Syracuse Football: Key takeaways from Orange's comfortable week-three win over Colgate

Syracuse needed a smooth win after a tough game against Tennessee and a too-close-for-comfort win over UConn. They got that against Colgate. Sure, there were some frustrating moments, but the Orange were never going to lose, barring a complete disaster. Syracuse was up 38-3 at the half and rolled to a 66-24 win against the overmatched Raiders. Here are my takeaways from the game.

My key takeaways from Syracuse football's week-three win against Colgate.

Don't overreact to anything you saw

Was it nice to see Syracuse put together a dominant win? Sure thing it was. A lot of young guys got game experience, the team put up 66 points, and Steve Angeli became the first Syracuse player to put up 400 yards in back-to-back games. With that being said, it all came against an FCS team that was 0-2 this season and 2-10 last year. Syracuse isn't going to play another team that's anywhere near Colgate this year.

On the other hand, I have to defend the not-so-good parts of the game. Knowing there's a tough matchup with Clemson next week, Syracuse was very vanilla on both sides of the ball and at times, Colgate took advantage of that. The Raiders had 249 second-half yards and won the third quarter 14-7. Syracuse should still be better than that, but the sky isn't falling because Colgate's starters moved the ball on Syracuse's backups.

Protect Steve Angeli and good things will come

Steve Angeli truly is a pocket passer, and when he has a clean pocket, he will throw a very accurate ball pretty much every time. The offensive line has largely been shaky but played their best game so far. Angeli took advantage of that and put together his best game yet. He was 23-31 for 382 yards and five touchdown passes, adding 21 yards and a touchdown on the ground. Angeli was decisive and accurate to all parts of the field, getting everybody involved, too.

Last year, Kyle McCord really masked some of the deficiencies with the offensive line, getting the ball out really quickly and overcoming pressure. That's not easy to do, and a huge focus the rest of the way will be keeping Angeli clean. If Syracuse can do that, the offense will be able to hang with any team on the schedule.

Syracuse does not have a solution to improve the pass rush

While the Orange did record their second and third sacks on the year against Colgate, I still don't have much confidence in Syracuse getting to the quarterback. It was cornerback Braheem Long Jr. and tight end/linebacker Jamie Tremble who recorded sacks today, joining defensive lineman Kevin Jobity Jr. a week ago. I would have liked to see something more from the defensive line, who provided only limited pressure towards the Colgate quarterbacks.

I expected to see more pressure from Syracuse, and really, the Colgate offensive line held their own. Some of the same comments about not showing exotic blitzes do apply, and Colgate's RPO-heavy offense helps get the ball out quickly, but Syracuse just didn't win enough on the defensive line. Things will only get more difficult as the Orange move into ACC play, and I foresee opposing quarterbacks having all day to pick Syracuse's defense apart.