Recap: Spring Scrimmage #2
4/6/2019 12:00:00 PM | Football
SYRACUSE, N.Y. – The Orange football team closed its fourth week of spring practice with a 103-play scrimmage Saturday morning inside the Ensley Athletic Center.
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The scrimmage lasted 1 hour and 3 minutes with the offense and defense squaring off on drives that started from various points on the field. The outing included multiple red-zone periods as well as a brief special teams session.
Syracuse scored seven touchdowns, including three rushing scores by freshman running back Jawhar Jordan. Tommy DeVito quarterbacked the first offense, while Clayton Welch, who alternated second-team drives with Rex Culpepper, threw a touchdown.
Defensively, the Orange carded nine sacks, two interceptions, one fumble recovery and a safety. All-ACC defensive end Alton Robinson logged three sacks and Zack Lesko had two.
Head coach Dino Babers liked how his team performed on both sides of the football, giving the offense credit for rebounding after the defense won the first scrimmage two weeks ago.Â
"I thought it was a good scrimmage," Babers said. "I thought the offense bounced back. I think out of our first two scrimmages that the defense definitely won the first one. There's no doubt that the offense won the second one, and it'll be interesting to see what happens next weekend in the last scrimmage."
Despite injuries to some key contributors, including offensive lineman Sam Heckel, running back Abdul Adams and fullback/tight end Chris Elmore, Babers believes this year's Orange squad is on track with one week of practice left.Â
"We're where we should be. We have some guys out, but that's going to happen in the spring," Babers said. "We're a process in motion. We still have some missing ingredients, but I like where we're at right now."
There's no doubt Babers liked what he saw from the second-team offense, which clicked immediately Saturday morning. Welch connected with James Cherry for a 31-yard completion on the scrimmage's first play to help set up Jordan's initial touchdown. Jordan scampered 45 yards down the sideline to paydirt to cap a 98-yard drive on the first series.
Jordan tacked on two more rushing touchdowns, scoring from 13 and 14 yards out. Jarveon Howard added a 35-yard touchdown run, while Jack Guida and Otto Zaccardo found the end zone from five and 11 yards out, respectively.
Welch threw the Orange's only touchdown pass, linking up with Sharod Johnson on a back-shoulder fade for a 20-yard score on the second-to-last drive. Culpepper was responsible for the day's longest completion, hitting Anthony Queeley for a gain of 32 yards.
Placekicker Andre Szmyt made his spring debut near the end of the scrimmage. The reigning Lou Groza Award winner missed his first attempt before connecting on a series of 24-yard field goals from each hash mark.
On the opposite side of the ball, coordinator Brian Ward's defense continued its penchant for big plays. In addition to the five combined sacks by Robinson and Lesko, Tyrell Richards, McKinley Williams, Drew Tuazama and Zach Morton were all credited with quarterback takedowns. Lesko and Morton teamed up to record a safety, stuffing a running play in the end zone to end the offense's third series.
Lee Kpogba and Jake Wright had the defense's two interceptions. Cooper Dawson also recorded a takeaway, recovering a fumble on a missed handoff.Â
Syracuse concludes spring drills next weekend when it hosts "Spring Football Saturday" presented by AmeriCU on April 13 at the Carrier Dome. The Orange will hold its final scrimmage during the event, which also features a reunion of the 1966 Syracuse backfield comprised of Floyd Little, Larry Csonka and Tom Coughlin. Admission and parking are free. Gates open 12:30 p.m. with the scrimmage set to begin at 1:30 p.m.Â
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 scrimmage lasted 1 hour and 3 minutes with the offense and defense squaring off on drives that started from various points on the field. The outing included multiple red-zone periods as well as a brief special teams session.
Syracuse scored seven touchdowns, including three rushing scores by freshman running back Jawhar Jordan. Tommy DeVito quarterbacked the first offense, while Clayton Welch, who alternated second-team drives with Rex Culpepper, threw a touchdown.
Defensively, the Orange carded nine sacks, two interceptions, one fumble recovery and a safety. All-ACC defensive end Alton Robinson logged three sacks and Zack Lesko had two.
Head coach Dino Babers liked how his team performed on both sides of the football, giving the offense credit for rebounding after the defense won the first scrimmage two weeks ago.Â
"I thought it was a good scrimmage," Babers said. "I thought the offense bounced back. I think out of our first two scrimmages that the defense definitely won the first one. There's no doubt that the offense won the second one, and it'll be interesting to see what happens next weekend in the last scrimmage."
Despite injuries to some key contributors, including offensive lineman Sam Heckel, running back Abdul Adams and fullback/tight end Chris Elmore, Babers believes this year's Orange squad is on track with one week of practice left.Â
"We're where we should be. We have some guys out, but that's going to happen in the spring," Babers said. "We're a process in motion. We still have some missing ingredients, but I like where we're at right now."
There's no doubt Babers liked what he saw from the second-team offense, which clicked immediately Saturday morning. Welch connected with James Cherry for a 31-yard completion on the scrimmage's first play to help set up Jordan's initial touchdown. Jordan scampered 45 yards down the sideline to paydirt to cap a 98-yard drive on the first series.
Jordan tacked on two more rushing touchdowns, scoring from 13 and 14 yards out. Jarveon Howard added a 35-yard touchdown run, while Jack Guida and Otto Zaccardo found the end zone from five and 11 yards out, respectively.
Welch threw the Orange's only touchdown pass, linking up with Sharod Johnson on a back-shoulder fade for a 20-yard score on the second-to-last drive. Culpepper was responsible for the day's longest completion, hitting Anthony Queeley for a gain of 32 yards.
Placekicker Andre Szmyt made his spring debut near the end of the scrimmage. The reigning Lou Groza Award winner missed his first attempt before connecting on a series of 24-yard field goals from each hash mark.
On the opposite side of the ball, coordinator Brian Ward's defense continued its penchant for big plays. In addition to the five combined sacks by Robinson and Lesko, Tyrell Richards, McKinley Williams, Drew Tuazama and Zach Morton were all credited with quarterback takedowns. Lesko and Morton teamed up to record a safety, stuffing a running play in the end zone to end the offense's third series.
Lee Kpogba and Jake Wright had the defense's two interceptions. Cooper Dawson also recorded a takeaway, recovering a fumble on a missed handoff.Â
Syracuse concludes spring drills next weekend when it hosts "Spring Football Saturday" presented by AmeriCU on April 13 at the Carrier Dome. The Orange will hold its final scrimmage during the event, which also features a reunion of the 1966 Syracuse backfield comprised of Floyd Little, Larry Csonka and Tom Coughlin. Admission and parking are free. Gates open 12:30 p.m. with the scrimmage set to begin at 1:30 p.m.Â
For complete coverage of Syracuse football, follow us on Twitter (@CuseFootball), Instagram (@CuseFootball) and like us on Facebook (Syracuse Football).
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