My 2015 SU Football Preview: The Schedule (First Half) | Syracusefan.com

My 2015 SU Football Preview: The Schedule (First Half)

SWC75

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The Schedule


(ESPN3 is only available on the internet: http://espn.go.com/watchespn/ )

(ACC Network will be on Channel 3 in Syracuse Other locations: http://www.theacc.com/news/ACC-Network-Affiliates-ACCMBB-Syracuse-at-Virginia-Tech_01-02-14_ya09pp )

(RSN means “Regional Sports Network. As far as I can tell, that means that the organization televising the game hasn’t been selected yet. )

(TBA means “To be announced)

My summaries are based on what I’m reading in pre-season magazines such as Sports Illustrated, Lindy’s Athlon’s, and ESPN, as well as internet sources. Some of the information might not be up-to-date if there have been late changes.


Friday, September 4, 2015, 7PM at the Carrier Dome on ESPN3

RHODE ISLAND: People keep pointing out how lucky we were to beat FCS-level Villanova in last year’s opener but the Rams were no Villanova. The Wildcats were one of the top teams in FCS, going 11-3 while outscoring their opposition 528-310, (they lost those three games by a total of 5 points). Meanwhile the Rams went 1-10, getting outscored 150-409, including a 21-44 loss to the Wildcats, (who had a 44-0 lead before they called off the dogs). SU fans remember struggling pas the Rams 21-14 in the Dome in 2011 but we also beat them 63-17 back in 2002, a year where we went 4-8. If this one isn’t an easy victory for SU it will be a very bad sign. The Rams lost leading rusher Lyle McCombs and are looking for a new quarterback. Their new running back may be a converted linebacker, T.J Anderson. Boston College transfer Mack Lowrie might be the quarterback. The Rams are high on freshman receiver Marven Beauvais, who has size at 6-4 205. Linebacker Adam Parker is the leading returning tackler. He’ll get plenty of business. They have an all-senior secondary, although nobody’s sure if that’s good news considering the way they played last year.


(Late news: junior college transfer Paul Mroz has won the quarterback battle. He had 26TDs and 11 interceptions playing in California last year and is said to be a dual threat who ran a 4.58 40 yard dash.)


In 2014 they averaged 12.5-34 in points scored; 266.5-443 in total yards, 119-231 in rushing yardage; 145.7-211.5 in passing yardage and were -13 in turnovers.


Saturday, September 12 2015, 12:30PM at the Carrier Dome on ACC Network

WAKE FOREST: This is the team Syracuse is picked to battle it out against in the quest to avoid last place in the ACC’s Atlantic Division. Many pundits are picking them over Syracuse. It seems odd because, bad as we were, we walloped the Deacons in their own place last year, 30-7, even after the injuries had started to pile up for us and now we’ve got them in our place early in the season when we should be fairly healthy. That was our only conference victory last year while Wake went 2-6 and 4-8 overall, one win better than us in each case. Coach Dave Clawson has a history of rebuilding programs (Fordham and Bowling Green) fairly rapidly but Wake Forest and the ACC are a bigger challenge than he’s faced before.

Wake Forest was ”historically bad” on offense last year. (I guess we were only ‘hysterically bad’). They averaged 216 yards per game, the worst in the nation. John Wolford started as a true freshman at quarterback and fin shed last in the ACC in yards per attempt, throwing 12TD passes in 367 attempts. (Of course our four QB’s last year threw 382 passes and only six of them went for TDs but Wolford was their original starter). They like to spread you out and tight end Cap Serigne had 54 catches but they had no running game to speak of. They rushed for a total of 479 yards last year, 1.3 carry. They’ve got three starters back from a poor line. Wohlford was sacked 45 times, most in FBS and we remember what being sacked so many times did to Andrew Robinson. The Deacs, like us, are looking for playmakers and true freshman Tabari Hines could be one as a wide receiver/kick returner. Wideout Cortez Lewis is coming off shoulder surgery but has “vast potential”. They also recruited Ricky Reid away from Tennessee and the other North Carolina schools after he gained 7700 yards and scored 90TDs playing for Concord, NC High. They also got tailback Matt Colburn to decommit from Louisville. All are untested but could be game-changers.

They’ve got all of their linebackers back on defense which gives them a nice core to build around. Brandon Chubb, Marquel Lee and Hunter Williams recorded 261 tackles, 26 for a loss, last year and will probably have to do as well this year. Safety Ryan Janvion led the team with 113 tackles. End Zachary Allen had 12 tackles for loss and 5 sacks. Their best defender last year was cornerback Kevin Johnson, who is now in the pros.

They have a good punter in Alex Kinal, who averaged 43.8 (sometimes the best punters are on the worst offensive teams: they get so much practice) and their place kicker, Mike Weaver, hit 15 pf 19 field goals. That could certainly matter in a game between two teams struggling to find a productive offense.

Clawson has said that his biggest need was simply to get bigger and stronger and he thinks this year’s team will be. They will be very young with only four senior starters.

In a lot of ways this will be Syracuse playing Syracuse, or Wake playing Wake: two teams with similar problems trying to overcome them by beating each other. Who will get a leg up in proving that they are no longer like the other?


In 2014 they averaged 15-26 in points scored; 216-369 in total yards, 40-183 in rushing yardage; 176-187 in passing yardage and were -2 in turnovers.


Saturday, September 19, 2015, 12:30PM at the Carrier Dome on RSN

CENTRAL MICHIGAN Opening with a 1-10 FCS school and two teams we beat by a combined 70-10 last has Syracuse fans excited about a 3-0 start, which would match our victory total last year before we suffer even one defeat. It would also allow us to get a bowl game birth with even a 3-6 record the rest of the way, which sounds obtainable. Beyond that it would bolster the team’s – and the fan’s confidence. Just what the doctor ordered!

But we haven’t been 3-0 in 24 years, back to Paul Pasqualoni’s first year in 1991. We’ve dreamed about many a 3-0 start since then but we’ve always gotten that early defeat that set us off-schedule and force us to scramble through the rest of the season. Even if we get by the Rams and Deacons, we won’t be home free against the Chippewa’s. When we travelled to their place last year, they seemed to be a scary team, having beaten Purdue at Purdue 38-17 while we had barely scraped by Villanova at home. But the Chips suspended their leading rusher and had some other injuries. SU got a safety, a fumble returned for a score, and another TD set up by a turnover and it just seemed to snowball into a totally unexpected 40-3 win to make us 2-0, which turnout to be the definition of a false positive. CMU wound up 7-6, losing a wild bowl game to Western Kentucky, 48-49. They’d come back from a 14-49 deficit and lost on a failed two point conversion. We’ve lost at home to Akron, (2008) and this team is better than they were. They are no automatic wins for a team like SU.

Their Coach, Dale Enos, left to take a coordinator positon at Arkansas, leaving the team to long-time NFL assistant John Bonamego. NFL coaches don’t always make good college coaches as we’ve found out the hard way. Bonamego told Chippewa fans, “Since I left CMU in 1987, my dream job was to be the head coach of the Central Michigan football program. “ I’m sure he means it….

Quarterback Cooper Rush threw 27 TD passes. But they lost their top rusher, their top receiver and best tight end, so he may not prove as productive this year. But their back-ups played a lot and put up similar numbers so they might just keep rolling along. They have two fine defensive ends in Blake Serpa and Joe Ostman. They are searching for linebackers and didn’t have a good pass defense last year.

We shouldn’t overlook this team. Some fans probably will. Let’s hope the team doesn’t.


In 2014 they averaged 27-25 in points scored; 398-355 in total yards, 155-123 in rushing yardage; 243-232.5 in passing yardage and were -5 in turnovers.


Saturday, September 26, 2015 Time: TBA at the Carrier Dome on TBA

LOUISIANA STATE The good news is that Tigers had an off year last season: 8-5 with a 28-31 bowl loss to Notre Dame. The bad news is that they are still way better than we are. Their problems last year were (1) A one-dimensional offense centered on 6-1 230 Leonard Fournette, a true freshman who had been the nation’s #1 recruit and who had five 100 yard rushing games but six games with 52 yards or less and (2) A defense that proved susceptible to “dink and dunk” offenses. Notre Dame controlled the ball for 37 minutes against them. Arkansas’s tight end had 8 catches for 90 yards. Alabama’s winning drive featured four completed passes for a total of 50 yards. One of their two quarterbacks, Anthony Jennings was arrested in June for “unlawful entry of a dwelling” but the charges have since been dropped. (Big surprise.)

Jennings has said “Sixty percent passing, I think , in this offense will win a national championship.” That’s up to him and Brandon Harris. They have a “veteran offensive line and one of the nation’s best young receiving units in 6-3 sophomore Malachi Dupre, 6-2 junior Trvin Dural and speedy 6 foot sophomore slot receiver John Diarse” (SI).

Kevin Steele “a great defensive mind” has come over form Alabama to run a defense with perhaps the best secondary in the country, one with everybody back including safety John Mills, a “potential first round pick” and “promising junior cornerback Tre’Davious White”. Tackles Christian LaCouture and Davon Godchaux solidified the defensive line last year and are both back.

It would take more than 60% passing to win SU a national championship. LSU has the type of program that just needs a little adjustment here or there. I was watching and ESPN program where their experts predicted who would be in the national championship playoff this year and their consensus was that it will be an Ohio State-LSU final. They were split on who would win. So that gives you an idea of just who will be invading the Dome on September 26th.


We’re likely to hear too much of “Hold That Tiger” in the Dome this year. (Clemson plays it, too.)


In 2014 they averaged 28-17.5 in points scored; 387.5-317 in total yards, 224.5-153 in rushing yardage; 163-164 in passing yardage and were -3 in turnovers.


(Bye Week)


Saturday, October 10, 2015 Time: TBA in Tampa, Florida on TBA

SOUTH FLORIDA This is an old Big East opponent that we had a lot of trouble with when we were in that conference. It’s also our first road game. The Bulls are not as good as they were then, however, going 4-8 last year and 2-10 the year before. Their dreams of becoming another national power from Florida seem to be fading.

Coach Willie Taggart has been trying “smash-mouth” football without success but has been persuaded to open up the offense with more of a spread this year to take advantage of their athletes. They have yet to find the QB they want and are trying to find the receivers but they still have Marlon Mack, who ran for 1,014 yards last year. “Mack is an electrifying open-field runner, but he’s more impressive in displaying patience to read his blocks and aggressiveness in hitting the hole.” Sean Price is a former four star recruit at tight end who has failed to pan out so far. They are rebuilding the offensive line.

New defensive coordinator Tom Allen, (from Ole Miss), has instituted an odd 4-2-5 defense, so both units will be getting used to new schemes. The 4-2-5 is supposed to be an antidote for spread offenses. It seems like it could be vulnerable to a strong running attack, with a front 6 instead of 7. Last year they gave up 26 passes for 20 yards or more and 200 yards rushing in six different games. Linebacker Nigel Harris led the nation in forced fumbles. Their front line has size and depth for us to envy.

“The Bulls have one of the nation’s top punters in senior Mattias Ciabatti, who averaged a school-record 44.4 yards with 18 kicks of 50-plus yards and 22 downed inside the 20.” (Athlon)

Taggert is 6-18 in two years and Bulls fans are wondering if he’s their version of G-Rob. They provide us with a real chance to be 4-1 when the main part of conference play finally begins.


In 2014 they averaged 17-27 in points scored; 305-403 in total yards, 108-183 in rushing yardage; 197-220 in passing yardage and were even in turnovers.


Saturday, October 17, 2015 Time: TBA in Charlottesville, Virginia on TBA

VIRGINIA The Cavs are a little like us a program that has been good at times, occasionally very good but has had plenty of ups and downs. They had a big down year two years ago at 2-10 and rebounded to 5-7, which is probably about where we will wind up this year. That probably means they are a year ahead of us in their rebuilding, except that we were going pretty good before that with our three bowl wins in four years our bad year may have been an anomaly due to all the injuries: at least we hope it was.

The Hoos, (they’re also called that, for Wahoos, something Washington and Lee students once called them for their rowdiness), were known last year for their “dink and dunk” offense. Their running backs caught 100 passes, second most in the country. This year they are going to emphasize more of a power running game, which is bad news for the Orange with our losses up front. They have two quarterbacks who played a lot but not spectacularly, Greyson Lambert and Matt Johns. Both are tall guys- 6-5 and can see over defenders. They’ve got a lot of experienced receivers, including Canaan Severin, (42 catches) and big play man Andre Lerone. Running back Taquan Mizzell is called “Smoke” because that’s what he does to potential tacklers. But he’s “a five star recruit who has failed to live up to his billing” so far. This may be the year. Like us, they had a lot of injuries in the offensive line last year. And, like us, they now have a lot of experienced offensive linemen.

Also like us, they had a very good defense last year but have lost a lot up front, including all their linebackers. But they have more returning than we do, including both tackles and star safety Quin Blanding, an All-America candidate. They also have a top linebacker recruit in C. J. Stalker. The rest of their secondary was a bit leaky last year. 49% of the completions they surrendered last year were for 10 yards or more, (96th in FBS). Virginia’s defensive coordinator, Jon Tenuta, is famous for his aggressive tactics, (like Scott Shafer). He’s willing to take chances to force big plays. We need to be able to make them pay for that. The linebackers, by the way are coached by Mike Archer, who was the head coach at LSU when we beat them in the 1/1/89 Hall of Fame Bowl. Maybe we can beat him again.

The Hoos are looking for a new punter but have a fine field goal kicker in Ian Frye who hit 22 of 27. That’s a good percentage but that’s also a lot of attempts, which is why the Cavs are getting away from dink and dunk and going toward smash-mouth football. Coach Mike Loudon, like Willie Taggart of USF, is said to we under a “win or else” order. But Scott Shafer could use some wins, too.


In 2014 they averaged 26-24 in points scored; 305-403 in total yards, 138-121 in rushing yardage; 236-232.5 in passing yardage and were +5 in turnovers.
 
The Schedule


Saturday, October 17, 2015 Time: TBA in Charlottesville, Virginia on TBA

VIRGINIA The Cavs are a little like us a program that has been good at times, occasionally very good but has had plenty of ups and downs. They had a big down year two years ago at 2-10 and rebounded to 5-7, which is probably about where we will wind up this year. That probably means they are a year ahead of us in their rebuilding, except that we were going pretty good before that with our three bowl wins in four years our bad year may have been an anomaly due to all the injuries: at least we hope it was.

The Hoos, (they’re also called that, for Wahoos, something Washington and Lee students once called them for their rowdiness), were known last year for their “dink and dunk” offense. Their running backs caught 100 passes, second most in the country. This year they are going to emphasize more of a power running game, which is bad news for the Orange with our losses up front. They have two quarterbacks who played a lot but not spectacularly, Greyson Lambert and Matt Johns. Both are tall guys- 6-5 and can see over defenders. They’ve got a lot of experienced receivers, including Canaan Severin, (42 catches) and big play man Andre Lerone. Running back Taquan Mizzell is called “Smoke” because that’s what he does to potential tacklers. But he’s “a five star recruit who has failed to live up to his billing” so far. This may be the year. Like us, they had a lot of injuries in the offensive line last year. And, like us, they now have a lot of experienced offensive linemen.

Also like us, they had a very good defense last year but have lost a lot up front, including all their linebackers. But they have more returning than we do, including both tackles and star safety Quin Blanding, an All-America candidate. They also have a top linebacker recruit in C. J. Stalker. The rest of their secondary was a bit leaky last year. 49% of the completions they surrendered last year were for 10 yards or more, (96th in FBS). Virginia’s defensive coordinator, Jon Tenuta, is famous for his aggressive tactics, (like Scott Shafer). He’s willing to take chances to force big plays. We need to be able to make them pay for that. The linebackers, by the way are coached by Mike Archer, who was the head coach at LSU when we beat them in the 1/1/89 Hall of Fame Bowl. Maybe we can beat him again.

The Hoos are looking for a new punter but have a fine field goal kicker in Ian Frye who hit 22 of 27. That’s a good percentage but that’s also a lot of attempts, which is why the Cavs are getting away from dink and dunk and going toward smash-mouth football. Coach Mike Loudon, like Willie Taggart of USF, is said to we under a “win or else” order. But Scott Shafer could use some wins, too.


In 2014 they averaged 26-24 in points scored; 305-403 in total yards, 138-121 in rushing yardage; 236-232.5 in passing yardage and were +5 in turnovers.
Matt Johns will be our opening day starter vs. UCLA. Lambert graduated in 3 years, transferred to Georgia, and will be their opening day starter. He is considered a junior and eligible to play under the graduate transfer rules.

One thing that will also help our secondary is the return of cornerback Demetrious Nicholson, who redshirted after getting hurt last year. He has been a pre-season 2nd or 3rd team all-ACC defender his previous 3 upperclass years, after being selected as a 2nd team Freshman AA.

We were a power running team under George Welsh (Tiki Barber, remember him?) It will be very interesting to see if we can come up with the proper running backs to return to our roots (assuming our line plays better this year). A number of our backs were advertised as "speed backs" when they were recruited; we're hoping that they've since put on some beef in the weight room.
 

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