New Style of Offense Pushes SU Forward

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The Syracuse football team is moving fast this season. After adding no huddle and hurry-up qualities to its offense, the Orange have seen an increase in offensive plays. In its first two games against Northwestern and USC, SU has totaled 182 plays, generating 1,051 yards of total offense. The Orange has possessed the ball for 61:54 this season, which means the team is averaging one play every 20.4 seconds.

"I think I've run almost 195 plays in the first two games which is pretty unbelievable," said senior offensive guard Zack Chibane. "It's basically going the way that I expected it to as far as the pace and the affecting defenses. There's not much time to think. It's to our advantage and I think it's a good pace that we've set."

Out of those 1,051 yards of total offense, senior quarterback Ryan Nassib has thrown for 804 of them. Nassib has thrown 75 completions in 112 attempts and six touchdowns in the first two games of the season.

"Ryan is in great shape," Chibane said. "Physically and he's a tough kid mentally. We've seen him mature throughout his time here. We're excited about him."

The Orange began preparing for this new offense in the offseason, focusing in on its conditioning during summer workouts.

"I think it's just the way we've prepared in the offseason with Coach Hicks and Coach Luther," Chibane said. "We've been running out there. Everything we do, we do for a purpose. When we run a sprint, we'll have maybe a 15, 20 second break that will simulate the game. We'll do a set of sprints and then maybe have a four or five minute break before we do another one. That's to simulate the time between plays and our time on the sidelines. I think we've all been pretty prepared as far as the cardio aspect of it."

The team has begun its preparations for its next opponent it will host at the Carrier Dome – Stony Brook. Despite beginning the season 0-2, the Orange have learned positive lessons from its first two games of the season.

"Nobody on this team wants to lose," Chibane said. "We're in the business of winning football games and that's what we try to do every week. At the same time, there are some good things that we can carry forward from the first two games, offensively, defensively, and on special teams. We are not down. We can be disappointed about it but we definitely feel encouraged about the direction we are going."

The Orange host Stony Brook at the Carrier Dome on Saturday, Sept. 15th (4 p.m.; TWCS/SNY). Season and individual game tickets are available online, in person at the Carrier Dome Box Office (Gate B), or by calling 1-888-DOMETIX.

All children under the age of 12 are welcome to come to the game for free, sponsored by Time Warner Cable. The first 10,000 fans in the building will receive a limited edition New York's College Team bracelet.

Syracuse University Athletics

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