Syracuse Football: Not all staff picks see home loss to Georgia Tech
By Neil Adler
Ryan Lee
Syracuse Football will reopen The Dome this week as Georgia Tech comes in. The Yellow Jackets will not be looking to tear the turf up with their classic Paul Johnson triple-option attack but will be more modern on offense.
Originally I had this marked as a game I could see Syracuse winning, two weeks in, I’m a little less optimistic. The good news is Georgia Tech’s offense has not lit the world on fire offensively either. They have scored only 18.5 points a game this year. That is still a heck of a lot more than Syracuse’s eight points a game average with only one touchdown on the season.
The Syracuse defense will have a shot to win the game on their own Saturday. The Orange have five turnovers already this season, a tie for the most in college football to date. Georgia Tech has turned it over the most as well with seven already this season. Quarterback Jeff Sims has thrown two interceptions in both Yellow Jacket games this season. A secondary lead by turnover machine Andre Cisco will potentially be able to get one of those game-changing turnovers the Orange desperately need.
Those opportunities will be there because even though Georgia Tech still averages 42 rushing attempts a game, they have thrown the ball already 72 times this year. That is about 35 percent of the total attempts the Yellow Jackets had in 2018, Johnson’s last season as head coach. But the defense cannot do it alone.
The offense will need to put points on the board. Georgia Tech opponents have averaged the most plays per game on offense in the nation 85 plays per game, almost a whole 20 plays more than Syracuse’s average of 65.5 plays. If Syracuse wins it will be on the back of the defense who elevates themselves with the momentum of returning home after good performances during weeks one and two.
Then Syracuse’s offense capitalizes on those opportunities and begins to show life. However, I am truly concerned about the Orange’s offense at this point. If they continue to struggle it will start impacting other units as well.
The defense can only take the field so many times after the offense does nothing and be expected to put up zeros. Nothing is more deflating for a defense than getting a stop and knowing in four plays they will be back on the field in a tough spot. Georgia Tech 24 Syracuse 10