaign a year ago, considering his expectations going in. While Ishmael thrived, Philips was shuffled around the field his first two seasons before breaking out as an inside receiver last year.

Now, the two seniors are in the middle of career-best seasons as the two main weapons in the Orange’s (2-3, 0-1 Atlantic Coast) passing attack. The two don’t just lead SU in receptions, they lead the entire country. Philips recently set a school and ACC single-game record with 17 catches and Ishmael just tied SU’s record of five-straight games with 100 or more receiving yards. He’s already set a career high in receiving yards, before even reaching the halfway mark of this year.

For all their production on the field, the two are also best friends off it. Head coach Dino Babers called them “an item,” and the duo isn’t shying away from filling their role as the team’s offensive leaders.

“We talk about that every day,” Philips said during training camp. “We’ve been roommates for three years, so we talk about that all the time. That really doesn’t phase us.”

Ishmael and Philips didn’t get to pick roommates their freshman year, but have lived together ever since. The two push each other to be better players on the field, but their competitive nature doesn’t just apply to football.

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The two play video games against each other, Ishmael said, mainly the NBA 2K series. Ishmael said that he’s the better player and that the two keep a record of their games on a sheet of paper. As of training camp, Ishmael said that he was way ahead.

“I’m killing him man,” Ishmael said. “Sometimes he’ll get me though. I keep it real, but I’m better than him for the most part.”

Senior linebacker and two-time captain Zaire Franklin likened Ishmael and Philips to the wide receiver version of himself and fellow linebacker Parris Bennett. He met both receivers before starting at SU, going on his official visit with Ishmael.

“Steve’s the most competitive person I ever met in my life,” Franklin said. “But Erv’s the only person that I guess can deal with that. Steve is very intense, especially when it comes to video games.”

Their yin-yang personalities mirror their style of play, where the two get along just as well. Ishmael works the outside and relies on his size and strength, particularly in his hands, to reel in catches against smaller defensive backs. Philips relies on speed and quick bursts off the line to find openings in the middle of the field.

Ishmael said he feels a different level of chemistry with Philips on the field than he does with any other receiver. The two will talk things out and can frequently be seen chatting before a play or on the sidelines. At home, Ishmael said they’ll vent about missed opportunities and plays they could have made to impact the last game they played.

“We work off each other,” Phillips said after the North Carolina State game.

The two started seriously discussing this season ever since they got back from winter break a year ago, Ishmael said. They texted each other during the time off, sharing their disappointment as they watched other teams play in bowl games they’ve only dreamed about.

Both receivers have been adamant that they don’t care about the record-breaking numbers they’ve put up. The two friends look and sound very different, but they have one shared goal of leading Syracuse to a place this senior recruiting class has yet to experience: a bowl game.

“It’s our senior year,” Ishmael said, “we really want to do this for the school and not for ourselves, but for the coaches, for the school, and just have a blast our senior year.

“Just go out with a bang.”

Published on October 5, 2017 at 7:20 pm

Contact Tomer: tdlanger@syr.edu | @tomer_langer