All Syracuse Q&A: Breaking Down Purdue Football's Week 3 Opponent
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WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. — Purdue football is gearing up for its first road matchup of the season this upcoming week, where the team will play Syracuse inside the JMA Wireless Dome. Kickoff is scheduled for noon ET on Saturday.
Ahead of the game, we caught up with FanNation reporter Josh Crawford with All Syracuse for a Q&A to get some insight on the Orange. Here's everything he had to say about the Boilermakers' next opponent:
Q: Syracuse running back Sean Tucker leads the team in both rushing yards and receiving yards through the first two games of the season, what is it about his skillset and the Orange offense that allows him to be such a dynamic, dual-threat player?
Tucker’s ability to make an impact as a receiver has been one of the main storylines in fall camp and throughout the regular season for this Cuse team. Babers and this offensive staff knew that defenses would load the box this year to stop #34, and figured that moving him around would be the most effective to maximize his production.
Sep 3, 2022; Syracuse, New York, USA; Syracuse Orange running back Sean Tucker (34) runs against Louisville Cardinals cornerback Jarvis Brownlee (12) in the first quarter at JMA Wireless Dome.
© Mark Konezny-USA TODAY Sports
As for Tucker, he’s a back with elite speed and quickness (he sprinted for Syracuse’s track team last spring) to erase angles and consistently make a man miss in the box, but combines that with a compact and muscular frame at 5’9, 210 pounds that provides him with impressive power and contact balance to break arm tackles and be a problem between the tackles.
He gets the Christian McCaffrey comparison a lot (which isn’t inaccurate), but to keep it in the ACC, he looks more and more like Dalvin Cook every time I turn on film: Similar frame, elite agility and explosiveness, instant home-run threat, and hard to stop even when you know it’s coming.
Q: Garrett Shrader has been exceptional through two games for Syracuse. Since transferring from Mississippi State, how has he evolved as a player and how does the offense mold to his individual strengths?
I (and most of the ACC football media community) would be lying to you if I said anybody had anticipated him making THIS big a jump in accuracy. He’s literally gone from the most inaccurate passer in the ACC (52 completion % in 2021) to one of the most accurate in the COUNTRY (79% through 2 games).
His evolution since his career started at Mississippi State isn’t terribly dissimilar to a guy like Ryan Tannehill: a big-bodied athlete recruited to play receiver in the SEC, having to transition to QB and learn the nuances of that position, and leaning on your physical gifts for success (at least early on). However, Robert Anae (OC) and Josh Beck (QB Coach) have come in and immediately turned him into a calm and anticipatory thrower of the football, which we didn’t see much of last year.
Conversely, you can look at Brennan Armstrong’s early season struggles at UVA and see what type of impact Anae and Beck have had as offensive masterminds. This offense hasn’t taken steps YET to prioritize a game plan centered around Shrader’s ability to make throws downfield and in tight windows, but if he continues to do so consistently, that shift will happen sooner rather than later, and it’ll make Sean Tucker that much more dangerous.
Q: Aidan O'Connell and Charlie Jones have been the stars of the Purdue offense so far this season, who are a couple of defensive players for Syracuse that will be tasked with disrupting the rhythm of the passing game come Saturday?
While there’s NFL-level talent at all 3 levels on SU defense (Mikel Jones, Steve Linton, Marlowe Wax, Stef Thompson), the acknowledged strength is the secondary. Garett Williams as CB1 will most likely be a Day 1 or 2 NFL Draft pick, and his size (6’0), movement skills, and high football IQ to play both man and zone will be disruptive. He’ll more than likely be the guy tasked with keeping Charlie Jones in check.
Nov 27, 2021; Syracuse, New York, USA; Syracuse Orange defensive back Garrett Williams (8) warms up before a game against the Pittsburgh Panthers at the Carrier Dome.
© Mark Konezny-USA TODAY Sports
On the other side, Duce Chestnut is a former 4-star recruit who immediately came in and established himself as a freshman last year. He was nearly a unanimous freshman All-American and 3rd-team All-ACC as a teenager playing ACC football, and he’s been itching to make a play after being targeted only once in 2 games.
This is a talented safety group as well, Ja’Had Carter and Alijah Clark are both very physical safeties in the box and like to make their presence known at least once a game, and Steve Linton has emerged as the primary pass-rushing threat for Syracuse as a big, twitched-up athlete at 6’5, 220. He’ll be priority #1 to stop for that Purdue O-Line, O’Connell shouldn’t be taking a snap on Saturday without knowing where #0 (Chestnut) and #8 (Williams) are at.
Q: Syracuse has started with an undefeated 2-0 record. Just how high is the ceiling for the Orange in 2022, and do you expect them to continue to keep up with others from the ACC in the coming weeks?
That question is directly tied to the answer to this question: How long can Garrett Shrader continue to play like this? If Shrader can continue to complete passes at this rate (79% is outrageous, but around 60-65% would be ideal), there are no holes on this Syracuse team. You would have a top-25 defense and 2 potential Heisman candidates on offense, and that could look like 9-10 wins, an appearance in the ACC Championship game, and even a potential New Year’s Six bowl appearance.
Sep 10, 2022; East Hartford, Connecticut, USA; Syracuse Orange quarterback Garrett Shrader (6) throws a pass against the Connecticut Huskies in the first half at Rentschler Field at Pratt & Whitney Stadium.
© David Butler II-USA TODAY Sports
However, if 2021 Garrett Shrader starts to rear his head, that could spell a disjointed offense, no room to run for Sean Tucker, and some losses (BC, Virginia, and Florida State) that could really deflate the program. Notre Dame’s perpetual underachievement has shifted the outlook of that matchup vs. Syracuse, and Clemson, for all their talent, struggled with a Georgia Tech team way less talented than this SU squad through 3 quarters in their 1st game.
From my view, I predicted 7-5 at the start of the season, and while that was viewed as optimistic to start the year, that seems to be the bare minimum at this point.
Q: Who are the most underrated players for this year's Syracuse football team, one on offense and one on defense, and why? How might they be able to impact Saturday's game?
For offense, I’d have to go with DeVaughn Cooper. Just got the chance to speak with him this morning (Tuesday), and he was candid and open about his experience and maturity allowing him to be somebody Shrader constantly looks at. He’s a 7th-year senior and former walk-on from LA who’s at his 3rd program (UTEP and Arizona), and he simply knows where to be on the field and when to be there at all times.
A lot of times, you look at the TE spot as that security blanket for your QB, but Cooper has emerged as the guy with the most trust in the WR room so far.
Defensively, as a former D-lineman, I’d have to go with Caleb Okechukwu. This is a guy that was facing a life-threatening kidney illness and had to re-learn how to walk 2 years ago.
Now, he’s one of the unquestioned leaders of this “Mob” unit on the SU defense. He can play both DE and DT at 6’2, 270, and his ability to play disciplined, sound-assignment football, while also consistently re-set the line of scrimmage and play in the offense’s backfield allows the stellar LB group behind him to play fast and physical.
He doesn’t have great numbers (Only 2 tackles and a half-sack so far according to ESPN), but his disruption and nose for the ball unlocks other guys on this defense.
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