Photo by: Charles Wainwright
Orange Extra: The Marks of Zero
9/4/2019 11:00:00 AM | Football
SYRACUSE, N.Y. – Syracuse and Maryland march into this weekend's encounter with two major things in common. Both are 1-0 on the year and each has a defensive unit that has yet to yield a point. That puts the Orange and Terps in elite company, as they are two of the five FBS squads that are unscored upon. The others are: San Diego State, UCF and Wisconsin.
Syracuse Coach Dino Babers put it clearly when he referenced his team's openin game defensive effort against Liberty by saying "Do you know how hard it is to get a shutout? In today's game? ... That's wasn't a good job. That was a great job."
First-year Maryland Coach Mike Locksley may feel exactly the same way after his Terps blanked Howard, 79-0.
A new game week is upon us. Which squad will suffer the first blemish?
TURNOVER STREAK TUSSLE
The Orange and the Terrapins bring impressive turnover marks into the Saturday's matchup. Syracuse has forced a turnover in 15 consecutive games, the fourth-longest streak active streak in the FBS ranks. Maryland is right behind the Orange, tied with Miami for fifth with 13 straight outings with at least one takeaway.Â
Syracuse caused Liberty to make four miscues – two interceptions and two lost fumbles. Maryland won the turnover battle at Howard as well, recovering a bison fumble.
SACK RACE
The sack race for Syracuse and Maryland won't involved emptied bags of potatoes with its occupants stumbling to stay upright. These two teams have already left one set of opposing quarterbacks looking over their shoulders at what might be coming next.
The Orange posted eight quarterback sacks in the Liberty triumph. That total was good for second nationally in college football's Week 1. The eight sacks were just one shy of the school record of nine. Seven different Syracuse defenders had a hand in the eight sacks, led by defensive linemen Josh Black and Kendall Coleman with two apiece.
Tied with Syracuse for second on the national QB sack list is none other than Maryland. The Terps also had seven different players involved in their eight sacks, including a squad-best 1.5 from linebacker Keandre Jones.
GETTING TO KNOW EACH OTHER AGAIN
At one time, Syracuse and Maryland were familiar combatants on the gridiron. The Orange own a 19-15-2 advantage in the all-time series and Saturday will be the 37th instance of the Orange and the Terps meeting. The two programs played all but three seasons between 1965 and 1988 (1979, 1980 and 1986). They even shared ACC membership in 2013 before Maryland migrated to the Big Ten Conference.
Penn State and Rutgers are the only Big Ten members with more games against Syracuse than Maryland.
They have not met since 2014, when Maryland claimed a 34-20 decision in the Dome.
KEY MATCHUP I – SYRACUSE'S SECONDARY VS. JOSH JACKSON
One of the important in-game chess matches to watch will feature Syracuse's stellar secondary versus Maryland's junior quarterback Josh Jackson. The Orange defensive backs picked off Liberty quarterbacks twice – once by true sophomore Andre Cisco and the second by redshirt sophomore Ifeatu Melifonwu. Meanwhile, Jackson, a transfer from Virginia Tech, threw for 245 yards and four touchdowns against Howard.
KEY MATCHUP II – NEAL, ADAMS AND HOWARD VS. MARYLAND'S RUN DEFENSE
Syracuse received quality production from a trio of running backs against Liberty. Moe Neal (89 yards), Abdul Adams (49) and Jarveon Howard (32) accounted for 170 of the squad's 192 yards on the ground versus the Flames. Each back also contributed a touchdown to the 24-0 triumph.
Maryland comes into Saturday's game ranked third nationally in run defense after yielding just one yard on 38 rushing attempts in the Howard win.
For complete coverage of Syracuse football, follow us on Twitter (@CuseFootball), Instagram (@CuseFootball) and like us on Facebook (Syracuse Football).Â
Syracuse Coach Dino Babers put it clearly when he referenced his team's openin game defensive effort against Liberty by saying "Do you know how hard it is to get a shutout? In today's game? ... That's wasn't a good job. That was a great job."
First-year Maryland Coach Mike Locksley may feel exactly the same way after his Terps blanked Howard, 79-0.
A new game week is upon us. Which squad will suffer the first blemish?
TURNOVER STREAK TUSSLE
The Orange and the Terrapins bring impressive turnover marks into the Saturday's matchup. Syracuse has forced a turnover in 15 consecutive games, the fourth-longest streak active streak in the FBS ranks. Maryland is right behind the Orange, tied with Miami for fifth with 13 straight outings with at least one takeaway.Â
Syracuse caused Liberty to make four miscues – two interceptions and two lost fumbles. Maryland won the turnover battle at Howard as well, recovering a bison fumble.
SACK RACE
The sack race for Syracuse and Maryland won't involved emptied bags of potatoes with its occupants stumbling to stay upright. These two teams have already left one set of opposing quarterbacks looking over their shoulders at what might be coming next.
The Orange posted eight quarterback sacks in the Liberty triumph. That total was good for second nationally in college football's Week 1. The eight sacks were just one shy of the school record of nine. Seven different Syracuse defenders had a hand in the eight sacks, led by defensive linemen Josh Black and Kendall Coleman with two apiece.
Tied with Syracuse for second on the national QB sack list is none other than Maryland. The Terps also had seven different players involved in their eight sacks, including a squad-best 1.5 from linebacker Keandre Jones.
GETTING TO KNOW EACH OTHER AGAIN
At one time, Syracuse and Maryland were familiar combatants on the gridiron. The Orange own a 19-15-2 advantage in the all-time series and Saturday will be the 37th instance of the Orange and the Terps meeting. The two programs played all but three seasons between 1965 and 1988 (1979, 1980 and 1986). They even shared ACC membership in 2013 before Maryland migrated to the Big Ten Conference.
Penn State and Rutgers are the only Big Ten members with more games against Syracuse than Maryland.
They have not met since 2014, when Maryland claimed a 34-20 decision in the Dome.
KEY MATCHUP I – SYRACUSE'S SECONDARY VS. JOSH JACKSON
One of the important in-game chess matches to watch will feature Syracuse's stellar secondary versus Maryland's junior quarterback Josh Jackson. The Orange defensive backs picked off Liberty quarterbacks twice – once by true sophomore Andre Cisco and the second by redshirt sophomore Ifeatu Melifonwu. Meanwhile, Jackson, a transfer from Virginia Tech, threw for 245 yards and four touchdowns against Howard.
KEY MATCHUP II – NEAL, ADAMS AND HOWARD VS. MARYLAND'S RUN DEFENSE
Syracuse received quality production from a trio of running backs against Liberty. Moe Neal (89 yards), Abdul Adams (49) and Jarveon Howard (32) accounted for 170 of the squad's 192 yards on the ground versus the Flames. Each back also contributed a touchdown to the 24-0 triumph.
Maryland comes into Saturday's game ranked third nationally in run defense after yielding just one yard on 38 rushing attempts in the Howard win.
For complete coverage of Syracuse football, follow us on Twitter (@CuseFootball), Instagram (@CuseFootball) and like us on Facebook (Syracuse Football).Â
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