Photo by: Charles Wainwright
Orange Extra: Rebounding
10/16/2019 7:57:00 AM | Football
SYRACUSE, N.Y. – Back in the Dome for a Friday night encounter with Pittsburgh, Syracuse will have rebounding on its mind. The Orange have filed away last week's loss at NC State and are focusing on the Panthers, one of the Syracuse program's long-standing rivals.
At 3-3 overall and 0-2 in the ACC, Syracuse seeks its first conference triumph of the season on the friendly field turf of the Dome.
MAJOR MATCHUP: ORANGE OFFENSIVE LINE VS. PITT PASS RUSH
Syracuse's pass protectors will face their biggest challenge of 2019 in the form of the Panthers. The Orange have had trouble keeping the opposition away from quarterback Tommy DeVito. Syracuse has yielded 26 sacks on the season, an average of 4.3 per outing.
A somewhat inexperienced and injury-plagued offensive line has been one reason for the struggles. The Orange have yet to put their first-string front five on the field at the same time this fall. Sam Heckel was the expected center, but an injury has kept him from that spot. Heckel's absence caused a reshuffling of the unit and put Airon Servais back in the middle instead of left tackle. Evan Adams, the starter at left guard, has the most field time under his belt. His 39 starts lead the entire roster. Next to him is Carlos Vettorello, who heading into Week 1 was projected to start at right tackle. On the other side of Servais is Dakota Davis at guard and transfer Ryan Alexander, who was inserted at tackle when Vettorello flipped to the left side.Â
Pitt brings one of the most sack-happy crews in the country into town. The Panthers are second in the FBS ranks with an average of 4.5 sacks per game. The unit spreads the wealth – defensive tackle Jaylen Twyman has six sacks, linebacker Kylan Johnson and defensive end Patrick Jones have four each. Ends Habakkuk Baldonado and Deslin Alexandre have 3.5 apiece.
Syracuse's effectiveness at keeping the Panther pass rush caged will likely factor heavily on the outcome of the game.
ROLLING 300 GAMES
Tommy DeVito has passed for 300+ yards in two of his six career starts. He accumulated 330 yards threw the air at Maryland. He completed 28-of-39 for three touchdowns versus the Terrapins. He hit the 300-yard mark again last Thursday night at NC State, connecting on 29-of-39 passes for 300 yards and one touchdown.
Five sophomores have produced 300-yard passing games in Syracuse gridiron history. In addition to DeVito, R.J. Anderson, Eric Dungey, Marvin Graves and Andrew Robinson have reached that plateau. DeVito, Robinson and Dungey are the only three to do it multiple times as sophomores.Â
SCORING NOT A PROBLEM IN RECENT SERIES HISTORY
Producing points has not been a problem for either team in this game recently. A year ago, Pittsburgh claimed a 44-37 overtime triumph in the Steel City. In 2017, the Orange managed a more modest 27-24 victory. The 2016 encounter resulted in the most points ever for an FBS regulation game and Pittsburgh emerged victorious, 76-61. The two teams combined for 20 touchdowns in that high-scoring affair.
WORKING ON THE WEEKDAY
Syracuse has had great success playing on weekdays, producing a 15-4 record since beating Kansas State in the 2010 Pinstripe Bowl. The Orange have won their last five Friday games and are 6-1 on Fridays under Coach Dino Babers.
HOFRICHTER KICKS FOR FIELD POSITION
Punter Sterling Hofrichter, the 2019 All-ACC Preseason selection at the position, has done his part to help Syracuse win the field-position battle. He ranks fourth in the nation in punts inside the 20-yard line (18). Remarkably, 37 percent of his career punts (88-of-238) have been downed inside the 20.
Hofrichter has responded to long-distance requests as well. He has 15 kicks of 50+ yards, a total that matches South Carolina's Joseph Charlton, Michigan State's Jake Hartbarger and USF's Trent Schneider for the most in the FBS. Â
Hofrichter ranks third in career punt yardage (10,328) and fourth in career punts (238) at Syracuse. Brendan Carney is the school leader in both categories with 271 punts for 3,491 yards.
A RECOGNIZABLE RIVAL
Syracuse and Pittsburgh go way back. Way back.The two programs first met on the gridiron in 1916 and have had their helmets collide each year since 1955. Some other interesting factoids about the series:
At 3-3 overall and 0-2 in the ACC, Syracuse seeks its first conference triumph of the season on the friendly field turf of the Dome.
MAJOR MATCHUP: ORANGE OFFENSIVE LINE VS. PITT PASS RUSH
Syracuse's pass protectors will face their biggest challenge of 2019 in the form of the Panthers. The Orange have had trouble keeping the opposition away from quarterback Tommy DeVito. Syracuse has yielded 26 sacks on the season, an average of 4.3 per outing.
A somewhat inexperienced and injury-plagued offensive line has been one reason for the struggles. The Orange have yet to put their first-string front five on the field at the same time this fall. Sam Heckel was the expected center, but an injury has kept him from that spot. Heckel's absence caused a reshuffling of the unit and put Airon Servais back in the middle instead of left tackle. Evan Adams, the starter at left guard, has the most field time under his belt. His 39 starts lead the entire roster. Next to him is Carlos Vettorello, who heading into Week 1 was projected to start at right tackle. On the other side of Servais is Dakota Davis at guard and transfer Ryan Alexander, who was inserted at tackle when Vettorello flipped to the left side.Â
Pitt brings one of the most sack-happy crews in the country into town. The Panthers are second in the FBS ranks with an average of 4.5 sacks per game. The unit spreads the wealth – defensive tackle Jaylen Twyman has six sacks, linebacker Kylan Johnson and defensive end Patrick Jones have four each. Ends Habakkuk Baldonado and Deslin Alexandre have 3.5 apiece.
Syracuse's effectiveness at keeping the Panther pass rush caged will likely factor heavily on the outcome of the game.
ROLLING 300 GAMES
Tommy DeVito has passed for 300+ yards in two of his six career starts. He accumulated 330 yards threw the air at Maryland. He completed 28-of-39 for three touchdowns versus the Terrapins. He hit the 300-yard mark again last Thursday night at NC State, connecting on 29-of-39 passes for 300 yards and one touchdown.
Five sophomores have produced 300-yard passing games in Syracuse gridiron history. In addition to DeVito, R.J. Anderson, Eric Dungey, Marvin Graves and Andrew Robinson have reached that plateau. DeVito, Robinson and Dungey are the only three to do it multiple times as sophomores.Â
SCORING NOT A PROBLEM IN RECENT SERIES HISTORY
Producing points has not been a problem for either team in this game recently. A year ago, Pittsburgh claimed a 44-37 overtime triumph in the Steel City. In 2017, the Orange managed a more modest 27-24 victory. The 2016 encounter resulted in the most points ever for an FBS regulation game and Pittsburgh emerged victorious, 76-61. The two teams combined for 20 touchdowns in that high-scoring affair.
WORKING ON THE WEEKDAY
Syracuse has had great success playing on weekdays, producing a 15-4 record since beating Kansas State in the 2010 Pinstripe Bowl. The Orange have won their last five Friday games and are 6-1 on Fridays under Coach Dino Babers.
HOFRICHTER KICKS FOR FIELD POSITION
Punter Sterling Hofrichter, the 2019 All-ACC Preseason selection at the position, has done his part to help Syracuse win the field-position battle. He ranks fourth in the nation in punts inside the 20-yard line (18). Remarkably, 37 percent of his career punts (88-of-238) have been downed inside the 20.
Hofrichter has responded to long-distance requests as well. He has 15 kicks of 50+ yards, a total that matches South Carolina's Joseph Charlton, Michigan State's Jake Hartbarger and USF's Trent Schneider for the most in the FBS. Â
Hofrichter ranks third in career punt yardage (10,328) and fourth in career punts (238) at Syracuse. Brendan Carney is the school leader in both categories with 271 punts for 3,491 yards.
A RECOGNIZABLE RIVAL
Syracuse and Pittsburgh go way back. Way back.The two programs first met on the gridiron in 1916 and have had their helmets collide each year since 1955. Some other interesting factoids about the series:
- With 74 encounters between them, the Orange-Panther rivalry is the most frequent in Syracuse history.Â
- Pittsburgh holds the overall advantage, 39-32-3.
- Syracuse has a winning record at home versus the Panthers by the narrow margin of 19-17-3.
- The two programs have the distinction of playing the first college football game in Yankee Stadium. Syracuse edged Pittsburgh back in that 1923 matchup, 3-0.
- The Orange and the Panthers shared BIG EAST Conference residence before joining the Atlantic Coast Conference together in 2013.
Players Mentioned
OL
/ Football
OL
/ Football
OL
/ Football
QB
/ Football
OL
/ Football
P/PK
/ Football
OL
/ Football
OL
/ FootballCalvin Russell Interview
Tuesday, January 13
Fran Brown Signing Day Press Conference
Wednesday, December 03
Syracuse Football - Signing Day Press Conference
Wednesday, December 03
Syracuse Football Postgame Press Conference
Saturday, November 29
