Happy and healthy New Year from all of us at Orange Fizz! I love this holiday. Anyone who enjoys getting deep, sentimental and introspective shares an infinity for the last day of the year, right? I guess you could be in it for the alcohol too (drink responsibly).
For Syracuse Basketball and Football, 2019 was a year of struggle. There was no repeat ten-win season, and there was no surprise Sweet-16 run. But the beauty of New Year’s is that all the anguish of the year prior can be promptly erased through the hope of resolutions. Unlike January gym memberships, let’s compile some New Year’s resolutions that can set up SU to be great in 2020 and beyond.
Basketball
Recruit a Big- Syracuse is getting the same negligible offensive production it got with Paschal Chukwu, but without the rim protection to go with it. Either Jesse Edwards needs to be developed, or a ready-to-play center needs to choose the Orange in the next recruiting cycle.
Keep Elijah Hughes Happy- As always, we wish the best for everyone in their personal and professional lives. When it comes to SU’s prospects in 2020, Hughes finishing his fourth year at SU would be massive.
Teach Quincy Guerrier- The freshman has shown off great athleticism and a high motor to go with it. If he can get comfortable doing the right things on the court, we have a good one on out hands. The fact that he has more personal fouls than Hughes, Joe Girard and Buddy Boeheim is…. not good.
Get some Depth- Jim Boeheim uses his bench as sparingly as any team in the country this season. He’ll tell you the bench players aren’t producing, which is mostly true. But that’s his own problem to fix for 2020.
Football
Get Tommy DeVito Protected- Syracuse gave up 4.4 quarterback sacks per game. That ranks 127th out of 130 FBS teams. Poor pass protection stifled the offense and left DeVito banged up for most of the season. In 2020, Syracuse gets Sam Heckel back from injury and adds Florida transfer Chris Bleich. Plus, freshman Matthew Bergeron showed promise after Ryan Alexander left the team, without telling Dino Babers. This is a perfect resolution: necessary, yet achievable.
Find a good Defensive Coordinator- Somehow it’s flying under the radar that Syracuse is going to have a brand new defensive scheme next season. Brian Ward’s Tampa-2 defense put way too much pressure on a linebacker position group that was unprepared in all but one (2018 with Franklin and Bennett) of his four year’s at SU. Hire a new D-cord that is going to Syracuse’s strengths on defense.
Recruit DeVito’s Replacement- Everybody should panic if this doesn’t happen soon. There were zero QB acquisitions in the early signing period. David Summers from the Class of 19′ could be good, but he can’t be left on an island to assume a starters role if he’s not ready/
