Orange Youth Continue to Show Fight and Improvement
11/8/2020 9:38:00 PM | Football
By Matt Michael
With over 71-percent of Syracuse's current roster comprised of underclassmen (freshmen and sophomores), the Orange are the fifth-youngest team in FBS football this season.
This past Saturday, the Orange 'Cuse started five freshmen on the defensive side of the ball, the most freshmen to start on one side of the ball on record for the team. While the outcome left a bad taste in their mouth, the team showed marked improvement and continued fight in a 16-13 loss to Boston College.
Playing against a high-scoring Eagles' team, the injury-plagued Orange nearly led a late charge to overcome a fourth-quarter deficit in freshman quarterback JaCobian Morgan's first career start. Syracuse's defense played one of its best games of the season, holding Boston College to just one touchdown even though the Eagles held significant advantages in the number of plays and time of possession.
"I thought our defense, despite the number of plays they were playing, to get stops and to get field goals in some of the red zone situations were big," Syracuse head coach Dino Babers said. "I thought they really played well, and we've just got to find a way to balance that out for them and get some first downs and keep them off the field.
"I can see the beginning, I can see it growing, but we've got be better on offense," Babers said. "We just got to stay together and keep working."
Morgan, a true freshman from Canton, Miss., became the 15th different Syracuse player to start his first collegiate game this season. That's the second-highest total of first-time starters in the ACC (behind Florida State) and one of the highest in the nation.
With starter Tommy DeVito and backup Rex Culpepper sidelined by injuries, Morgan completed 19-of-30 pass attempts for 188 yards and a 1-yard touchdown pass to tight end Aaron Hackett. Morgan showed an ability to scramble and evade tacklers, particularly on a 31-yard completion to Anthony Queeley in the first quarter and a 14-yard run that set up the touchdown pass to Hackett in the fourth quarter.
"The big thing with JaCobian is that the team needs to carry JaCobian, because he's young," Babers said. "He doesn't know what he doesn't know. We need to all play better to make it easier on him."
The Orange defense rose to that challenge Saturday with a depleted secondary that saw four freshmen starters for the fourth time this year and freshman Stefon Thompson returning to the linebacking corps. While all had previously started games this year, this was the first time that combination matched up together, leading to the most freshman starters in Syracuse history.
Boston College (5-3, 4-3 in the ACC) entered Saturday's game ranked third in the ACC in pass offense (268.4 yards per game) and quarterback Phil Jurkovec, a transfer from Notre Dame, had thrown for 1,875 yards and 14 touchdowns. The Eagles were averaging nearly 28 points per game, and last year they gained 691 total yards in a 58-27 win over the Orange.
But on Saturday, the Syracuse defense held Jurkovec to 208 passing yards and the Eagles to 399 total yards despite being on the field for almost 38 minutes.Â
"I think we did a great job,'' said freshman defensive back Garrett Williams, who had six tackles, including one for a 4-yard loss. "It reminded me of Clemson in a way when the d-line and linebackers played really great and the people in the secondary were coming up and making tackles. It was fun to see."
The Orange (1-7, 1-6 in the ACC) will get a break this week with their second bye of the season before facing ACC foe Louisville (2-5, 1-5) on Friday, Nov. 20, at Cardinal Stadium on ESPN. The break will give the injured Syracuse players a chance to recover and give the young players an opportunity to focus on their continuing improvement.
"I personally feel like all the things we've had happen on our team are just bringing us together even more," Williams said. "To have the same team come back next year will only help in the future."
