After its 28-point win over Holy Cross, Syracuse battles a new west coast foe for the first time ever. Josh Richardson previews the matchup against UNLV, and how the college football landscape continues to change.
There was a lot of good that came out of Syracuse’s 42-14 win over Holy Cross on Saturday. Different points of emphasis that head coach Fran Brown discussed all week leading up to the game came true: SU ran the ball significantly better. The Orange embodied Brown’s signature phrase “D.A.R.T.” from start to finish. But one thing that still lingered on was the issues in the secondary. On back to back possessions in the second quarter, the Crusaders scored their only two touchdowns of the game, much to the dismay of Brown.
“Those two drives I thought weren’t good at all,” the first year bench boss said. “You know that wasn’t us.”
Even now that Syracuse (3-1, 1-1 Atlantic Coast Conference) catches a flight to the opposite side of the nation to battle No. 25 UNLV (4-0, 1-0 Mountain West Conference), the defensive issues need to be solved, especially facing a receiving core like the Rebels.
“You’ve got 11, you've got 21 and 23,” Brown said. “11 is really good. Kid from Georgia. He can play football. He’s a real good football player.”
AIN'T DONE YET 🔥
— UNLV Football (@unlvfootball) September 28, 2024
📺: FS1 pic.twitter.com/iHT6JCpO2x
Despite one of the biggest and most controversial starts to a college football season, UNLV made its way into the AP Top 25 for the first time in its 46 year program history. The news about the Rebels surrounds former quarterback Matthew Sluka, who left the program just before its tilt against Fresno State. Sluka stepped away from the team and used his redshirt year to maintain one final season of eligibility after NIL disputes between him and the university.
Through all of that, UNLV is undefeated through four games for the first time ever, and poses a difficult challenge to the Orange in the ground game. The Rebels average 283.0 rushing yards per game, good for sixth in all of FBS. On the other hand, the Orange allow 139.0 RPG which lands them in the middle of the pack for ground defense.
The biggest change for Syracuse comes from flying across the country. As teams set up their own non-conference schedule, the increase in west coast contests has to do with overall conference realignment in the NCAA. Heading into this season, the last time SU played in the Pacific Time Zone was in 2011 against USC. This year, the Orange will make two trips out west in a six-week period. Even with the trip, all Brown is looking forward to is wearing an “S” on his chest.
“We get the opportunity to go on the road,” he said. “We played at home for four weeks straight. Most people don’t have the chance to do that, and now we get to go play on the road. We get to go represent Syracuse on a Friday night in Las Vegas.”
With the late night on the other side of the country, gametime from Allegiant Stadium is set for 9:00 EST. Join us for Countdown to Kickoff at 8:30 on 88.3 FM and waer.org.