Saturday was not one to remember for Orange fans. Syracuse fell 41-24 to Notre Dame in what felt like everyone’s worst preseason prognostications coming true. SU was out-sized, out-manned and out-schemed. To quote fellow Fizzer Carter Bainbridge said on our weekly reaction Twitter Space, “it looked like SU got off the plane from Clemson this morning and suited up to play again.” The stock market reflects extremely poorly on this performance, as we’re sure all of you could guess. Let’s get into our biggest risers and fallers.
Stock Up
Mikel Jones
Since the team play was awful, we have to highlight individual performances. Jones was at the top of that list, with 15 total tackles (Cuse.com says he had 16, tying a career high). Someone has to keep this defense together, with all the injury struggles and offensive shortcomings. Jones stands up for his team, fires up the crowd and is always willing to represent Syracuse and the team win or loss. He’s a pro, professionally and personally.
Ja’Had Carter
After a year in which he struggled with injury, Carter is flying high at the back end of the Syracuse defense. His pick against ND was his third forced turnover in four weeks. He’s done well when asked to cover guys in the slot or tackle in the run game in space.
Carlos Del Rio-Wilson
Losing Garrett Shrader was a huge bummer Saturday, but at least it showed this team has a competent backup. Del Rio-Wilson was 11-22 for 190 yards, one TD and one INT. The pick was bad, but the skills flashed throughout his half of football. Robert Anae let CDRW throw deep, and his long balls had touch and pace. Del Rio-Wilson threw fastballs over the middle, and his receivers let him down.
Stock Down
Run Defense
Woof. This is the main point of worry heading forward for the ‘Cuse defense. Crazy enough, it’s not Garrett Williams’ torn ACL. The Orange have good backup corners, who held their own last weekend and two weeks ago as well. However, Kevon Darton is the 245-pound man in the middle, fighting offensive lineman who weigh about 70 pounds more. SU gave up 255 yards to the Irish, and the blueprint is clear for opponents going forward. Run the ball until Syracuse breaks.
Nike Gloves
How many drops are the receivers going to have in a given week? It seems like every single player on this corps of ‘Cuse wideouts let one slip through his hands last weekend. Oronde Gadsden had two drops, Umari Hatcher fumbled away a beautiful deep ball (referenced above) and DeVaughn Cooper had another really bad drop. The last thing this team can afford to do is fail to move the football, as the defense runs out of bodies and QBs go down.
Team Communication
Dino Babers has chosen not to make Garrett Shrader or Carlos Del Rio-Wilson available to media tomorrow. While it is entirely his choice to do (or not do) that, it stinks for media and fans to not hear their sides of the story. It seemed like Shrader was willing to coach and support Del Rio-Wilson after QB1 exited the game, and there shouldn’t be any controversy about who is the starter. The head coach not backing up that messaging is a little worrysome.
