Syracuse opened the renovated Dome on a high note, defeating Georgia Tech 37-20 for its first win of the season. After two weeks where SU’s offense scored a combined 16 points, Tommy DeVito found the end zone for the first time as SU scored a career high against the Yellow Jackets. And in the process, Dino Babers may have found his starting running back.
Sean Tucker Take Over Starting Role
Babers went to Sean Tucker early in the first half, and that strategy worked to perfection in the first half. At halftime, Tucker had 15 carries for 100 yards and two touchdowns. Unlike Jawhar Jordan, Tucker never seems to lose yardage on his runs. Even when there aren’t holes created by the offensive line, Tucker seemed to be able to pick up short yardages. Rather than being stuck behind the line of scrimmage and losing yardage – which happened often in the first two weeks – Tucker seemed to gain yards every play. Sometimes it would be on a five to seven yard run where Georgia Tech needed multiple tacklers to take him down. And sometimes, he just wouldn’t go down at all.
Tommy DeVito Redeems Himself
DeVito easily completed his best game of the season on Saturday, throwing for 194 yards and a couple of touchdowns. He also threw an interception, but it was on a deep ball – which he hasn’t thrown enough of this season. Unlike the first two weeks, DeVito threw the ball down the field. Prior to the win, DeVito hadn’t completed a pass over 10 yards all season. On Saturday, he looked like the quarterback Syracuse recruited and played during Eric Dungey’s senior season in 2018.
Defense is Strong Again
All season long Tony White’s 3-3-5 defense has proven to be a good change for Syracuse. And even with a big hole created in the depth chart pregame, Syracuse’s defense was stout.
Without Cisco, SU gave Jeff Sims a ‘welcome to the ACC’ kind of game. While he was never sacked, Sims dealt with pressure in his face all game long. By the end of the day, Sims had two fumbles and four interceptions. Those picks were all due to pressure from a defense that pinned its ears back and got to the quarterback. While the run defense was poor, giving up 275 yards on the ground, SU’s turnover savvy defense won the game for the Orange. And while Sean Tucker’s first quarter touchdown run was must-see, it wasn’t the play of the game. This was:
