Syracuse slapped UAlbany, 62-24 on Saturday. With a score like that one, of course, there are plenty of positives to choose from, though some negatives as well. Here are the biggest takeaways from Syracuse football’s second win of 2021:
Syracuse Can’t Evade Sloppy Play
Yeah, yeah, yeah, the Orange won big. Dino Babers‚Äô squad did what it was supposed to do against an FCS team. Though they couldn’t do it without committing 16 PENALTIES and setting a PROGRAM RECORD FOR PENALTY YARDS. 16 penalties for 164 penalty yards is a staggering number. The goal last Saturday should‚Äôve been to win and do it by playing a clean game. It‚Äôs baffling that the Orange couldn‚Äôt get close to that against the Great Danes. Sure, they could lean on Sean Tucker and a lost UAlbany defense all game, but against a real power 5 squad or even Liberty this Friday, that performance won‚Äôt cut it. Heck, 8 penalties really hurt the Orange against Rutgers, 16 is down-right unacceptable.
Sean Tucker is an NFL Talent
After his performance this weekend, the second-year back became the only Orange rusher to have 100+ rushing yards and 100+ receiving yards in a game. Was it against UAlbany? Yeah. Is it still incredibly impressive? Absolutely. Tucker did it on a mere 13 carries and 3 catches as well. It seemed like every time he touched the ball, it traveled 40+ yards. Not saying he deserves to don number 44 like some people out there, but he sure is doing his best Jim Brown, Ernie Davis, Floyd Little impression every weekend. It’s clear now that this team will rely heavily both on its rush game along with its stout defense. With Tucker in the backfield, that should prove a solid game plan. Don’t be surprised when he’s playing for an NFL team in a couple years.
Babers Has Yet to Pick his Quarterback
All the talk leading up to that game was about how Dino had said prior that week that he would pick his starting quarterback after that game. When the post-game press conference came, the HC was asked who it would be and gave the most Dino Babers answer ever: “I think we’ve got two good ones.” Classic. He added that they’d check the tape and make a decision, but it really wouldn’t be at all surprising to see them continue with both of those guys. If he is to make a QB1 selection and stick to it it seems like it would surely be DeVito, but in the land of Dino Babers, nothing is certain.
Syracuse takes on Liberty this Friday, if you want to learn more about the Flames take a listen to the interview I conducted with LU play-by-play broadcaster, Alan York earlier this year:
