Observations from SU’s blowout win: Shrader goes deep, Long’s defense dominates

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Earlier this week, SU head coach Dino Babers said games like the ones against Colgate make him nervous. While the Orange had a 98% chance to win before the game per ESPN Analytics, Babers refused to stay complacent.

But as expected, SU opened its 2023 season with a comfortable 65-0 blowout win over local Football Championship Series opponent Colgate. Quarterback Garrett Shrader connected with three different receivers (Damien Alford, Isaiah Jones and Oronde Gadsden II), while LeQuint Allen got a rushing touchdown and the Orange defense notched a pick-six. By halftime, the score was 37-0.

Here are some observations from Syracuse’s season-opening victory:

Rocky Long creates chaos

While Babers moved around the sidelines as he typically does, Rocky Long camped out near the 20-yard line for most of the game on both sides of the field. He never really had to move that far away from the 20-yard line because Syracuse’s defense didn’t allow Colgate to record a first down until roughly 10 minutes were left in the second quarter.

Long’s defense created chaos in his debut as coordinator. Colgate quarterback Michael Brescia was forced into awkward throws and drive-killing sacks. On the first three third downs for Colgate, the Orange blitzed Brescia.

The first time, the quarterback was forced into an overthrow. On Colgate’s next third down, the Orange rushed Brescia again and Marlowe Wax finished off the sack. As the Raiders picked up SU’s third down tendencies, they decided to play it safe on a 3rd-and-15 during their third drive, giving the ball to tailback Jaedon Henry for a minimal gain that resulted in a Colgate punt. The Raiders finished the day going 3-of-17 on third downs.

The Orange defense eventually started to force turnovers and score points. On the next Colgate drive, Brescia got forced into another scramble. As he escaped from a collapsed pocket, Brescia attempted a jump pass that went straight to SU cornerback Jeremiah Wilson, who returned the interception untouched for a score. On the very next play for Colgate, Henry caught a shovel pass that almost immediately got punched out by Wax.

The second half didn’t produce any success for the Raiders as they remained stuck behind their own 40-yard line for the entire game.

During halftime, two Syracuse fans took part in a contest where they tried to make a field goal. While both fans shanked their kicks, it was two more attempts than Colgate had all game.

Shrader shows off his arm

This past Tuesday, Shrader said his deep passing is way better than he thought it would be at this time of the year. After having a procedure done on his right elbow in March, Shrader was put on a “pitch count” for most of training camp.

On the Orange’s first offensive drive of the season, the results were mixed. Shrader completed his first pass to Gadsden, who ran a slant route. On the next two attempts to Gadsden, though, Shrader overthrew the tight end. Those misfires, along with a Chris Bleich false start, killed SU’s first drive.

After relying on Allen to score the team’s first touchdown of the year, Shrader and the offense decided to go in the hurry-up. Shrader hit Gadsden across the middle and then went back to him on the next play, picking up another first down. With the Orange in striking position, Shrader found Alford on a fade route in the right corner of the end zone, increasing SU’s lead to 14.

In the second quarter, Shrader started to scramble some more, picking up two first downs. But he was most efficient with his arm. As he faced a hit from two Colgate defenders, Shrader threw back to the right side where he found a wide-open Jones, who trotted into the end zone.

Later in the quarter, Shrader would finally connect with Gadsden for a touchdown. He threw a fade to the tight end, who hauled it in for the score. Shrader threw one more touchdown at the start of the second half, a quick slant to Umari Hatcher — the fourth different receiver to catch a pass from the former Mississippi State field general.

Some careless mistakes

Bleich, one of the two returning starters on the offensive line, took a false start penalty that ended the first drive of the game after Shrader made some overthrows. On the next drive, Bleich had another false start penalty.

Syracuse’s defense also made some gaffes. After forcing Colgate into consecutive three-and-outs, the Orange caused an illegal formation and an offside, turning a 4th-and-9 punt into a first down. Babers just kept his head down as some boos reigned down at the JMA Wireless Dome. In the end, though, it did not matter.

As most of the fans had already exited the Dome at the start of the fourth quarter, some of the Orange’s backups started to slip up. Freshman running back Ike Daniels, who was the only SU rusher to appear in the fourth quarter, coughed up the ball in the red zone and gave the ball back to the depleted Raiders.

The backups (unsurprisingly) take over

Babers said on Monday that he would prefer that Shrader wouldn’t play the whole game. And with the Orange jumping out to a 37-0 lead in the first half, it wasn’t a matter of if, but when. During a commercial break in the second quarter, right before Shrader connected with Gadsden for a touchdown, Del Rio-Wilson started throwing on the sidelines.

Del Rio-Wilson would have to wait though, until midway into the second half to get into the game. On his first drive of the afternoon, he connected with Hatcher for 48 yards to set the Orange in the red zone. On the next play, Del Rio-Wilson found Jones in the back right corner of the end zone, moving SU’s point total to 50. One drive later, Del Rio-Wilson found backup pass catcher Kendall Long for an easy score. The Florida transfer scored once more in the third quarter on a pass to Darrell Gill Jr., a freshman receiver.

Shrader watched this all from the sidelines, casually strolling back and forth and congratulating the backups on scoring. Before Del Rio-Wilson could get in the game, though, Hatcher burned the Colgate secondary. Shrader completed a deep floater to Hatcher in the back of the end zone to make the score 44-0.