These starts are pretty, pretty, pretty good
The first bye week for Syracuse Orange football (2-0, 1-0) provides a natural checkpoint to see how the stat sheet is looking so far for this year’s team.
So far, several current players are standing out against their peers in both the ACC and the national level. It’s obviously still very early into the 2024 season, but there are some stats which deserve some praise after a strong start out of the gate for the Orange.
Most of the statistical highlights are from the offensive side of the ball. Syracuse has multiple players currently ranked at least top-five in the ACC in several spots. The list includes:
- Kyle McCord — first in total passing yards (735), passing yards per game (367.5) and TDs (8); fifth in completion percentage (69.4%) and efficiency.
- LeQuint Allen — fourth in rushing yards per game (90.5)
- Oronde Gadsden II — fifth in receiving yards per game (100.5) and catches per game (6.5)
- Trebor Pena — first in receiving TDs (4) and overall TDs (5)
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On defense, Fadil Diggs leads the Orange with two sacks and five tackles for loss so far (both three-way ties for first in the ACC). He was pretty much the only player on Syracuse’s defense to crack the ACC top-10 for any of the individual stats. As for special teams, Malachi James is getting the fifth-most yards per return (23.3) in the conference on his kick returns.
Looking at team stats, they mostly showcase what many fans already know. The stat pairing that stands out the most is this one: Syracuse is averaging nearly 498 yards of offense per game (fifth in ACC), but is also giving up the second-most yards (407) to its opponents.
The success percentage on first and third downs are probably the two stats which also say a lot about why the Orange have looked pretty good on offense, but slow on defense, so far this year.
Syracuse sits fourth in the ACC in first downs per game, but the Orange are also 19/32 (59.4%) on third down which is best in the conference. Only the Miami Hurricanes (59.1%) have a similar success rate on third down, and that’s on 10 less total third down attempts. On defense, the Orange are giving up the second-most first downs per game (22.5) and allow opponents to succeed in third down situations at a 36% rate (sixth-highest in ACC).
Most of the yards Syracuse is getting so far are from passing situations — Syracuse is ranked first in passing yards per game so far in the conference. Defensively, the passing defense (233.5 YPG, ninth in ACC) hasn’t been the worst, but the same can’t be said for the run defense (183.5 YPG, third-most in ACC).
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One thing the defense has certainly looked slightly better so far: penalties. Syracuse has committed 11 penalties for 92 yards through two games. Both those figures sit right in the middle of all the ACC teams. Syracuse’s penalty luck against opponents also stands out. Syracuse’s opponents have just four penalties for 20 yards on the year, both of which are the lowest out of anyone else in the conference.
Taking a look at how Syracuse is doing at the national level, the stats to highlight are these:
- McCord: third-most total passing yards in FBS, tied for first in passing TDs,
- Pena: three-way tie for first in receiving TDs
- Offense: fourth overall in total passing yards and passing yards per game
Moving forward, it’s an interesting dichotomy that has played out so far. Fans will obviously have questions on both sides of the ball. For the offense, just how much of this production is actually sustainable? On defense, this unit clearly can play better, but what does that ceiling ultimately look like?
Now it’s your turn: what are your takeaways and thoughts on Syracuse’s stats so far this season? What jumps out the most?