After a crushing loss to Stanford last week, Syracuse bounced back in big fashion with a 42-14 win over Holy Cross on Saturday afternoon.
But despite a 28-point win, there were question marks on both sides of the ball, plus a ton of issues on special teams.
Here’s the good, the bad and the question marks from Syracuse’s third win of the season.
THE GOOD
Devin Grant
It was the Devin Grant show from the first drive of the game. The Buffalo transfer, who recently moved to the star position, had a pass breakup and then a pivotal quarterback rush to force an early three-and-out.
Grant, who had his first Syracuse interception last game, had an impressive all-around performance. He finished the game with four tackles, two pass breakups and two quarterback hits.
The true freshman recorded his first stats of the season and did it in big fashion. Playing in the fourth, Edwards racked up three sacks in two drives. That puts him atop the leaderboard for the entire team.
“He’s a good pass rusher, that’s what he’s been known to do,” Head Coach Fran Brown said. “And he has third down package that we’re going to make sure that he’s able to get into.”
Jackson Meeks
After playing sparingly at Georgia for three years, Jackson Meeks introduced himself to the college football world today.
“He’s just playing good football,” Head Coach Fran Bown said.
The wide receiver had 10 receptions for a career-high 161 yards. The most important catch was in the second, when quarterback Kyle McCord led Meeks perfectly for a 38-yard touchdown to put SU up 21-0.
THE BAD
Ordone Gadsden
It was another tough day for Syracuse’s usual top receiver. Gadsden finished the game with just one catch for four yards. This follows up a 12-yard performance last week.
Gadsden had less targets than expected, but when the ball did come his way, it didn’t usually work out. To start the third, a pass bounced right out of his hands.
“We were just off on a few. … I know it will come,” McCord said of his connection with the tight end.
Special teams
The biggest problem for Syracuse all day was on special teams. Brady Denaburg missed his first two field goal attempts. So the Orange tried out redshirt freshman Jadyn Oh, who proceeded to doink a 41-yard attempt.
“We have to make those kicks,” Brown said.
On punt returns, the problems continued. Big returns by Trebor Pena and Davien Kerr were both cut into by Syracuse penalties.
THE IFFY
Kyle McCord
It’s hard to call a career-high 385-yard passing performance iffy. But there were some issues. McCord threw two interceptions for a second straight week. And he took three sacks, which Brown partially attributed to some offensive line switches.
“We probably shouldn’t have rotated guys in early,” Brown said.
Secondary
In the second quarter, the Syracuse secondary got exposed. Wide receiver Max Mosey had a 63-yard touchdown reception for the Crusaders where he was wide open in the middle of the field. And then a trick play later in the corner left tight end Jacob Petersen wide open for a touchdown pass from running back Sam Slade.
Defensive back Jayden Bellamy helped out the secondary though with a big pick-six in the fourth quarter for the final score of the day.
“That could have been his third interception,” Brown said post-game, after two near-interceptions earlier in the contest.
The run game
It was definitely better than last week. The Orange went from under 30 rushing yards to 125. SU was helped out by the return of backup Will Nixon, who split downs with Yasin Willis behind LeQuint Allen.
But the game was still dominated by SU’s 50 passing attempts, compared to just 39 rushing attempts. And SU averaged just 3.2 yards per rush.
“Definitely more room for improvement,” Allen said.
