After a massive win last week over Purdue, Syracuse returned to the non-power five slate to take on Army today. But the Orange may have not realized there was a football game to be played in the first half. At the break, the Orange trailed the Black Knights 10-3. SU bounced back with a dominating second-half win, but the concerns are still there.
Second Half Defense: A+
The shift in this game was all about the SU defense. In the first half, it was like swiss cheese. In the second, it was impenetrable. The Orange were forcing turnovers and stopping the run. Rocky Long finally realized that his 3-3-5 won’t work against every team. Outside of the 80 yard touchdown at the end of the game, everything went well.
Otto’s Army: F
To not even fill up the lower bowl is embarrassing when your team is 3-0 and receiving votes in the AP Poll. It says a lot about the direction that this program has gone in if the students just don’t care about the team anymore. There were maybe 20 people in the three sections allotted up top. Yes, it is the first noon game of the season. But still, you should at least be filling up the lower bowl. The rest of the crowd was solid today.
The 3-3-5: D
The defense got better as the game went on but the start was just sad. Allowing Army to go 75 yards down the field with ease was something that should never have happened. This should have been expected. A team that runs the ball most of the time vs. a defense that only has three defensive linemen. The defense finally started to get stops when Rocky Long got rid of the deep safeties and moved everyone up.
Garrett Shrader: C
The second half was great but the first was just atrocious from Shrader. He was lucky to not throw a pick six on the first drive of the game. The interception that ended the first half was bad as well. But the third quarter was close to perfect from QB1. That’s exactly what you need from your star, the ability to put a bad half behind you.
Halftime Adjustments: A+
Considering how bad of a first half Syracuse played they could have just sat down and accepted defeat. But they didn’t, The ‘Cuse came out of the half firing on all cylinders. The defense was shutdown while the offense drove down the field with ease.
