Syracuse Football: Top-5 bitter sweet oranges from loss to LSU

5. SU Rushing Attack?

Through the first two weeks of the season, the Orange struggled to run the rock. Then suddenly, seemingly out of nowhere the Orange dropped a 300 yard bomb last week. For the first time in the Dino Babers era, the team ran for more yards than they passed for.

Apparently that was a fluke as SU struggled to run the ball, albeit against a tough SEC powerhouse in LSU. While the putting was going to be a bit rough, that’s no excuse for the Orange to be anemic. This is the problem. If the Orange can’t run the ball, they become one-dimensional. If they do that, then Eric Dungey is going to be extra vulnerable to taking punishment.

That’s what we saw in this ball game against the Tigers. That’s not a recipe for success for the Orange. Dungey hasn’t completed a full season in Orange in two seasons, the way things are going the third time certainly won’t be the try. The Cuse finished up with less than 100 yards rushing as a team.

For the first time this season, Dungey wasn’t the leading rusher. Which initially sounds good because you’d think that means another runner stepped up. Quite the opposite, Dontae Strickland’s team leading 27 yards hardly inspires confidence.