Syracuse Football: Top 3 keys to the game vs Pitt Panthers
Our Paul A. Esden Sr. reveals his top three keys to the game for the Syracuse football squad vs the Pitt Panthers on Friday night.
Coming off last season’s Syracuse football campaign I am sure that many fans, like me, were excited for the number of prime time games that would feature the New Fast.
Three of the first six games were under the bright lights of an ESPN game. Leading into Friday’s contest it might be time to rethink that perception.
The Orange come limping into this one, letting a very winnable game against a lesser talent in NC State slip away. Entering the second half of the season it will be an all uphill battle for Cuse to get to the six-win mark and bowl eligibility.
"In the words of patriot Thomas Paine, “These are the times that try men’s souls. The summer soldier and the sunshine patriot will, in this crisis, shrink from the service of their country; but he that stands by it now deserves the love and thanks of man and woman.”"
So Orange fans let us not be summer soldiers or fans rather but it is time to gird our loins and press forward rooting on the Orange to Victory!
The good news is that the ESPN Matchup Predictor has Syracuse a 51.1 percent favorite to win the game. The bad news is that in two ACC games the Orange has been outscored 57-16. Yes those numbers are correct. Syracuse is averaging a whopping eight points per game.
Here are my 3 keys to the game that are all tied to one element. Our offensive line:
Establish the running game.
Last week the only offensive statistic that Syracuse led the game in was rushing attempts 37. Sadly this yielded an average of 1.1 yards per carry. I fully understand that our sacks yardage loss counts against us in this category but we were not lighting the world on fire here. To keep it simple in old fashion football blocking and tackling, running the ball will help us pass the ball.
Protect Tommy.
Pittsburgh is among the top 20 defensive squads in the nation and in the top five for sacking the quarterback.
The key here is for Dino Babers and Tommy to help protect Tommy. The offense line is key to this, but in the end, the challenges Syracuse faces with the injuries and experience with the offensive line put the team in quite the pickle. It’ll be up to unique play design and play calling to keep Tommy from making bad decisions.
Halfway through the season it is time for Tommy to live up to the hype and play with the cards that he is dealt. Knowing the state of the offensive line he needs to make quick decisions and ensure when he does have time to go through his progressions and when there is nothing there dump it off to his outlet.
It’s unknown if DeVito played hurt last week or not but he needs to make better decisions on throwing the ball away and knowing when to slide and when to push forward for the first down.
Onto the prediction.
Looking ahead to the Orange’s goal of becoming bowl eligible this is a must-win game for Syracuse. The Panthers are a lunch bucket, blue-collar group that plays hard nose smash mouth football.
Next. Syracuse Football: Top 10 players that should have their jerseys retired. dark
Captain obvious here when I say that the offensive line needs to find a way, in the words of Bill Belichick ‘DO YOUR JOB’. I am not sure if this is more hope than sound reasoning but I predict the Orange will win a tight one 24-21. As always Be Loud, Be Proud, Be ORANGE!