Photo by: Charles Wainwright
Cards on Deck
11/18/2019 2:36:00 PM | Football
SYRACUSE, N.Y. – A bowl berth for Syracuse is still in play and Louisville is up next on the docket.
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The Orange (4-6, 1-5 ACC) and Cardinals (6-4, 4-3 ACC) will meet for the 18th time this Saturday when Syracuse heads to Cardinal Stadium in hopes of repeating last year's 54-23 result. However, head coach Dino Babers knows this is a different Louisville football team than the one that came into the Dome in 2018.
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"The team that we played last year is not the team that we're going to play this year. These guys have really bought into what Coach [Scott] Satterfield is doing and they're going to be somebody to be reckoned with on this side of the conference," Babers said during his Monday press conference.
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"These guys are lightning-fast. If they get out in open space, there's going to be trouble."
Behind redshirt freshman Javian Hawkins, the Cardinals rank third in the ACC in rushing offense (199.0 ypg). Hawkins has run for 1,045 yards and trails only Boston College's AJ Dillon (1,451) and Clemson's Travis Etienne (1,268) on the league's rushing leaderboard. Hawkins has scored six times on the ground and ranks seventh in the conference in all-purpose yardage, averaging 114.6 yards a contest.
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"I know this. We better contain him before he gets started because if he gets out there, he's a blur," Babers said. "You have to get on him early before he turns on the jets because the jets are what he has."
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The challenge of slowing down Hawkins falls to a Syracuse defense that responded with one of its finest efforts of the season last time out against Duke. The Orange held the Blue Devils to an average of 3.3 yards per play and forced three turnovers, which led to 21 Orange points, in a 49-6 win. Senior Lakiem Williams, who was voted the ACC co-Linebacker of the Week, led the charge by carding with a game-high 14 tackles and one sack. Safeties Andre Cisco and Evan Foster also played key roles. Cisco returned a third-quarter interception for a touchdown and Foster booked a career-high 12 tackles to go along with a fumble recovery.
Offensively, Syracuse had its best rushing game of the year against the Blue Devils, setting season highs for team rushing yards (286) and rushing touchdowns (4). Two backs went over 100 yards at Duke, including senior Moe Neal who had the best game of his career in last year's clash with Louisville. Neal set the school single-game record for yards per carry (19.9), running for a career-best 159 yards and two touchdowns on eight totes versus the Cardinals.
Neal's showing was one of many standout performances versus Louisville last season. Chief among them was the work of a Syracuse defense that forced four Louisville turnovers in the second quarter. The Orange capitalized on the miscues, outscoring the Cardinals 30-7 during the second stanza to break the game open on Senior Night.
Syracuse won't have the advantage of playing at home this weekend. Instead the Orange will travel to a place it hasn't won since 2007 and play the Cardinals in their final home game of the season.Â
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"We've got Louisville at Louisville. Scott Satterfield has done a fantastic job for a first-year coach and he's put everyone on alert that his team is going to be good again," Babers said.
For complete coverage of Syracuse football, follow us on Twitter (@CuseFootball), Instagram (@CuseFootball) and like us on Facebook (Syracuse Football).
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The Orange (4-6, 1-5 ACC) and Cardinals (6-4, 4-3 ACC) will meet for the 18th time this Saturday when Syracuse heads to Cardinal Stadium in hopes of repeating last year's 54-23 result. However, head coach Dino Babers knows this is a different Louisville football team than the one that came into the Dome in 2018.
Â
"The team that we played last year is not the team that we're going to play this year. These guys have really bought into what Coach [Scott] Satterfield is doing and they're going to be somebody to be reckoned with on this side of the conference," Babers said during his Monday press conference.
Â
"These guys are lightning-fast. If they get out in open space, there's going to be trouble."
Behind redshirt freshman Javian Hawkins, the Cardinals rank third in the ACC in rushing offense (199.0 ypg). Hawkins has run for 1,045 yards and trails only Boston College's AJ Dillon (1,451) and Clemson's Travis Etienne (1,268) on the league's rushing leaderboard. Hawkins has scored six times on the ground and ranks seventh in the conference in all-purpose yardage, averaging 114.6 yards a contest.
Â
"I know this. We better contain him before he gets started because if he gets out there, he's a blur," Babers said. "You have to get on him early before he turns on the jets because the jets are what he has."
Â
The challenge of slowing down Hawkins falls to a Syracuse defense that responded with one of its finest efforts of the season last time out against Duke. The Orange held the Blue Devils to an average of 3.3 yards per play and forced three turnovers, which led to 21 Orange points, in a 49-6 win. Senior Lakiem Williams, who was voted the ACC co-Linebacker of the Week, led the charge by carding with a game-high 14 tackles and one sack. Safeties Andre Cisco and Evan Foster also played key roles. Cisco returned a third-quarter interception for a touchdown and Foster booked a career-high 12 tackles to go along with a fumble recovery.
Offensively, Syracuse had its best rushing game of the year against the Blue Devils, setting season highs for team rushing yards (286) and rushing touchdowns (4). Two backs went over 100 yards at Duke, including senior Moe Neal who had the best game of his career in last year's clash with Louisville. Neal set the school single-game record for yards per carry (19.9), running for a career-best 159 yards and two touchdowns on eight totes versus the Cardinals.
Neal's showing was one of many standout performances versus Louisville last season. Chief among them was the work of a Syracuse defense that forced four Louisville turnovers in the second quarter. The Orange capitalized on the miscues, outscoring the Cardinals 30-7 during the second stanza to break the game open on Senior Night.
Syracuse won't have the advantage of playing at home this weekend. Instead the Orange will travel to a place it hasn't won since 2007 and play the Cardinals in their final home game of the season.Â
Â
"We've got Louisville at Louisville. Scott Satterfield has done a fantastic job for a first-year coach and he's put everyone on alert that his team is going to be good again," Babers said.
For complete coverage of Syracuse football, follow us on Twitter (@CuseFootball), Instagram (@CuseFootball) and like us on Facebook (Syracuse Football).
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