Balanced Approach Fuels 2-0 Start
9/10/2023 9:32:00 PM | Football
Balance is the operative word of the Syracuse football season to date.
While the team has taken care of business in the opening two weeks of the college football season, and the numbers rack up among the best in the nation as a team – it's been through a shared approach in all three phases.
The Orange defense – which has finished in the top-20 of total defense nationally in each of the past two seasons – is out-scoring the opposition so far and limiting opponents to the fewest points scored to start an Orange football season in the last 90 years.
The Mob, as they're known, leads the nation in scoring defense through two weeks and is sixth in total defense. Surrendering just seven points on the year and allowing just 212.0 yards per game, the defense has also generated four turnovers, which is fourth in the ACC to date.
The stats have come from all over. No player on the defense has more than 14 tackles on the year and a staggering 18 different players have at least a half TFL on the season. Four different players have created the four turnovers and seven different players account for the team's seven sacks.
Offensively, despite the starters essentially playing for a half in each of the first two games, 'Cuse is third nationally in both scoring offense and total offense, and sixth in passing offense at this point of the season.
The ball has been shared on that side of the ball too. Ten different players had a reception in each of the team's first two contests and seven different players have caught a touchdown pass.
That effort has led to the fourth-most points scored through two games (113) in program history.
Special teams have been consistent for the 'Cuse. Brady Denaburg is a perfect 3-for-3 on field goals and 14-of-14 on PATs and has 18 kickoffs on the season and hasn't yet yielded a return. Jack Stonehouse and the punt unit haven't allowed any return yards as well – while Western Michigan did attempt to return one of the four punts, they were stopped for no gain.
That will all be put to the test this week as the team's first road trip and power five opponent await. Syracuse heads to Purdue – a rematch of one of the most exciting games from a year ago – for a 7:30 p.m. kickoff on NBC this Saturday.
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While the team has taken care of business in the opening two weeks of the college football season, and the numbers rack up among the best in the nation as a team – it's been through a shared approach in all three phases.
The Orange defense – which has finished in the top-20 of total defense nationally in each of the past two seasons – is out-scoring the opposition so far and limiting opponents to the fewest points scored to start an Orange football season in the last 90 years.
The Mob, as they're known, leads the nation in scoring defense through two weeks and is sixth in total defense. Surrendering just seven points on the year and allowing just 212.0 yards per game, the defense has also generated four turnovers, which is fourth in the ACC to date.
The stats have come from all over. No player on the defense has more than 14 tackles on the year and a staggering 18 different players have at least a half TFL on the season. Four different players have created the four turnovers and seven different players account for the team's seven sacks.
Offensively, despite the starters essentially playing for a half in each of the first two games, 'Cuse is third nationally in both scoring offense and total offense, and sixth in passing offense at this point of the season.
The ball has been shared on that side of the ball too. Ten different players had a reception in each of the team's first two contests and seven different players have caught a touchdown pass.
That effort has led to the fourth-most points scored through two games (113) in program history.
Special teams have been consistent for the 'Cuse. Brady Denaburg is a perfect 3-for-3 on field goals and 14-of-14 on PATs and has 18 kickoffs on the season and hasn't yet yielded a return. Jack Stonehouse and the punt unit haven't allowed any return yards as well – while Western Michigan did attempt to return one of the four punts, they were stopped for no gain.
That will all be put to the test this week as the team's first road trip and power five opponent await. Syracuse heads to Purdue – a rematch of one of the most exciting games from a year ago – for a 7:30 p.m. kickoff on NBC this Saturday.
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