Syracuse defeated Holy Cross, 42-14, on Saturday.
Here are the major takeaways from the win.
Defense's two mistakes were outliers
That bumpy second quarter from the Syracuse defense was an outlier. Holy Cross rolled up 149 yards on 13 plays.
Beyond that, the Crusaders had 54 yards on 40 plays and generated two first downs.
Do not use this game as some reason to make up concerns about the defense.
Don't get too excited
Also to be filed under “no sweeping judgments,” all three of KingJoseph Edwards’ sacks came in the fourth quarter.
It is highly doubtful that Fran Brown and his defensive staff were hiding Edwards in the first three games to unleash him late against an FCS opponent.
Run game continues to take a back seat
Despite playing against that lower division opponent, the Orange had their second-heaviest pass ratio of the season. SU had 58 pass plays compared to 34 rushes, good for a 63.0 percent pass ratio.
That ratio was even higher when Kyle McCord was in the game, as they called 53 passes to 27 runs for a 66.3 percent pass ratio.
A deep receiver group
Part of the reason for that playcalling ratio is that the roster overflows with good receivers.
In fact, there are so many quality receiving options (five players have double digit receptions and Darrell Gill Jr. and Zeed Haynes would likely be there had they not missed one and two games, respectively), it is not really concerning that Oronde Gadsden II has a pedestrian stat line of 16 receptions for 217 yards and three touchdowns.
After all, Gadsden is helping the rest of those receivers get open by drawing defensive attention.
One of those receivers, Jackson Meeks, posted a 38-yard touchdown in large part due to a beautiful stop-and-go route that blistered a Crusader cornerback. Meeks’ “stop” pulled in the cornerback and the “go” immediately turned into him being gone for the back end of an easy pitch-and-catch with Kyle McCord.
Kickers likely to compete
It remains to be seen if Jayden Oh will take over Brady Denaburg’s kicking duties, but it’s not hard to imagine a practice competition for the role this week.
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