Syracuse football got punched in its collective mouth this past weekend in a 41-3 drubbing on the road at the hands of Louisville, preventing the Orange from notching a sixth win and reaching post-season bowl eligibility.
‘Cuse head coach Dino Babers says that this coming Saturday, when the Orange travels to No. 20 N.C. State, he wants his players to punch back – metaphorically speaking, of course.
Babers, during his weekly press conference a few days ago, said that versus the Cardinals, Syracuse football was flat and didn’t play with physicality.
"“And those things truly bother me. It should bother everyone that was in this room on Sunday. So we are looking forward to seeing if we can change people’s opinions of the last time we were out on the football field,” Babers said in his remarks, according to cuse.com."
Even though the Orange (5-5, 2-4) was coming off of a bye week, and had extra time to prepare, the coaching staff and the players were embarrassed by Louisville, which entered the Atlantic Coast Conference clash with a worse record than its opponent’s at that point in the 2021 stanza.
Syracuse football boss Dino Babers wants more toughness out of the Orange.
Last Saturday afternoon, Louisville put on a show for its fans at Cardinal Stadium. The Louisville offense absolutely shredded the Orange’s defense.
Conversely, the Cardinals defense held ‘Cuse star running back Sean Tucker to 95 yards on the ground, which is well below his 2021 season average. What’s more, quarterback Garrett Shrader did nothing in the air, passing for an abysmal 46 yards.
Syracuse football has two regular-season games remaining, on the road against the Wolfpack, and then the home finale versus Pittsburgh. Both foes are nationally ranked.
N.C. State, by the way, is undefeated on its own turf in the 2021 term. According to the cuse.com announcement, the Wolfpack has one of the country’s best rushing defenses and an explosive quarterback in Devin Leary.
According to his bio on ESPN’s Web site, Leary has thrown for 2,883 yards and 29 touchdowns, against just five interceptions. Talk about a challenge for Tucker on one side of the field, and the Orange defense on the other.
In its most recent debacle, Babers said his players didn’t have “enough fight, not enough struggle, not enough clawing and scratching.”
"With N.C. State on the horizon, the ‘Cuse will be suiting up in a hostile environment versus one of the ACC’s top squads. Babers added that the Orange is “looking forward to having an opportunity to put this football team back out front and see if we can change the narrative from what happened the previous week.”"