Syracuse Football Report Card: Who shined for the Orange against Pitt?

Syracuse fans were extremely excited to hear about the tight end’s commitment from a junior college this past summer. He was a four star recruit both coming out of high school and JUCO and was originally a Mississippi State commit in high school. Pierce is a specimen of a man, checking in at 6-foot 3 inches and 237-pounds while being fairly quick in the open field. Coming to Syracuse, he was supposed to be more of a pass catching tight end rather than a run blocking tight end.

Pierce has been used as the opposite, up until this game against Pittsburgh. Coming into the game this past weekend, Pierce had nine catches for 39 yards and two touchdowns. His height and size were used in the red zone, but the number of catches and yards per catch was very low. Pierce had a great game on Saturday though.

He was Syracuse’s best wide receiver option on the day, hauling in nine catches for 99 yards, but failed to find the end zone. He had a few big conversions in third down situations, and some solid gains including a 19 yard reception.

It’s nice to see Pierce play well as it means Syracuse was exploring its options in the middle of the field, where the big man presents a good target. This has been a criticism of the Dino Babers offense, most pass plays for the Orange come near the sidelines.

Pierce would present another nice option for Syracuse as a pass catching threat. He could be a nice complement to Erv Philips, who also makes his money on intermediate routes and runs after the catch. Pierce could really develop into a dangerous target for Dungey and Syracuse, he is a very real threat in the red zone.

Pierce did drop two passes, both of which were tough catches, but they were on a quick screen pass and a shovel pass on the 4th & 1 play at the end of the game. He and Dungey look like they have some chemistry to work on, but I would expect to see much more of Pierce throughout the season.