Five Takeaways: Syracuse 29 Army 16
Syracuse football improved to 4-0 with a 29-16 win over Army on Saturday. Here are five takeaways from the triumph.
1. The First Time Since...
Syracuse is 4-0 in back to back seasons for the first time since 1959-60. In addition, the Orange has won all of its non-conference games for the first time since 1991. When you do something for the first time in that long, there are two points. First, it is a good thing for this season that you accomplished those feats. On the other hand, it is not good that it took so long to do so. Still, a positive step for this Syracuse team.
2. Turnovers
The narrative coming into this game was that Army is a disciplined football team that does not turn the ball over. In fact, Army had thrown just two interceptions on the season coming in. The Orange picked the Black Knights off twice in this game alone and forced a fumble that Army was able to recover. The defense had its struggles in the first half, but all in all played very well against a difficult scheme. The turnovers were indicative of the adjustments made at halftime and attacking nature of this defense. On the flip side, Garrett Shrader's interception at the end of the first half was a poor decision and a poor throw. He was really good otherwise, but has to be smarter with the football as competition ramps up starting next week.
3. Run Game
Both the Syracuse rushing attack and Syracuse run defense really turned it up in the second half. The Orange ran for just 18 yards in the first half while Army racked up 129. In the second half, however, things flipped. Syracuse made defensive adjustments to stop the Black Knights, holding them to -4 total rushing yards. Offensively, the offensive line started to open holes for LeQuint Allen and the Orange tallied 140 rushing yards after intermission. In total, Army averaged less than three yards per carry while Syracuse averaged 4.3. Allen ran for over 100 yards for the second time this season, while Garrett Shrader ran for 50 yards on 10 carries. The 10 attempts for Shrader is a much better number than the 25 he had against Purdue for the benefit of his longterm health. If Allen can run like that, it opens up so much for the offense.
4. Receivers
After only two receivers caught passes against Purdue, five did against Army. The most notable performance was Damien Alford, who had a breakout game with career highs in receptions (nine) and yards (135). He needs to play like that, using his size to his advantage, more consistently and against better competition. He frequently has a size advantage and if he can use that moving forward, it gives the Orange a huge weapon in the passing game. It was also good to see Dan Villari targeted. He could be someone that presents a mismatch at times with his athleticism as a pass catching tight end in Oronde Gadsden's absence.
5. Leadership
The first half was ugly. It would have been easy to panic, to try too hard and be undisciplined in the second half. However, this team showed its leadership and culture by bouncing back and dominating the second half. This team is together. It is confident. It is resilient. More adversity will come, especially over the next three games as the Orange faces Clemson, Florida State and North Carolina. Two of which are on the road. But this team is equipped to handle that and bounce back if things do not go their way. An encouraging sign to see how Syracuse played in the second after how bad it went in the first.
As a side note, shout out to former Syracuse quarterback AJ Long, who tweeted to me "We are gonna be alright though" at halftime. His crystal ball worked well on this one.
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