Syracuse Football: Defense was huge in stifling Virginia’s dangerous QB

There was a fair amount of ugliness put forth by Syracuse football on Friday night at the JMA Wireless Dome, although the Orange did just enough to knock off Virginia (2-2) by two points and move to 4-0 for the first occasion dating back to 2018.

The ‘Cuse had way too many penalties. The team had to settle for field goals too often. The ground game wasn’t great. Quarterback Garrett Shrader’s decision-making, at times, could have been better. The offensive line struggled. Oh, those four turnovers. And so on and so forth.

However, a win is a win, and for the second straight week, the Orange scored points on its final offensive series late in the fourth quarter to beat Purdue, 32-29, and most recently the Cavaliers, 22-20.

Let’s give credit where credit is due, though. By and large, the ‘Cuse defense was pretty darn solid, in my humble opinion. Not perfect by any stretch of the imagination, but to me, the Orange defense kept Syracuse football in the game after the ‘Cuse nearly blew a 16-0 halftime lead.

The Syracuse football defense did a commendable job of containing Virginia’s offense.

A season ago, Cavaliers quarterback Brennan Armstrong threw for nearly 4,500 yards in the air, along with 31 passing touchdowns and just 10 interceptions.

Now, in all fairness, Armstrong hasn’t gotten off to a super strong start in 2022, but let’s also keep in mind that he has numerous new coaches that he’s working with this term.

For one, UVA has a new head coach in Tony Elliott, who previously was the offensive coordinator at Atlantic Coast Conference powerhouse Clemson.

What’s more, offensive coordinator Robert Anae and quarterbacks coach Jason Beck left Charlottesville, Va., this past off-season to take the same positions with the Orange.

So it’s understandable that Armstrong, a senior, isn’t crushing things yet in 2022, but the young man clearly has loads of talent. Versus Syracuse football, however, he was only 19-of-38 for 138 passing yards, with one touchdown and one interception by Orange star cornerback Garrett Williams.

From my perspective, that the ‘Cuse defense only allowed 138 yards through the air by Armstrong is impressive. UVA’s offense had one passing touchdown and two rushing touchdowns.

The Cavaliers, in total, accumulated only 287 yards – 138 yards in the passing attack and 149 yards on the ground, per ESPN statistics.

Besides the pick from Williams, Syracuse football forced and recovered a fumble. But the Orange itself had four turnovers, which is a big, big number.

Additionally, ‘Cuse defenders produced four sacks and six tackles for loss. Most notably, at least to me, the Orange’s solid defensive effort contained UVA offensive drives, and Syracuse football ended up with nearly a 10-minute advantage in time of possession in this ACC clash on the Hill.

Andre Szmyt proved awesome in connecting on 5-for-5 on his field-goal attempts, including the game-winner with 74 seconds left on the clock in the fourth quarter.

But beyond Szmyt and tight end/wide receiver Oronde Gadsden II, in my humble opinion, it was the ‘Cuse defense that won this conference contest for Syracuse football.