September Syracuse goes 3-1 and now the work must begin
The Syracuse Orange won the most uncomfortable comfortable margin game against Holy Cross yesterday. A look at the box score and you probably figure the game was a breeze when it was anything, but that for 45 minutes.
A lot of players played, but the game didn’t unfold how anyone wanted after Syracuse jumped out to a 21-0 lead. At that point, the big concern seemed to be keeping Kyle McCord’s 300 yard streak alive, but during the second quarter the Orange seemed to hit collectively hit the snooze button.
The running game wasn’t featured like many hoped and the offensive line rotation early in the game means that the coaching staff isn’t sold on the starting five. Of course, mixing players in and out isn’t going to help the cohesion needed by the unit, but against a FCS opponent that shouldn’t matter. While the stats look good on paper, the running backs and McCord were often forced to make defenders miss to get the ball moving forward.
The defense played a vanilla game in the first half and allowed Holy Cross some easy completions. In the second half, Syracuse stopped sitting back and brought pressure and really kept the Crusaders from doing anything-holding them under 35 yards in the second half. Sloppy play and some awful field goal tries kept the game closer than it should have been, and it’s clear that Syracuse has room to grow as a team….but not a lot of time to start doing it.
Photo by Bryan Bennett/Getty Images
Now Syracuse hits the road and won’t be back in the Dome until November. What will the season look like after the next three games? It’s a story we’ve seen a lot in recent years where the Orange have started fast and faded. Can this group find the resolve needed to win road games?
When Syracuse next takes the field in the 315, will they be 6-1 or 5-2 or 4-3 or 3-4? Let those sink in for a minute…..
Pretty big range there isn’t it? A road sweep and the Orange are ranked and bowl eligible with five games to play. A road nightmare and it will be a tough climb to get three more wins for a third straight bowl invitation.
This season of great hope still holds promise and while concerns are reasonable, it’s not time to teeter on the edge of a cliff Syracuse fans.
Fran Brown knows his team hasn’t played their best football and now we see how the first year coach and his staff get the Orange to get to that level as soon as they can.