Syracuse Football: Orange’s defense, aka the Mob, is all kinds of nasty

A season ago, when Syracuse football went 5-7 overall and missed out on a bowl-game invite by dropping its final three games, the Orange defense forced seven turnovers, while the ‘Cuse committed a dozen turnovers of its own.

Fast-forward to the present, and the Orange (5-0) has already matched its victory total from 2021. The team’s defense, known as the Mob, has forced nine turnovers in the 2022 campaign, with seven games left in the regular season, while Syracuse football has committed just four turnovers of its own.

That kind of marked improvement is huge for a couple of reasons. Number one, when the Orange defense makes an interception or recovers a fumble, that is likely giving the squad’s offense a short field, thereby increasing scoring opportunities for Syracuse football.

And, not to state the obvious, but when the ‘Cuse is faring well in the takeaways department, that probably means the Orange defense is doing its part to prevent opponents from scoring. All in all, a win-win for the ‘Cuse.

The Syracuse football Mob defense is balling out these days.

Speaking of winning, the Orange’s Mob defense (a moniker that should get trademarked!) is playing at a really high level so far in 2022.

Yes, the competition will get tougher moving forward, but ‘Cuse fans should absolutely be pleased with what the team’s defense is doing at this point in the season.

Certainly, we’ll want to monitor any additional injuries to a Syracuse football roster that has seen multiple starters get sidelined for the rest of 2022.

And I feel like a broken record at this point, but the top-25 Orange has got to clean up its issues with penalties, although that applies to not just the defense.

This past Saturday on the Hill, Syracuse football annihilated FCS team Wagner, 59-0. The ‘Cuse defense allowed just 50 total yards to the Seahawks, and star cornerback Duce Chestnut had a pick-six.

At this juncture, per statistics on ncaa.com, the Orange is giving up 14 points per game, good for No. 10 across the country. Nationally speaking, the ‘Cuse is No. 20 in passing yards allowed per contest, No. 17 in rushing yards given up per affair, and No. 12 in total yards allowed a game.

With No. 14 N.C. State headed to Central New York on Saturday, Oct. 15, followed by a road battle with No. 5 Clemson and other tough upcoming foes, the Syracuse football defense will have to up its collective game even further.

For an Orange defense that’s on pace to force more than 20 turnovers in 2022, I am confident that the Mob is up to the challenge.

By the way, that Mob “poster” circulating around Twitter is straight fire.