Five Takeaways: Syracuse 48 Western Michigan 7
Syracuse football won its first game against FBS competition on Saturday with a 48-7 route of Western Michigan. Here are five takeaways from the victory.
1. Injuries
It only took until the second game before the injury bug bit Syracuse. On the second offensive play of the game, Oronde Gadsden caught a pass over the middle for 10 yards. He stayed on the ground afterwards grabbing at his ankle and limped to the locker room. Gadsden later emerged in a walking boot and on crutches. In the second quarter, starting right tackle David Wohlabaugh went down and needed help getting off the field. He used crutches to get to the locker room. After the game, Babers said Wohlabaugh would probably be out for a while, but they hoped they would get him back at some point. Gadsden would be among those reevaluated Sunday. Syracuse cannot catch a break on this front. If Syracuse does not have Gadsden going on the road against a Big Ten team, that is a huge blow to its offensive approach. A lot of others stepped up in week one and two, but that was Colgate and Western Michigan. Having to go into the offensive line depth so early in the season is also a blow. Wohlabaugh was playing well and Syracuse has already been without transfer Joe More thus far. Syracuse has to hope for the best case scenario on both fronts.
2. Resiliency
Having a 75 yard touchdown run by the opponent and then having arguably your best player go down with an injury all less than one minute into the game can be a major blow to a team's confidence, energy and morale. However, all Syracuse did was dominate the game in all aspects from that point forward. The Orange rattled off 45 straight points to end the first half and went to its backups for the second half. Garrett Shrader was spectacular, receivers such as Isaiah Jones and Donovan Brown stepped up, and the defense was stifling. After 75 rushing yards on the first possession, Western Michigan only had 22 for the rest of the game. A very encouraging sign about the mental makeup of this team.
3. Offensive Versatility
Syracuse ran the ball 15 more times than it threw the ball in the season opener. Syracuse threw the ball twice more than it ran the ball against Western Michigan. That number was only to that level because the Orange ran the ball a lot more than it threw in the second half with the game all but over. Syracuse clearly came in with a plan to attack through the air after dominating on the ground the previous week. That shows that this offense can be balanced, but also can attack opponents' weaknesses when they have a matchup advantage. That type of versatility prevents you from becoming predictable and should help as the season progresses.
4. Offensive Line
I thought the starting offensive line did a much better job in pass protection this week. Shrader largely had clean pockets and ran a couple of times when he did not need to but simply because he saw an opening. There was marked improvement in that area from week one, a positive sign moving forward. While Syracuse did not hit 100 yards rushing, that was in part due to the game plan and also in part due to Western Michigan loading the defensive front to stop the run. They will have their biggest test of the season in week three, but I like the improvement week to week. It will have to adjust without Wohlabaugh for the immediate future, however.
5. Garrett Shrader
Simply put, Garrett Shrader was superb against Western Michigan. He threw the ball extremely well, was as accurate as I have seen him throwing the ball down the field and made plays with his legs. He still has to limit how much he gets hit to survive the season, but Saturday was a fantastic performance. Shrader is in full command of the offense, has the full trust of the coaching staff and his teammates.
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