Syracuse Football: Athlon Sports suggests SU football is ‘mediocre’

The Syracuse football squad is not getting much love from the national media. The latest suggesting SU is simply slated to be ‘mediocre’.

The belief without evidence moniker is starting to wear thin among the Syracuse football fan base. It’s been a punchline of sorts among fans trying to rationalize three straight four win seasons.

The lack of winning has infected more than just the fan base’s morale, but quite frankly it has affected the perception of the team on a national level.

This team hasn’t been to a bowl game since 2013 and for a team like Syracuse, that’s where they want to get too.

So what will SU be in 2018? If you’re an avid Athlon Sports reader, you’ll see the Orange are slated to be mediocre:

"66. SyracuseDino Babers has delivered back-to-back 4-8 campaigns to begin his tenure at Syracuse, but as indicated by upset wins over Virginia Tech (2016) and Clemson (’17), this program is headed in the right direction. And with 14 starters back, a breakthrough 2018 is within reach.Babers’ team is once again led by a high-powered offense. When healthy, quarterback Eric Dungey is among the ACC’s top signal-callers. Promising redshirt freshman Tommy DeVito is an intriguing backup, providing insurance in case Dungey is limited at any point this season.Replacing receivers Steve Ishmael and Ervin Philips is the top priority on offense, but this unit also needs more production out of its ground attack and improved play in the trenches. With four starters back, along with the return of Aaron Roberts from injury and the arrival of Koda Martin as a graduate transfer, Syracuse’s offensive line is poised for improvement this fall.The Orange have finished last in the ACC in yards per play allowed in each of the last two seasons. Even with the firepower on offense, this group has to improve in order to reach a bowl game. The pieces appear to be in place for that to happen. Tackle Chris Slayton might be one of the ACC’s most underrated players, and the secondary is headlined by All-ACC candidate Chris Fredrick. All three starters must be replaced at linebacker. Entering year three under Babers, the natural progression for Syracuse is to reach six wins and a bowl game. While there are personnel concerns, those two goals seem like reasonable expectations for 2018."

For clarification SU was ranked 66th out of 130 possible college football teams.

So in other words SU is average or another synonym for it is mediocre. So let’s go through a couple of the points made in this blurb above. First off SU is 8-16 under Babers which is mediocre. But the thought that two top-25 wins suggests that SU ‘is headed in the right direction’ may be a fallacy.

After the win over No. 2 Clemson last year on October 13th, SU lost five in a row to end the season. Let’s go back to 2016, the Orange take out No. 17 Virginia Tech, but the Cuse finished 1-4.

While certainly these wins are exciting, they don’t seem to be the program altering wins that people have suggested. Well at least not yet.

The next point is 100% accurate, SU returns their senior quarterback Eric Dungey. In theory, he should know the playbook like the back of his hand. Which should help in multiple areas: helping line up teammates, being able to ‘wing it’ and change plays and better understand situational football.

Plus for the first time in a long time, SU has a legitimate security blanket if Dungey gets hurt again. That of course is Tommy DeVito who is one of the most hyped prospects Syracuse has had in recent memory.

Slightly a mirage…

Sure 14 starters are returning for Syracuse, which is over 50%, but I lean towards quality over quantity. The Syracuse football squad is losing multiple players with NFL caliber talent including but not limited too: Steve Ishmael, Erv Philips, Zaire Franklin, and Parris Bennett.

While on the stat sheet that’s ‘only four players’ their impact extends far beyond that. All four of those players are on NFL rosters as you read this. That’s SU’s entire receiving corps and linebacking corps.

Long story short, there’s a ton of production to replace on both offense and defense.

So for fans getting offended by the ‘mediocre’ label, I feel you. But on the same token, the Orange are 15-33 over the last four years. If you don’t want to be called ‘mediocre’ then do something about it.

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They have a real chance to do that this season, but they need their quarterback to stay healthy. The defense can’t finish last in the ACC in yards per play allowed, as they’ve done in each of the past two seasons. Plus the offensive line has to be half as good as people think it can be.