Syracuse Football: Sean Tucker is a beast; UConn’s RB is darn good, too

When Syracuse football travels to Connecticut to face the Huskies this Saturday night, the two teams will each be showcasing an ultra-talented running back.

Naturally, the Orange (1-0) has Sean Tucker, who a season ago was an All-American and broke the team’s single-season rushing record with nearly 1,500 yards on the ground.

Tucker entered the 2022 campaign as a pre-season All-American according to numerous national media outlets, and he didn’t disappoint in week one.

Last Saturday night on the Hill, as the ‘Cuse smashed fellow Atlantic Coast Conference squad Louisville, 31-7, Tucker ran for nearly 100 yards and accumulated 183 all-purpose yards, to go along with a rushing touchdown and a receiving TD.

But his adversary on the other side of the field this coming Saturday has put forth a stellar show in the early goings of the 2022 stanza as well.

Let’s take a deeper look at the running back that Syracuse football will face in week two.

So far in the 2022 season, UConn is 1-1 under first-year head coach Jim Mora, who previously was a head coach at UCLA and in the NFL.

Mora’s starting running back is sophomore Nathan Carter, who by the way is from Rochester, N.Y. In the Huskies’ first two contests, Carter has gone over 100 yards on the ground in both encounters.

In a road loss to Utah State on August 27, Carter piled up 190 rushing yards on 20 carries, which is a ton of yards. On September 3, in a dominating home victory versus Central Connecticut, Carter rushed 23 times for 123 yards and a score on the ground.

Per a recent press release from SU Athletics, Carter through two affairs is averaging 170.5 all-purpose yards per game, which is a big, big number. Additionally, according to ESPN statistics, Carter is averaging 7.3 yards per carry in 2022.

A stanza ago, he rushed 125 times for 578 yards and two touchdowns on the ground, with a per-carry average of 4.6 yards.

So if you compare 2021 to 2022 (and obviously it’s super early in the current campaign), Carter is averaging 2.7 more yards per attempt this season. That’s impressive stuff.

Without question, the Syracuse football defense was sensational in week one, limiting a high-octane Cardinals offense to just one touchdown.

However, the Orange’s defensive line is young (but talented). And the team’s terrific line-backing core took a big hit when it was announced this week that sophomore linebacker Stefon Thompson, unfortunately, will be out for the remainder of the 2022 season due to an injury he suffered against Louisville.

I’m not in any way saying that Carter is on the same level as Tucker. But the Rochester native absolutely does pose a threat to the ‘Cuse defense.

As head coach Dino Babers recently said in part about UConn, according to cuse.com, “We know this is going to be a difficult game.”

Whether the Huskies prove a challenging opponent for Syracuse football will be determined on Saturday evening. The Orange is a massive betting favorite in this non-conference collision. What’s clear, though, is that both squads possess a top-flight running back.