Syracuse Football: Top 3 nuggets to watch out for in Week 2 vs Maryland

Our Paul A. Esden Sr shares the top 3 nuggets to watch out for in Week 2 between the Syracuse football squad and Maryland.

One of my questions was answered in the opening game for the Syracuse football squad against the Liberty Flames and one of them was answered in a BIG way. Our defense is FOR REAL.

I fully understand that the Flames are not the Clemson Tigers, however they are a Division 1 school and one of their biggest strengths was their running game coming into the game with a 3-headed monster responsible for 2000 yards rushing last year; that is until they ran into the Orange Crush (not as catchy as the Orange is the New Fast but not too shabby either).

The Orange held the vaunted Liberty running attack to (drum roll please) minus 4 yards. This is an astounding number but when you couple it that they ran the ball 34 times it speaks to the dominance of the game.

Perhaps the largest question mark going into the season remains unanswered. Tommy DeVito’s play on Saturday night could at best be described as lackluster.

Under 50 percent completion percentage, throwing for 176 yards and two interceptions. The leading receiver was also our leading rusher Moe Neal. Forget this writers prediction for an undefeated season if this does not get turned around that is at best a pipe dream. Now I am not sounding the panic alarm, yet, but marked improvement is needed. Now on to the next game.

At this point in my article I would typically breakdown the season for our opponent leading up to our game. I won’t be doing that this game not because there is only a one-game resume but because Maryland scheduled the Howard University Bison which I am sure has a nice campus but is somewhat lacking in the gridiron as they lost 79-0. This mismatch verged on the ridiculous as the Bison’s managed only 68 yards of total offense.

Here are some key nuggets to look for:

• Junior transfer quarterback Josh Jackson in his first start for Maryland put up some gaudy numbers and was pulled after the first half, after going 15-for-24 for 245 yards and finishing with four touchdowns.
• This game was more like the old school QB challenge where quarterbacks threw at non-moving targets with no defenders. Still our secondary will be put to the test.
• The Terrapins brought some heat sacking Bison QB’s eight times. The rebuilt Orange offensive line will be challenged to give Tommy DeVito some time or this will be a long day for our QB.

Onto the prediction; the computers were also somewhat unimpressed by Syracuse’s inaugural 2019 game as according to ESPN’s FPI Matchup Predictor has Maryland as a 66.8% favorite to win.

The Liberty game was just what the doctor ordered: showed Tommy and Dino that work was needed on the passing game, the defense came together and it allowed the team who may have been drinking the kool-aid that their work is cut out for them to continue to put the Orange back in the National limelight.

I expect the Orange to improve (remember this is a marathon, not a sprint) in their second game and come away with a second road win. As always Be Loud, Be Proud, Be ORANGE!