LISTEN: @CuseFootball gave up the first score of the game against @WMU_Football, but dominated the rest of the contest en route to a 48-7 win. @RealLiamGriffin and @JacksonH_52 had the call for the Orange's second straight landslide victory. pic.twitter.com/oqGnoFQKrd
— WAER Sports (@WAERSports) September 9, 2023
Trouble struck Syracuse football (2-0, 0-0 Atlantic Coast Conference) against Western Michigan (1-1, Mid-American Conference) in the game’s first two offensive drives, but any unease faded as the Orange went on to put up 48 unanswered points in a 48-7 win.
Shedding the Early Jitters
On just the second play of the contest, the Broncos’ RB Jalen Buckley scored six points on a 75-yard touchdown in just thirty seconds of play on WMU’s opening drive. Those were the only points the SU defense would surrender the rest of the way. “The Mob” finished with four sacks on the afternoon and made its presence felt on the scoreboard for a second straight week; scoring on an 86-yard pick-six from DB Jason Simmons Jr.
“The atmosphere kind of flattened out a little bit in our house”, head coach Dino Babers said postgame. “I'm sitting here going there's either two things that’s going to happen: either this is going to happen a lot or we're never going to see this happen again in this game and it was good that it was the latter.”
New Week, Same Offense
The Syracuse offense also picked up right where it left off last week, scoring on six consecutive drives, which included five straight touchdowns to conclude the first half of play. Headlined by stellar performances from QB Garrett Shrader; who threw and ran for a touchdown, and a career afternoon for RB LeQuint Allen; who ran for a career-best three touchdowns.
LISTEN: Syracuse running back LeQuint Allen powered forward for another touchdown. @JacksonH_52 had the call for the sophomore's first career multi-score game.
— WAER Sports (@WAERSports) September 9, 2023
🎙️@waer883, https://t.co/BG0Q3sGq3P pic.twitter.com/MUM0WEY7oM
The biggest headline for the ‘Cuse’s starters though was TE Oronde Gadsden being assisted off the field after hauling in a pass two plays into the first SU drive. Gadsden returned to the sidelines with crutches and a walking boot on his right foot. Syracuse's head coach Dino Babers did express optimism that Gadsden might play again in next week’s contest.
Spreading the Wealth
For a second straight week, Syracuse’s 45-7 cushion at halftime allowed Dino Babers to utilize a majority of his depth chart. Specifically, with Gadsden out of the picture, the Orange had career days for many of its receivers. In total, the Orange had passes caught by ten different players. Receivers Isaiah Jones (5), Umari Hatcher (5), and Darrell Gill Jr. (3) posted career bests for catches. In addition, Jones (86) and Donovan Brown (89) collected career-highs in receiving yards.
After [the receivers] all found out that we had over 50 [yards] we just started playing games,” WR Donovan Brown said postgame “let's [play and] see who can get the most yards. I didn't even know who had the most yards until the end of the game.”
With the win, Syracuse improves to 2-0 on the young season. The Orange now leads Western Michigan 3-0 in the overall head-to-head series. Next week, SU hits the road for the first time in 2023 when it faces Purdue on Saturday at Ross-Ade Stadium. Kickoff in West Lafayette is set for 7:30 p.m. Listen to all the action on 88.3 WAER beginning with McClurg Remodeling Countdown to Kickoff at 7 p.m.
