Orange defense steps up, holds Zips to 166 yards
Shamarko Thomas remembers feeling ‘a little pressure.’ He remembers feeling the momentum shift. And he remembers how good it felt.
‘When we set the tone,’ said Thomas, a sophomore safety, ‘the offense follows. It’s a great feeling knowing we back each other up.’
With the Orange leading by 10 in the second quarter against the Zips Saturday, an SU turnover put Akron on the Syracuse 18-yard line. That put the Orange in a bind. But with its back against the wall, the defense flexed its muscles. Three plays later, Akron kicked a field goal and came away with its only points of the game.
Not allowing a touchdown gave quarterback Ryan Nassib just over a minute to drive down and score on the other end. It was perhaps the turning point in the Orange’s 29-3 victory over the Zips.
‘It’s something that gets taken for granted because I think they’ve really done a good job,’ SU head coach Doug Marrone said. ‘But for them to make that stop was big.’
Against Akron, the SU defense was as dominant as it has been in a long, long time. Last year, the Orange ranked 13th in the nation in yards per game against the run. But against the Zips, not only was the run defense stout, the pass defense was also equally impressive. SU completely shut down the Zips, allowing just three points and 166 yards of total offense.
With the strong effort, the SU defense appears to have picked up where it left off last season. And though it came against a far inferior opponent, the performance gives the Orange defense added confidence heading into Week 2 against Washington and Heisman Trophy candidate quarterback Jake Locker.
For Thomas, Saturday was fun. And it may have been the start of big things for the Orange defense.
‘We played well,’ Thomas started, ‘but we’re just trying to get better every week. We’re pushing ourselves to the limit to see just how good we can be.’
A Little Inspiration
Before Saturday’s game at Akron, the players were visited by a Syracuse legend. Recent Pro Football Hall of Fame inductee Floyd Little met with players and coaches and gave a speech, encouraging the Orange to bring back a winning football tradition to SU.
Marrone described the speech as ‘unbelievable’ and ‘very moving.’ And for the SU players, it gave added motivation to start their season differently from recent years.
SU running back Delone Carter, who said he came to SU because of the tradition set by players such as Little, said Little’s remarks gave the Orange added motivation Saturday.
‘It’s just so inspiring to be in front of a Hall of Famer,’ Carter said. ‘Just to get him and to meet him and hear him speak was amazing.’
With SU’s goal of returning to a bowl game for the first time since 2004, Little’s inspirational remarks couldn’t have come at a more opportune time, Thomas said.
‘It was a great way to start the season,’ Thomas said. ‘Anytime you can have a guy like him speak to you before a game, it’s going to give you a little something extra.’
This and that
Freshman Ross Krautman started at kicker instead of returning starter Ryan Lichtenstein. He finished the game 1-for-1 from field goal range and 2-for-4 on point after attempts, kicking one wide and botching another due to a bad snap. His field goal was a 47-yarder that could have potentially went for 10 yards farther. Marrone would not offer comment on Lichtenstein’s status after the game. … On Mike Holmes’ touchdown score, the field goal was blocked by Doug Hogue and deflected off Chandler Jones’ elbow before Holmes took the ball 57 yards for the score. … Carter had 12 carries in the first quarter alone, setting up the deep passing routes that allowed SU to complete five passes of 20 yards or more.
