Syracuse Football: Andre Szmyt happens, Oronde Gadsden II is a total star

My three MVPs for the Syracuse football 22-20 victory against Virginia on Friday night in Central New York are placekicker Andre Szmyt, tight end/wide receiver Oronde Gadsden II, and the ‘Cuse defense, the latter of which I tackled in another recent column.

In the Orange’s nerve-wracking triumph versus fellow Atlantic Coast Conference squad UVA (2-2) from the JMA Wireless Dome, Syracuse football (4-0) only managed one touchdown, and it was a rushing score from quarterback Garrett Shrader.

Enter Andre Szmyt. The 2018 Lou Groza Award winner elected to return for a fifth season in Central New York, and that decision by the redshirt senior pleases the ‘Cuse fan base.

As Syracuse football bested the Cavaliers, Szmyt connected on 5-of-5 in his field-goal attempts and 1-of-1 in his extra-point tries. Szmyt’s relatively short field goal with just over a minute to play in the fourth quarter proved the winning score against UVA, and his five field goals were a career-high.

Syracuse football players Andre Szmyt and Oronde Gadsden II were stars versus Virginia.

In 2018, Szmyt captured the national trophy as the country’s premier placekicker. He went 30-of-34 on field goals and 61-of-61 on extra points.

But last year, Szmyt struggled a bit, going just 9-of-14 on his field-goal attempts, along with 36-of-38 in his extra points. This past off-season, the Orange brought in Bob Ligashesky as the ‘Cuse special teams coordinator.

Ligashesky in 2008 was the special teams coordinator for the Pittsburgh Steelers when it claimed the NFL’s Super Bowl title.

And if we look at 2022 at this juncture for Szmyt, he is 9-of-10 on field goals and 14-of-14 on extra points. That projects, for the entire stanza, to 27-of-30 on his field-goal attempts and 42-of-42 with extra-point tries.

Let’s turn to Gadsden, a sophomore who is having a break-out campaign as perhaps Shrader’s go-to guy in the passing attack during the present term.

In week three, Gadsden caught six passes for 112 yards and two scores, including a game-winning touchdown reception with just a few seconds remaining as Syracuse football stunned Purdue at home, 32-29.

On Friday night against the Cavaliers, Gadsden hauled in seven catches for 107 yards, for an average of 15.3 yards per reception.

At this juncture in 2022, Gadsden possesses 19 receptions for 300 yards (an average of 15.8 yards per catch) along with three touchdowns.

Projected out over the course of 12 regular-season encounters, and Gadsden is on pace for 900 receiving yards and nine touchdowns through the air. That’s really strong.

Credit to Andre Szmyt, Oronde Gadsden II and the Syracuse football defense for getting the job done as the Orange squeaked by UVA in week four.