Our football guru gives his take on the Syracuse football week-one win, and what it means.
Syracuse football beat Ohio 29-9 and is starting the season 1-0. What’s interesting about that is seeing the various reactions to it. The spectrum of opinions ranges from “blah, they beat a MAC team…so what?” to “we can still go undefeated and win the championship.” Yes, that championship one is me but I’m simply stating it’s possible. Having said that, what can we really read into the win and starting 1-0? Let’s discuss it, shall we?
My first thought is to enjoy the win. It doesn’t matter who they beat, they won. Ask a UConn football fan how they feel after losing to Holy Cross right now or remember how we felt last season and just take a breathe and enjoy it. If we lost, some would be clamoring to fire everyone but they won so I’m just going to keep my #WhyNotCuse faith going, kick back and soak in the victory air.
So what about the players’ performances? Tommy DeVito might not have lit up the stat lines but he was an excellent game manager and did what he had to do to win and didn’t turn the ball over. The defense looked good and reliable led by Mikel Jones.
Defensive performances included an interception and a strong overall showing from rookie Darian “Duce” Chestnut as well as a safety from a defense that while they didn’t sack anyone as many have noted, the defense never gave up more than field goals.
Sean Tucker and Cooper Lutz both had strong running games that reminded you that maybe their performance against Notre Dame wasn’t a fluke and did so behind an offensive line that even without Dakota Davis still did a great job compared to last season. I think we should feel good that Syracuse football not only won but did so in a fashion that they looked like the better team.
But it’s just a MAC team…we should always beat a MAC team!
In theory, sure but the reality is that once you step on that field, anything is possible. This was also their field and their atmosphere and for as much flak as Syracuse basketball gets for scheduling all those early games at home, this Orange team traveled there and won decisively. You beat the team you play and you move on.
While it’s only one game, the feelings around the program would be drastically different had they started 0-1. There will always be the pessimist amongst us who will point out things like that it’s only a MAC team and you need to prove enough to me to make me care. That’s fine because that’s who they are but I take any win I can and soak it in because you can’t go undefeated if you start 0-1, but you can if you start 1-0.
So is Syracuse football a national championship contender or is this just a game Syracuse should win and it proves nothing? I think the true answer lies somewhere in the middle because we don’t know anything yet.
We know they won the game which is better than losing and we should to a certain extent enjoy it and be happy. The true test lies in the coming weeks because no opponent should be taken lightly but neither should any win.
The legacy of this team won’t lie in how it started but it will likely be how it ends and I for one am patient enough to enjoy my wins but withhold my expectations until I see how it plays out. But for now, 1-0 isn’t a bad way to start and I’m ready to see how we do at home against Rutgers.
Let’s Go Orange!!!!