It seemed like Syracuse rolled out an entirely different squad on Saturday against Georgia Tech. A statement win to say the least in Week 3 for the Orange, here are a few takeaways from the victory:
Syracuse Has Found Its Feature Back
Sean Tucker appeared out of what seems like thin air. The Maryland native has shot into relevancy as a freshman. After averaging nearly 6 yards per carry in a short stint against Pitt, Tucker earned himself a chance to shine against the Yellow Jackets, and shine he did. The freshman rushed for 112 yards on 24 carries and reached the end zone twice, acting as the center-piece for the Orange offense. Going forward this squad could very well be a run-oriented team, as it seems Syracuse has found a diamond in the rough. Tommy DeVito looked fine, but what does it matter if the running back position just got a makeover. Don’t expect to be seeing Jawhar Jordan or Markeny Pierre nearly as often going forward, this offense is about to be all Sean Tucker, all the time.
This Defense Is Even Better Than We Thought
Jeff Sims, while yes, a freshman, is nowhere near a bad quarterback. Syracuse fans should be very happy the SU defense was able to essentially make him and his offense a non-factor. The level of play this secondary showed on Saturday is something to be excited for. Four interceptions, and 75 tackles is nothing to scoff at. Syracuse quietly has one of the better defenses in the ACC, and with that defense could start to throw some wins together and climb the ACC rankings. Keep in mind that secondary was stellar without Andre Cisco. Where there’s depth, there’s success, and the SU secondary has plenty of depth.
This Team Has A Chance To Make Something Happen
The first two weeks of this season didn’t make the Orange football program look very good. However, their win on Saturday showed you shouldn’t give up on them just yet. There’s definitely talent on this roster, if they can utilize it well, the wins will come. There was improvement in most departments. Just one sack suffered by DeVito shows both his pocket awareness, and this offensive line are improving. Taj Harris wasn’t the only get being targeted which shows Sterling Gilbert and DeVito are starting to gel a little bit better. This front 7 can still use some work, but there’s always going to be something to improve on. The bottom line is, you shouldn’t give up on this team yet.
