Syracuse Football: Players receive high grades in week-two road triumph

Syracuse football totally dominated UConn in virtually every phase of the game as the Orange destroyed the Huskies on the road in week two on Saturday evening.

The ‘Cuse (2-0), in my humble opinion, was never greatly tested by Connecticut (1-2) in a 48-14 blow-out victory for Syracuse football. Granted, UConn doesn’t appear to be a good squad in 2022, at least so far, but any time the Orange can grab a conquest away from the Hill, it’s a positive in my book.

From my perspective, there is a lot to like about what Syracuse football did to the Huskies over the weekend, and we’re going to take a deeper look at all phases of this non-conference clash.

Let’s give out player grades for Syracuse football in the Orange’s beat-down of UConn.

Quarterback: A+
Without question, quarterback Garrett Shrader was the MVP of this win for the ‘Cuse. Against Connecticut, he was highly efficient in connecting on 20-of-23 for 287 yards and three passing touchdowns. He also had two rushing scores. That’s five total TDs. You can’t ask for anything more from the QB position.

The 2022 stanza is in its early stages, but Shrader looks like a completely different quarterback when throwing the ball, and his new assistant coaches from Virginia certainly have something to do with Shrader’s turnaround from a term ago.

I was glad to see back-up quarterback Carlos Del Rio-Wilson, a redshirt-freshman transfer from Florida, get a few reps as well in the fourth quarter.

Running Back: B+
All-American running back Sean Tucker “quietly” accumulated 112 rushing yards and one touchdown on the ground, along with 17 receiving yards. His rushing long was for “only” 13 yards, and he averaged 4.1 yards per carry, according to information from StatBroadcast.

I’d like to see Tucker get his yards-per-carry number up, but still, he did his usual thing, and I think we as fans have become spoiled as to how awesome Tucker truly is.

Back-up RB LeQuint Allen, a freshman, also got a few carries, which is a plus. What made me happy is that, in this game, Syracuse football totaled about twice as many passing yards as rushing yards, and it still managed 156 yards on the ground.

For a squad that was so run-heavy a season ago, this kind of balance is encouraging.

Wide Receiver: A-
As we noted in a column on Sunday, 10 different ‘Cuse players caught at least one pass versus UConn, and spreading the ball around in that manner is great.

That being said, it’s still not entirely clear to me who the Orange’s “go-to” wide receiver is, or maybe it will end up being more than one WR.

Courtney Jackson, Damien Alford and D’Marcus Adams all caught touchdown passes, and eight ‘Cuse guys had a minimum of 20 receiving yards.

Offensive Line: B+
To reiterate, UConn isn’t as formidable of an opponent as, say, Purdue, which will come to Central New York this Saturday. But still, I think that the offensive line did a more than credible job against the Huskies, with Shrader being lights-out in the passing attack and the ground game being solid.

My main criticism is that Connecticut managed three quarterback sacks, costing Syracuse football 39 yards.

Defense: B+
As a whole, I thought the Orange defense was really, really good. The ‘Cuse allowed just 202 total yards to the Huskies. UConn star running back Nathan Carter, a sophomore who hails from Rochester, N.Y., had tallied 100-plus yards on the ground in each of his first two games.

But the Syracuse football defense held Carter to only 71 rushing yards on Saturday night.

Granted, the Orange defense did allow a couple of long plays, including a 56-yard touchdown reception. However, the ‘Cuse limited Connecticut to 14 points, and when Syracuse football puts up those kinds of numbers on offense, then things should work out nicely for our beloved boys in Orange.

‘Cuse defenders sacked the UConn quarterback twice, and of course, we’d like to see a higher total, but Syracuse football also won the turnover department, 2-0, as the Orange recovered two fumbles.

Syracuse football, additionally, had eight tackles for losses, totaling 36 yards.

Some of the ‘Cuse defensive players who stood out to me:
•Cornerback Garrett Williams, who had seven total tackles, four solo tackles, one tackle for loss and one sack.
•Defensive back Alijah Clark, a transfer from Rutgers, who produced seven total tackles and four solo tackles.
•Linebacker Mikel Jones, who got six total tackles, three solo tackles, 1.5 tackles for loss, and recovered a fumble.
•Linebacker Marlowe Wax, who forced a fumble and recovered it, to go along with two total tackles, one solo tackle, one sack and one tackle for loss.
•Linebacker Derek McDonald, who started against UConn due to fellow LB Stefon Thompson getting injured in the team’s week-one victory at home versus Louisville, picked up four total tackles, one solo tackle and half a tackle for loss.

Special Teams: A-
Andre Szmyt was 2-of-2 in his field-goal attempts, both short ones. Maximilian Von Marburg punted just twice throughout the entire contest, and he averaged 42.5 yards per punt.

Syracuse football netted 52 total yards in returning two kick-offs from UConn, which I think is solid.

The Huskies’ George Caratan made six punts, and the Orange returned three of them for a total of five yards, which isn’t great, but frankly, it didn’t matter in this game.

Fans: A++
I wasn’t at this encounter, but from the many photos and comments that I saw on social media, I get the feeling that Syracuse football fans showed up and showed out for this road win. Shout out to all the ‘Cuse fans who made the trip to Connecticut.

Now, when Syracuse football hosts Big Ten Conference member Purdue this coming Saturday afternoon, we need the JMA Wireless Dome to be filled with a sea of Orange-colored, crazy loud ‘Cuse fans.