Syracuse edged Liberty on Friday night at the Carrier Dome, 24-21. Here are some quick hits from the game:
- Sean Tucker’s three 100-yard games this season have all been of 132 yards or more. Tucker is only the eighth player in Syracuse history to rush for at least 132 yards in three games in a single season. Jerome Smith last accomplished the feat in 2012 and, more notably, Joe Morris did it in each of his four seasons at Syracuse, surpassing 132 yards on 16 occasions in his career.
- Tucker was effective throughout the game and was personally responsible for ten of the 22 SU first downs.
- Garrett Shrader had a rough night passing the ball, finishing his first start 6-of-15 for 77 yards. Shrader only attempted four passes in the second half, completing just one.
- In his first start at SU, Shrader’s comfort in the pass game was on shorter passes (swings and screens) and when targets were stationary. He struggled with accuracy downfield, as well as on moving targets, with his best deep pass being a third quarter shot that was ruled incomplete after Sharod Johnson came down with the ball out of bounds on the left sideline.
- Shrader’s limitations passing the ball suggest the offense is going to have problems in the future. While Tucker has been a revelation carrying the ball, removing any passing threat from the offense is going to make the Orange one-dimensional and Tucker even more of a marked man.
- One game after committing 16 penalties, SU was only assessed for five infractions, three in the first quarter.
- For the second straight game, Cody Roscoe had multiple sacks, following his three against Albany with a pair against the Flames. Roscoe now has 5.5 sacks on the season, more than any player had over the complete 2020 season.
- The Orange ran 36 plays in the first half, gaining 201 yards. Their offense was significantly less successful after intermission, gaining only 104 yards on 32 plays.
- Despite getting sacked a half dozen times, Liberty’s Malik Willis was very impressive through the air, completing 14-of-19 passes for 205 yards and three touchdowns.
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- Syracuse will have their first road game since the season opener on Saturday, October 2 when they travel to Florida State. The Seminoles have had a terrible start to the season, dropping all three of their games before hosting Louisville this Saturday. The worst loss came two weeks ago when Jacksonville State knocked off FSU on a last second touchdown, 20-17.
- The Syracuse-Florida State game will get underway at 3:30pm with television carriage yet to be confirmed.
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