Just a week ago, fans were praising Fran Brown and Syracuse’s electric defensive gameplan against Clemson. SU held Clemson, a team composed of first-round hopeful quarterback Cade Klubnik and many upper echelon wide receivers, to just 21 points on the afternoon. The Tigers, and the college football world, were shocked by how the Orange rallied and how their true freshmen in linebacker Antoine Deslauries and cornerback Demetres Samuel Jr performed on the big stage in Death Valley. However, last Saturday’s contest against Duke showed a Syracuse defensive unit that was back to their early-season form. The Blue Devils scorched SU for 38 points and 503 yards, with quarterback Darian Mensah comfortably testing all levels of the field. Their road game against SMU this week will pit Syracuse against another veteran signal caller in Kevin Jennings. Here are Syracuse’s two keys to creating a roadblock for the Mustangs:
Pressure up front
Last week, Mensah had all of the time in the world to move around in the pocket and survey the field for the best possible target. When he stepped up to scramble, he forced linebackers to crash in that would’ve otherwise been matching up against tight ends and receivers (Think of Cooper Barkate, #18 on Duke). The Orange’s front four couldn’t generate enough of a push to limit Mensah’s options, and their gameplan didn’t include enough blitzes to throw Duke’s offense off-script. Jennings is a battle-tested quarterback who will erupt onto a defense that doesn’t force the issue; SMU’s dropped a whopping 45 points in their week 2 game against a weak Baylor defense.
Cover. Romello. Brinson.
Brinson took a backseat to Roderick Daniels in 2024, a catalyst for the Mustang’s playoff berth, but is now the main target in his junior season. He has already amassed 365 yards and three touchdowns on the season, with his best performance coming in primetime against Baylor. After Duke threw for 268 yards, the Mustangs and Head Coach Rhett Lashlee will be looking to pounce. SU’s secondary cannot lick their wounds too long from last week; Syracuse must tackle better in the open field to avoid smaller catches from blossoming into larger chunk gains. Brinson will be the main target on deep balls, with SMU looking either for a connection or penalty yardage, and the Orange will need to find a matchup that can contest both his speed on deep balls and crossing routes, and his 6-foot-2 frame.
Syracuse is expected to have veteran Duce Chestnut fully healthy in its secondary for this upcoming week. Chestnut missed the Clemson game, and was battling a “questionable” designation from the injury report during the week. He did play and record four tackles on Saturday, but the senior’s health will improve with time.
SMU came into the season ranked, but hit close losses against non-conference power five teams (Baylor and TCU) to hit a 2-2 record. Although they aren’t receiving the national attention that the 2024 team warranted, Jennings still brings the “Pony power” to fuel a multi-facected offense.
