Will fans have to sweat this one out?
Syracuse Orange (2-1, 1-1) go back into non-conference play against the Holy Cross Crusaders (1-3) of the Patriot League. It’s a Noon kick on ACCNX in front of a sold-out JMA Wireless Dome.
Here’s what we’ll be watching for on Saturday as the sober students file into the Dome early for this one:
Kevin: Empty the bench when?
The Orange didn’t look efficient last week so Fran Brown probably wants to get his starters some plays to sharpen up before they hit the road. What we don’t know is what it will take for Fran to pull the first string in this one? Does he go into the second half if the Orange get up by three scores? Too often Dino Babers left his starters in for too long against FCS opponents, so I’m curious to learn Fran’s approach.
Max: Reboot the running game
LeQuint Allen only saw eight carries (his fewest in over a year), and SU tallied just 26 rushing yards as a team in its loss to Stanford. Playing from behind might explain part of that, but getting Allen going is essential to this offense, regardless of the score. The Crusaders are a great bounce-back spot for the Syracuse tailback, who should receive a heavy dose of carries in the first half. It also wouldn’t hurt to get Yasin Willis more involved if Will Nixon remains sidelined.
Dom: The defense shining again
It wasn’t a totally perfect performance, but Syracuse’s defensive unit forced several turnovers and genuinely played better versus Stanford compared to the first two weeks of the season. Holy Cross doesn’t boast the most efficient offense out there, and this could be a moment for the unit to start finding some consistency across the board before the schedule really starts to ramp up.
Mike: More defensive experiments
There have already been a flurry of adjustments in Elijah Robinson’s unit, and there’s at least one more scheduled to happen with Justin Barron moving to LB on the latest depth chart. The Stanford loss showed that these aren’t the type of changes you want to be doing on the fly so if there are any other tests with moving guys around, do them here when it doesn’t have a high risk of costing SU a game.
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What will you be watching for in tomorrow’s game?