Syracuse Football: 5 questions with ESPN’s Anish Shroff

Paul A. Esden Jr. (@BoyGreen25): 

Some would argue that even LSU’s second or third guys could be better than some of SU’s starters. Is that still the case? Is LSU still a recruiting factory down there in the talent rich south? Will it matter if some of their starters are out?

Anish Shroff (@AnishESPN):

It 100% matters. Even though the recruiting has been elite, look at certain positions like quarterback. They haven’t done a good job over the last several years developing guys to be the face of the program in terms of quarterback play. If you look up and down the roster, sure it’s littered with ESPN 300 top recruits. But depth matters more than anything in college football. If you look at the top teams it’s all about depth.

With the way Syracuse can attack you on the perimeter and can really gas your team with tempo, that is an equalizing factor when you don’t have great depth. Regardless of talent, guys get tired when they have to face that level of high-octane and fast-paced offenses. LSU lost two guys on defense for targeting last week so they’ll be out the first half against Syracuse. Mississippi State had a great game plan and just really gassed the Tigers out. Another thing to watch out for is discipline, they’ve got 30 penalties through three games.