Syracuse Football: New defense, for most part, did pretty well vs. UNC

Syracuse football did get crushed by North Carolina over the weekend, but the Orange’s new defensive system had some bright spots.

Yes, Syracuse football kept things closer until the fourth quarter before the Orange ultimately got blown out this past Saturday afternoon against a highly rated North Carolina crew in Chapel Hill.

The ‘Cuse offense needs a lot of work, without question. Yet Syracuse football, if a few components to this contest turned out differently, had an opportunity to stay close with the Tar Heels, and possibly even spring an upset.

The Orange unveiled a new 3-3-5 defensive scheme that, from my perspective, performed admirably. Particularly in the fourth quarter, the ‘Cuse offense couldn’t get anything done, and that left the defense on the field for way too long in the final 15 minutes.

As a result, UNC proved able to rattle off three touchdowns in the fourth quarter to translate a 10-6 deficit for Syracuse football into a 31-6 setback that, honestly, looks worse than it actually seems.

Case in point, the Orange won the turnover department, 3-1, and that’s encouraging. If the ‘Cuse offense continues to struggle, then turnovers are huge, as that can give Syracuse football short fields to hopefully rely on as the team tries to get into the end zone, rather than settle for field goals.

Syracuse football rolled out a new 3-3-5 defensive make-up against North Carolina, and the defense did better than the numbers suggest.

The Orange 3-3-5 defense produced two interceptions, including one from star junior safety Andre Cisco, who is suiting up at the rover spot and, by all accounts, will keep on climbing up the career interceptions list in Central New York as the 2020 campaign carries on.

The ‘Cuse defense picking off two passes by North Carolina sophomore quarterback Sam Howell is something to feel proud of, because Howell is certainly getting buzz as a potential Heisman Trophy contender this fall.

Additionally, the Orange recovered a fumble after the Tar Heels botched a punt. The dilemma for Syracuse football, though, is that the ‘Cuse didn’t take advantage of the opportunities that it received.

So while the defense hung in there well, and Syracuse football only trailed 10-6 after three quarters, the Orange clearly wore down a bit in the fourth period, and that enabled the prolific UNC offensive attack to eventually accumulate 463 total yards, as a press release from cuse.com notes.

“We’ve just got to come together as a defense and finish the game, just finish the game off strong and finish it how we started it,” Orange senior defensive lineman Kingsley Jonathan said. “If guys keep running around and making plays, we’ll fix it and be ready to go next week.”

"Syracuse football head coach Dino Babers added, “Obviously, the defense did a fantastic job of getting the ball back to us. I think we had numerous opportunities to try to punch something in on offense and make this thing a game.“I think they can get better,” Babers continued. “I think in two to three weeks you’re going to see a better defense, as long as they stay healthy. I was really encouraged by what I saw defensively.”"