The first three weeks of 2018 saw Abdul Adams and Trishton Jackson transfer to Syracuse Football. The last week of 2018 saw the two etch Orange into history.
It only took 60 minutes of wearing Syracuse Football’s fabled orange and blue for Abdul Adams and Trishton Jackson to tally three combined touchdowns on 11 touches and present a reassuring glimpse into how 2019, much like the end of 2018, will be the year of the transfer in Central New York.
From being four-star recruits and co-signees to Michigan State three-and-a-half years ago to elevating Syracuse Football to a Camping World Bowl victory and its best season in two decades in just their first game under Dino Babers, its been a long time coming for Adams and Jackson.
After Adams left Oklahoma and Jackson left Michigan State, the rusher and wideout resettled at Syracuse in the spring of 2018, in hopes that immediate playing eligibility would be granted. It wasn’t. However what was given to them was the chance to play in a game no one pictured happening this past August when the Orange kicked off their season in Kalamazoo against Western Michigan.
While missing close to four months of the season, Adams and Jackson watched an Orange team achieve the impossible. According to preseason voting by 148 media members in North Carolina, the Orange were destined to finish dead last in the ACC’s Atlantic Division.
Four months later, after defeating five of the six teams that were supposedly better than them (Wake Forest, Louisville, Boston College, NC State, Florida State), SU nearly shocked the sixth and eventual National Champion Clemson Tigers and finished conference play with an unprecedented 9-3 record.
After the Orange (9-3) won more games in one season than Babers had in his first two full seasons at Syracuse (8-16), Syracuse was destined to meet a bonafide and competitive opponent in a recognizable late December Bowl Game.
Six days after the Orange cruised past Boston College 41-21 at Alumni Stadium, an admirable Orange roster got what they deserved, while Adams and Jackson got what they wished for. On December 2nd, it was announced that the Orange were heading to Orlando for the Camping World Bowl, where a December 28th date with No. 16 West Virginia awaited them.
While the duo was informed about being Bowl Game eligible halfway through the 2018 season, they only found out where, when, and who they’ll be facing in their first games as members of Syracuse in early December.
26 days later, still unsure whether or not they’ll receive a ton of in-game reps, if any at all, it would soon become apparent that the two can do serious damage with little opportunity. On just eight carries, Adams made his presence, especially on the goal line where his one-yard score in the first quarter gave Syracuse a 7-3 lead and his one-yard score in the second quarter put Syracuse up 14-9.
After the Mountaineers outscored the Orange 9-3 between the waning stages of the first half and the end of the third quarter, Syracuse found themselves down one with 15 minutes to play. Enter Jackson, whose 14-yard touchdown to begin the fourth quarter gave Syracuse a lead they wouldn’t relinquish. The two transfers combined for three of Syracuse’s four touchdowns on the game and helped the Orange regain the lead three times during a game that saw eight total lead changes.
After leaving it all on the field in Orlando, Adams and Jackson have given Orange fans reason to
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believe that the 2019 season can be just as successful as 2018 was for the Orange on offense.
Despite losing senior starters Eric Dungey, Dontae Strickland, and wide receiver Devin Butler, the Orange have never looked so deep in the running back and wide receiver departments. Quarterback Tommy DeVito will have his work cut out for him following a phenomenal senior year from Dungey. However, the offensive talent he’s inheriting from 2018, and a full season with Adams and Jackson may wind up being more talent than Dungey ever had at his disposal in Central New York.
Adams, whose first full year in Orange will be spent behind perhaps the best offensive line we’ve seen under Babers, will join Moe Neal and Jarveon Howard in what could be one of the most fierce running back committees in the ACC. This will allow the loss of Strickland to be manageable.
As for Jackson, who will likely find himself and Taj Harris as SU’s go-to outside receivers next season, will have plenty of more opportunities to get favorable one-on-ones in the red zone while opposing defenses try to also cover his fellow outside receiver, slot receivers Sean Riley and Nykeim Johnson, and the man who makes touchdowns possible, fullback Chris Elmore.
2019 will present the duo with a full season of eligibility, the chance to finally play alongside each other regularly, and the opportunity to not only reinforce but extend SU’s recent plunge into College Football relevancy.
For Adams and Jackson, the last three years have seen three combined transfers, the most recent of which has resulted in the two only lacing up for one game in 2018. That game was one they never pictured having anything to do with four months earlier.
After the two watched the Orange overcome an indescribable amount of adversity in 2018, Adams and Jackson are ready to continue rewriting history in both Central New York, and wherever Syracuse football’s success takes them in the near future.