The Syracuse Orange (1-1, 0-1 ACC) will look to right the ship against the South Florida Bulls (2-0, 0-0 AAC) on Saturday. The Orange was crushed by the No. 10 ranked Louisville Cardinals 62-28. It was a disappointing result in a game that would’ve put Syracuse back on the radar if they had hung close.
Who’s Hot- Amba Etta-Tawo
Etta-Tawo hauled in eight catches for 103 yards and two touchdowns. He is the No. 1 option for the Orange, and has developed a nice rapport with quarterback Eric Dungey. Etta-Tawo has done it all, catching short and deep passes, and has shown the ability to go up and get the ball on long throws. Etta-Tawo will need to keep it up, as the Orange will likely need to put up a ton of points to beat USF.
Who’s Not- The Defense
Look, Lamar Jackson is a legitimate Heisman Trophy candidate, so getting torched by him is nothing to feel bad about. But, the fact that he accounted for 610 of the Cardinals’ 845 yards off offense is obscene. And no, these aren’t stats pulled from a video game. The Cardinals shredded Syracuse’s defense, as the allowed the most yards in school history. The Orange also lost defensive back Antwan Cordy to a nasty looking arm injury, making an already paper thin secondary thinner. Watching film was definitely not fun for the defense this week, and they should come out with a gigantic chip on their shoulder Saturday.
“I would say a combination of both. Obviously, they have phenomenal players. Louisville’s a very good team,” Linebacker Zaire Franklin said. “I also feel as though we weren’t as sound as we could have been. I feel like we weren’t as tight as we could’ve been and that’s on us. I think if you give a team with the talent level that Louisville has the opportunities that we gave them, they’re going to not just gash you for 20 yards, they’re going to take it to the house. And I think that just showed over and over again.”
Balance is Key for South Florida
South Florida hasn’t played great competition—Towson is an FCS team and Northern Illinois, despite success a few years ago, isn’t in the upper echelon of FBS teams—but they have had great balance on offense. Their passing offense ranks 27th in the country with 297.5 yards per game, and their rushing attack averages 253.5 yards per game, which is 22nd in the country. Dual-threat quarterback Quint Flowers has had a great start to the season, throwing for six touchdowns while only throwing one interception, and has added two touchdowns on the ground. The Bulls have two running backs, Darius Tice and D’Erne Johnson, who both get carries in addition to Flowers.
SU vs. USF Saturday @ 3:00 PM. Countdown to kickoff @2:30 on WAER 88.3
Syracuse Will Win If: The offense scores a ton of points, and the defense can recover from a disastrous effort against Louisville to at least keep the Orange in the game. This is a huge game for the Orange, as they don’t play another game at the Carrier Dome for three weeks, in addition to the schedule starting to get tougher.