2020 Spring Notebook - Syracuse University Athletics

GILBERT, WHITE AND WEST JOIN ORANGE STAFF
Orange head coach Dino Babers hired three new coaches in the offseason. Syracuse welcomed offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach Sterlin Gilbert to the program in January. In February, Tony White was named defensive coordinator and Chip West was hired as cornerbacks coach.

A Texas native well versed in the veer and shoot, Gilbert has run offenses and coached quarterbacks at the FBS, FCS and high school levels. He was most recently the head coach McNeese State University in 2019 prior to joining the Orange. Gilbert owns seven seasons as a college offensive coordinator at Eastern Illinois (2012-13), Bowling Green (2014), Tulsa (2015), Texas (2016) and USF (2017-18). His notable pupils include Jimmy Garoppolo (Eastern Illinois), Shane Buechele (Texas) and Quinton Flowers (USF).

White spent 10 years learning the 3-3-5 stack defense under Rocky Long at New Mexico (2008) and San Diego State (2009-17). White arrives in Central New York after working as the cornerbacks coach and defensive passing game coordinator at Arizona State the past two seasons. The Sun Devil secondary made dramatic gains in White’s first year, climbing 50 spots in the NCAA’s pass defense rankings. That growth continued in 2019, as ASU finished the year 12th in the country with 65 passes defended.

An award-winning recruiter with more than 20 years of college coaching experience, West joins the Orange after working as the cornerbacks coach at Marshall in 2019. Most notably, West's career includes a six-year stint at Virginia. He was named the ACC Recruiter of the Year twice (2011, 2014) and helped the Cavaliers land three top-30 classes during his time in Charlottesville. He also mentored several players who went to play in the NFL, including Chase Minnifield, Maurice Canaday and Ras-I Dowling.

SCHEDULE NOTES OF INTEREST
Syracuse's 12-game slate for 2020 was announced in January. The Orange will open the year on the road against Boston College on Sept. 4. The team's first home game is scheduled for Sept. 19 against Colgate. The Colgate contest will mark the first athletics event underneath the Carrier Dome's new fixed roof. Below are some highlights of Syracuse's 2020 schedule:

The Orange's 12 opponents combined for a 78-76 (.506) record in 2019.
Eight of Syracuse's foes played in bowl games last year, with four (Louisville, Liberty, Clemson and Pittsburgh) winning their bowl.
Five opponents (Louisville, Liberty, Clemson, Wake Forest and Pittsburgh) won 8+ games last season.
Syracuse will begin the campaign against a conference opponent for the second time in school history and the first time since 2005 (vs. West Virginia).
Syracuse will face three teams who are employing new head coaches in 2019 – Boston College (Jeff Hafley), Rutgers (Greg Schiano) and Florida State (Mike Norvell).
There are no first-time opponents on the schedule for the first time since 2016.

HONOR ROLL
In the four seasons since Dino Babers became head coach in 2016, Syracuse has had 20 players earn All-ACC recognition, including six All-Americans. The Orange have boasted at least one All-American every year under Babers. To put that in perspective, the Orange had one All-American total (Ryan Nassib in 2012) in the four years prior to Babers' arrival. In 2019, punter Sterling Hofrichter kept the streak alive, receiving All-America plaudits from seven different selectors.

Syracuse All-Americans (Since 2016)
2016 - Brisly Estime (PR), Amba Etta Tawo (WR)
2017 - Steve Ishmael (WR)
2018 - Andre Cisco (S), Andre Szmyt (PK)
2019 - Sterling Hofrichter (P)

DOME-INATION
Syracuse is 9-3 in the last two years at home, including a 3-3 record in 2019. The Orange were undefeated at the Dome in 2018, going 6-0 in the building. The 2018 campaign was SU's fourth perfect home season since the Dome opened in 1980. The three previous unbeaten Dome campaigns (all 6-0) were in 1987, 1988 and 2001.

Under Dino Babers, Syracuse is 15-10 in the Dome. Home success has been a staple at all three of his coaching stops, with Babers' teams combining to go 33-15 (.688) when defending their home field.

INTERCEPTION-FREE
Quarterback Tommy DeVito finished the 2019 campaign with a streak of 170 straight throws without an interception, which is the third-longest streak among active FBS signal-callers entering the 2020 season behind Clemson's Trevor Lawrence (202) and Auburn's Bo Nix (191). In the Syracuse annals, DeVito's streak ranks second to only R.J. Anderson (190 passes from 2002-03).

The last DeVito interception happened on his final throw versus Holy Cross on Sept. 28. Over the last seven games of 2019, DeVito completed 62.9 percent (107-170) of his passes for 1,126 yards and eight touchdowns. His season interception avoidance figure of 1.48 was second in team history to Perry Patterson's 2006 mark of 1.33. Additionally, DeVito was one of seven Power-Five quarterbacks with 19+ TD passes and five or fewer interceptions in 2019.

2019 Power-Five Quarterbacks w/ 19+ TD & 5 or Fewer INT
Justin Fields, Ohio State (41 TD, 3 INT)
Tua Tagovailoa, Alabama (33 TD, 3 INT)
Jake Luton, Oregon State (28 TD, 3 INT)
Tyler Huntley, Utah (19 TD, 4 INT)
Jake Fromm, Georgia (24 TD, 5 INT)
Tommy DeVito, Syracuse (19 TD, 5 INT)
Micale Cunningham, Louisville (22 TD, 5 INT)

THE 'CISCO KID'
Despite playing just nine games in 2019, safety Andre Cisco led the conference in interceptions (5) for the second year in a row. He ranked fourth nationally in in interceptions per game (0.6). Cisco ended the year with a pick in three straight games, including one at Duke that he returned 48 yards for his first career touchdown.

Cisco will enter the 2020 campaign as the FBS active leader with 12 interceptions and he will start the season No. 2 in passes defended per game (1.27) behind Stanford's Paulson Adebo (1.73).

Through just two seasons, Cisco is already tied for fifth in program history with 12 interceptions. Since 2000, the only Syracuse player with more career picks than Cisco is Anthony Smith, who had 14 from 2002-05.

POINT SZMYT
Placekicker Andre Szmyt is the FBS leader in career points scored per game at 9.6. He has 241 points in 25 games. Szmyt's scoring average is slightly less than a point better than Wake Forest kicker Nick Sciba (8.7) and Clemson running back Travis Etienne (8.7) who enter 2020 tied for second.

In the Syracuse record book, Szmyt is No. 5 in career kicking points. He has at least one made field goal in 22 out his 25 career games and has booted multiple field goals on 16 occasions.

The 2018 Lou Groza Award winner and a two-time All-ACC selection, Szmyt made 17 out of 20 (.850) field goals and hit 39-of-40 (.975) PATs to lead the Orange with 90 points in 2019. He ended the season by making eight consecutive field goals.

TURNOVER TALE
Syracuse and Arizona State are the only two FBS teams to rank in the top 15 nationally turnover margin in both 2018 and 2019. Last season, the Orange committed 16 turnovers while gaining 25 (+9), good for an average margin of +0.75. That figure was 13th in the country. In 2018, Syracuse was even better. Led by a defense that recorded 31 takeaways, including 18 interceptions, the Orange tied Ohio for No. 5 in average turnover margin (+1.0).

The Sun Devils tied for 11th in 2018 and ranked No. 6 in 2019.

Not surprisingly, Orange's proficiency in the turnover department has led to a massive advantage in points scored off turnovers. Syracuse has outscored its opponents 185-97 off turnovers the last two years, including a 74-51 margin in 2019.