Syracuse Orange: Keys To The Season, Top Game, Top Transfer, Fun Stats
Syracuse Orange: Key To The 2022 Offense
Be a whole lot better on third downs.
It didn’t make any sense. The running game was among the best in the nation and was the strongest in the ACC, it featured two battering rams in RB Sean Tucker and QB Garrett Shrader – who went to the Tim Tebow school of power running – and yet the Orange couldn’t seem to ever convert on a big third down.
On the year the offense concerted just 33% of its chances, and it died down the stretch in the three-game losing streak to close things out – that put too much pressure and stress on the D.
Syracuse went 5-2 when it connected 30% or more of its chances and was 0-5 when it didn’t.
Syracuse Orange: Key To The 2022 Defense
Where are the takeaways?
The 2020 Syracuse defense wasn’t anything special, but it managed to generate 24 takeaways with two or more coming eight times. The 2019 defense forced 25 turnovers, and that’s after the 2019 D came up with 31.
How many turnovers did the 2021 Syracuse defense force?
Seven.
There was one lone interception coming over the last seven games, and the loss to Florida State was the only time the defense forced two takeaways.
Syracuse Orange: Key Player To The 2022 Season
DT Terry Lockett, Soph.
The Orange are going through a wholesale change on the front three, and there isn’t any size to count on. They need a defensive tackle to hold up on the nose and be active enough to be some sort of a factor against the run.
The 6-3, 264-pound Lockett made 12 tackles and two sacks as a reserve. He’s hardly a big body for the interior, but he can move.
Syracuse Orange: Key Transfer
RB Juwaun Price, Soph.
The running game already has two stars in Sean Tucker and Garrett Shrader to carry the load, but the more help Tucker can get from the other running backs, the better.
In comes Price as a do-it-all back from New Mexico State to be more than just a fill-in.
He ran for 222 yards and a score in just two games in 2020, and last season he averaged over five yards per carry with 692 yards and ten touchdowns, caught 26 passes, and left Las Cruces averaging over 23 yards per kickoff return.
Syracuse Key Game To The 2022 Season
Louisville, Sept. 3
The Orange got steamrolled by the Cardinals late in the year. Nothing worked in the 41-3 loss, and things weren’t all that much better in the 30-0 clunker in 2020.
There were the 56 points the Orange gave up in the 2019 loss. The 56-10 barnburner in 2017, 62-28 thriller in 2016, and 41-17 squeaker in 2017 weren’t without a certain charm.
Yes, Syracuse won in 2018, but it also got dropped 28-6 in 2014 as part of a brutal run of seven annihilations in the last eight games against a Louisville program seems to know how to roll in this series.
Open up the season with a home win, and the Orange can change everything and start 2-0 with a trip to UConn to follow.
Syracuse Orange: 2021 Fun Stats
– Opponent 1st Quarter Scoring: 37 – Opponent 2nd Quarter Scoring: 132
– Penalties: Syracuse 84 for 692 yards – Opponents 56 for 535 yards
– Field Goals: Opponents 19-of-22 – Syracuse 9-of-14
Syracuse 2022 Preview
Offense, Defense Breakdown
Season Prediction, What Will Happen
Syracuse Top 10 Players | Syracuse Schedule & Analysis