The offense remains hot while the defense showed some signs of improvement.
The Fran Brown era is off to a perfect start as the Syracuse Orange overcame a fourth quarter scare to defeat the No. 23 Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets 31-28, a nice win in what many saw was a key early-season test for the program.
Syracuse’s new-look offense shined across the board as well as it did in week one. On the defensive side, the unit looked good for most of the game and that ended up being enough to give the Orange their first AP top-25 win of the year.
Let’s get to the grades from Syracuse’s first game against an ACC opponent:
Quarterbacks: A+
Kyle McCord followed up his career day last week against Ohio with another one versus the Yellow Jackets. McCord finished with a 69.5% completion percentage (32/46), 381 passing yards (8.3 yards per throw) and 4 touchdowns. Yet again, the passing attack for the Orange had tempo, played consistently and led to big plays from start to finish. Personally, you will rarely see me give out an A-plus, but this week saw McCord earn a well-deserved one. This was expected to be an offensive shootout, and McCord made all the big and right plays as well as avoiding any costly mistakes. The last drive was the only real scare all game.
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Running Backs: A-
Went back and forth between B+ and A-, but ultimately settled with the A-. Yes, the ground game was not nuclear levels of dominant. Yet, the Orange have to love what the running back duo of LeQuint Allen (15 carries, 83 yards; 5 catches for 47 yards) and Will Nixon (9 carries, 38 yards; 1 catch for 20 yards) are giving them both on the ground and as a receiving option. Outside of pure offensive versatility, Allen and Nixon give Syracuse two different looks at running back who each can be pretty effective down the field catching the ball. Sometimes, it helps to just have pure consistency at certain spots and the running backs did just that. And again, avoiding any costly fumbles meant Georgia Tech mostly avoided great field position.
Wide Receivers: A
The receivers avoid the A+ by a slim margin due to some untimely dropped passes, but wow is this position deep for Syracuse. Oronde Gadsden (6 catches for 93 yards and 2 TDs) and Trebor Pena (6 catches for 88 yards and 2 TDs) impressed yet again, but huge props should also go to Umari Hatcher (5 catches for 67 yards), Jackson Meeks (4 catches for 32 yards) and Zeed Haynes (4 catches for 27 yards). Including Allen, six Syracuse players caught between 4 and 6 passes, and the lowest average yards per catch out of those six was Haynes (6.8 YPC). That’s remarkable.
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Offensive Line: A-
The generosity with the grades for the offensive possessions is certainly there, but there wasn’t much to dislike about the offensive line’s performance. Just one sack allowed the entire day. McCord had plenty of time in the pocket. The key stat that gives the O-line at least an A- is this: all of Syracuse’s four touchdowns came on plays where McCord threw the ball between 11 and 20 yards. A passing QB like McCord needs time in the pocket for that to happen, and the down-field threat of Syracuse’s passing attack gets a huge boost when he has time in the pocket to make some of those bigger throws.
Defensive Line: B
For the second straight week, the D-line was probably Syracuse’s strongest position group on defense. Fadil Diggs impressed yet again and led the way for the Orange. Yes, the defensive line failed to record a single sack on Saturday, but holding Jamal Haynes to 11 carries for 35 rushing yards is a win after last week’s rushing defense turned out to be far worse. The defensive line also made the critical play of stopping Georgia Tech on fourth down in its own territory, leading to another Syracuse touchdown that proved to be vital in the grand scheme of things.
Linebackers: C+
Again, certainly an improvement from last week. A C+ makes sense because the linebackers helped contribute a bit to stopping Haynes, put some defense heat on Haynes King at certain moments and tackled on-ball much better. The short middle part of the field still had some gaps which allowed Georgia Tech to open things up, including two scrambles by King for touchdowns. Overall, way better than last week (the linebackers received a D+ versus Ohio, for context). Derek McDonald had the missed tackle versus King but likewise had a bounce back after a rough game one.
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Defensive Backs: C
The main story: coverage mostly looked alright through about three quarters, and then Georgia Tech’s passing really had its way in the fourth quarter. Tacking again was better across the board, and pass coverage on the corners was pretty solid. The main issues were the middle of the field and a few too many big-yard plays. Justin Barron and Alijah Clark deserve a shoutout for bouncing back after poor performances last week.
Special Teams: F
The first F grade of the year so far, but unfortunately deserved. By our count, Syracuse had a field goal blocked, a punt blocked and a failed onside recovery which allowed Georgia Tech to cut Syracuse’s lead down to three in the fourth quarter. Not great. Brady Denaburg made all four of his extra points and a 33-yard field goal. Pena returned one punt for zero yards. Jack Stonehouse punted the ball once for 38 yards. Instead of turnovers, issues with special teams have Georgia Tech its best chances to steal back momentum.
Now it’s your turn: how would you grade the different positional groups from Syracuse’s week two win over No. 23 Georgia Tech?