Defense Dominates First Scrimmage of Camp
The 2020 football season is two weeks away, and Syracuse has finished their first scrimmage of training camp. The 99 play session took place on Saturday, and saw both sides of the ball make plays. Specifically, the defense stood out with 10 sacks, four interceptions and one touchdown, per Syracuse Athletics.
Defensive backs Trill Williams, Ifeatu Melifonwu and Kyle Strickland along with linebacker Mikel Jones tallied the four picks, with Williams' being returned 40 yards for a score. Melifonwu's was a leaping grab in the end zone over true freshman Ja'Vontae Williams.
The 10 sacks were recorded by defensive linemen Josh Black, Leon Lowery, Curtis Harper, McKinley Williams, Kingsley Jonathan, Cody Roscoe and Zach Morton along with linebacker Marlowe Wax. Black and Lowery each had two sacks, while the rest of the group piled up one a piece.
"I thought today was very physical," head coach Dino Babers said via Syracuse Athletics. "There was a lot of hitting going on. This is the first time we banged that much. We need to go back and check the tape, but I thought the effort was really good and everybody's mind was into it."
The offense scored four touchdowns, two from quarterback Tommy DeVito along with a pair from the Orange running backs. DeVito had one rushing touchdown and one passing touchdown. The one through the air was a 12-yard strike to freshman Justin Barron. Markenzy Pierre's 11-yard run and Jawhar Jordan's 9-yarder were the two scores from the backs.
Quarterbacks Rex Culpepper, Dillon Markiewicz and JaCobian Morgan split time with the second team.
"I think we're getting better," Babers said. "We've had a lot of stuff happen in 2020. This has been a year that's been more unique than any one I can remember in the 34 years I've been doing this. But I think mentally we're in the right place and we're heading in the right direction."
