Just another Tuesday morning here recapping a sudden death Syracuse loss. This should become a scheduled text or tweet by now. Anyways, the stock market is busy once again today following SU’s 17-14 defeat to Clemson. Here are the big movers:
Stock Up
RB Sean Tucker
I’ll be damned if I don’t appreciate Tucker enough. The guy is ripping off 100-yard games every single week and is the only reason this offense isn’t shut out every week. As of this morning, the sophomore leads the nation in all-purpose yards with over 1,100 and is second in the country in rush yards. Tucker is breaking out before our very eyes and before you know it, he’ll be suiting up on Sundays. Let’s appreciate this talented tailback before he’s gone.
WR Trebor Pena
Pena is the definition of a skill position player. The all-purpose threat has shown flashes in the return game and has the speed to be a game changer. His only reception in Saturday’s game resulted in a 62-yard pitch and catch. Pena should get more looks moving forward whether it be in the perimeter rushing attack or through the air.
WR Damien Alford
The Canadian flashed his abilities on the outside and nearly reeled in a circus catch. There isn’t another player on this team like Alford. He’s 6’5” and has good speed to complement that size. If Garrett Shrader wants to chuck a ball deep it should only be going to 82 in Orange.
H-Back Chris Elmore
It’s clear that Elmore plays a vital role in this rushing attack. The way he can run and open up holes for Sean Tucker will only strengthen the ground game going forward. Elmore (and the offensive line) paved the way for Tucker to tally 157 yards against the ACC’s best defense. Oh, Rhino also caught a pass for ten yards so there’s that.
Stock Down
QB Garrett Shrader
How does this Syracuse offense work? Well I’ll tell you when it doesn’t. When Shrader totes the rock just seven times for a grand total of ten yards. No, the limited yardage isn’t because of a bunch of sacks. The Orange allowed two of such a thing. The Mississippi State transfer was clearly paranoid to take off and scramble the entire contest. Perhaps he was nursing injuries from his near 30 carry output against Wake Forest.
What I’m getting at here is that Shrader has taken over this offense because of the dual-threat abilities he has that Tommy DeVito does not. If he’s not using those to exploit opposing defenses, then why is he playing? DeVito has a much better arm, just a thought.
If Shrader doesn’t gain 100 yards rushing every week, this Syracuse offense will never be successful and fail to score enough to win. I understand it was Clemson, we’ll see what happens against Virginia Tech and others.
K Andre Szmyt & All of the Special Teams
Two weeks in a row on this list, are you kidding me? Well let’s not act like he doesn’t deserve it. The former Lou Groza Award winner just can’t be trusted anymore. He’s missed key kicks in the past three outings. Personally, it’s on Dino Babers that he thinks a 48-yard field goal is more feasible than gaining one single yard with Sean Tucker and/or Garrett Shrader.
Okay, blame it on the hold fine. Then it’s on James Williams because he was the holder. And let’s not act like Williams was spectacular in the punting department. No he didn’t shank any but it’s clear he’s struggling with distance. The special teams as a whole need to improve, it’s funny because every week Babers stresses how his team needs to win the kicking game and it never really happens.
SU’s Bowl Hopes
Look I’ll be optimistic to the moon when it comes to this team and defend the bowl hopes to the very end. The stock is down though. Syracuse is 3-4 when it could be 6-1 or even 5-2 and looking much better in its chase for a bowl berth. It’s certainly still possible, this is a good football team.
The Orange own four losses by a combined 19 points, the last three by nine. Every game left is winnable, it doesn’t appear that Syracuse will be blown out in a single game this season. It boils down to the same discussion, can the offense do enough? The games that SU needs to have are Virginia Tech on Saturday, Boston College next week, and Louisville off the bye.
NC State and Pitt both could still be ranked by the time SU battles with them. Something to note, three of SU’s final five contests’ are on the road. The Orange haven’t won an ACC road game since Duke in late 2019.
