Syracuse Rekindles Rivalry With Maryland

SYRACUSE, N.Y. – No. 22 Syracuse (1-0) resumes its rivalry with Big Ten foe Maryland (1-0) this weekend. The Orange and Terps have played 36 times over the years and Saturday's clash in College Park marks the first meeting between the schools since 2014. Kickoff from Capital One Field at Maryland Stadium is set for noon on ESPN.

After last Saturday's 24-0 shutout of Liberty, the Orange head into the matchup riding a three-game winning streak dating back to last season. Syracuse held the Flames to minus-4 rushing yards on 34 attempts in the opener on its way to the 44th season-opening shutout in program history and its first shutout in a true road game since 1991.

This week the focus is on Maryland who is coming off a shutout of its own. The Terps routed Howard 79-0 and surpassed 300 yards both on the ground and through the air against the Bison.

"We have a very interesting opponent this weekend in Maryland," head coach Dino Babers said in his weekly press conference. "They're a team with a lot of good football players. Coach [Mike] Locksley does a nice job recruiting. The DMV area is also an area that we recruit, so we have a lot of kids from that area, and a lot of alumni as well.

"This week we need our alumni to come out because it's going to be one of those games where how many of us [Syracuse fans] are in those stands is going to be a key contributing factor to whether we win or lose. It's going to be a very close contest and we definitely have our hands full."

Nose tackle Josh Black (4 tackles, 2.0 TFL, 2 sacks), defensive end Alton Robinson (5 tackles, 1.5 TFL, 0.5 sacks) and cornerback Ifeatu Melifonwu (6 tackles, 1 INT, 1 pass breakup) made strong impacts in the Liberty game. While that was good to see, Babers said there's always room improvement.

"I really thought they could play better," Babers said when asked to characterize the defensive unit. "I talked to some guys during the game and thought their concentration was wavering a little bit, but anytime you can get a shutout in today's college football against any opponent, it is an A. Excellent. Great job."

Babers said one of the keys to Syracuse's defensive growth has been an emphasis on better tackling in the secondary.

"If you're not going to tackle, you're not going to be physical, you're not going to play. I think the main difference between good defenses and bad defenses is how the back end tackles. You can normally get some tough guys in the front seven, but if you get some tough guys in the back four then you have a good defense."

When addressing Maryland's season-opening performance, Babers acknowledged that it was the type of showing he wants to see from his team. The Terps held the advantage in nearly every statistical category against Howard, including total yards (623-68), rushing yards (317-1) and passing yards (306-67). They also converted 46.2 percent of their third-down tries and scored eight touchdowns on their first 11 possessions.

Maryland features quarterback Josh Jackson, a transfer from Virginia Tech, who threw for 245 yards and fourth touchdowns in the victory. Defensively, the Terps spent the day in the Bison backfield, racking up 15 tackles for loss and eight sacks.

"Obviously they had a fantastic outing. We wish that we had an offensive outing like the way their offense played, along with how their defense played. You can't take anything away from them. They did exactly what they were supposed to do, so our eyes are wide open."

Babers emphasized that more production on offense, particularly in the passing game, will come as receivers who were in and out of the lineup during training camp continue to get healthy.

"All we have to do is get the timing back, and I saw it happening. The throwing game is so delicate that if you start taking pieces out and moving things around it changes everything and I think that's what you saw.

"If someone was going to tell me I would have a nice defense and really nice special teams, and the thing that had to get better was offense, I'll play those cards," Babers said.

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Syracuse University Athletics

Players Mentioned

Josh Black

Ifeatu Melifonwu

Alton Robinson

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