The Syracuse football team had their first public display since their Holiday Bowl victory on Saturday and the Orange looked a lot different while also looking the same in many ways. The offense looked similar to how they did much of last season, even going back to the spring game of last April. The attack leaned pass-heavy (around 70 percent pass calls until going run heavy over the last quarter) with a good number of downfield shots mixed in.
Obviously, the roster differences were different, as a flock of skill position leaders from last season are gone. Kyle McCord, LeQuint Allen, Oronde Gadsden II, and Jackson Meeks are all gone, meaning the team is replacing its top passer, rusher, wide receiver, and tight end.
Granted opportunity, there were some players who stepped up in the spring game, similar to how Zeed Haynes and Trebor Pena made significant impact in last year’s contest and went on to do the same in the regular season (although Haynes’ contributions were unfortunately cut short).
NOTE: All offensive stats are unofficial and come from the play-by-play log I created from the press box.
Rickie Collins was named the starting quarterback, but was held out for precautionary reasons, setting up Michael Johnson Jr. and Jakhari Williams with the opportunity to show their wares for a half of the action.
Williams had the better of things, completing 7-of-15 passes for 128 yards with a touchdown and an interception. He also had two additional incompletions erased via penalty. It was a mix of up-and-down to be expected from a young, developing passer, as his biggest gain was a 46-yard completion to Justus Ross-Simmons, who had to adjust to an underthrown pass, but his second-biggest was a nice rip over the middle to Emanuel Ross for a 22-yard touchdown.
Johnson struggled with accuracy much of the game, completing just 4-of-12 attempts for 55 yards and a couple of those incompletions could have ended up as sacks. His two longest completions were a dumpoff that Jordan Montanez (more on him later) turned in 24 yards through the magic of YAC and a 22-yard connection to Jaylan Hornsby, who had to make a nice adjustment to haul in despite drawing a pass interference flag from Demetres Samuel Jr.
Perhaps more noteworthy were the targets on the other end of the attempts, as the numbers were concentrated among a few players. Pena, who was the only non-quarterback in a white non-contact jersey, caught one pass on the first drive for the Orange team and disappeared from the field. But, a few other wide receivers played a big role in his absence.
Senior Justus Ross-Simmons, who had the most receptions last season of any player participating in the game (Umari Hatcher did not play), played just a half for the Orange side. He caught two-of-five passes from Williams for 64 yards, including the aforementioned 46-yarder, which was the biggest gain of the day.
Also of note was that Ross-Simmons and Pena were named offensive MVPs of the spring. Last year, the honor went to Haynes, who had a massive spring game that appeared to be carrying over in the fall before his season was shortened, so it suggests that Ross-Simmons could be headed toward a major role this season.
Hornsby had a quiet, but big game. Targeted seven times by Blue team passers, the redshirt hauled in five passes for 107 yards. Hornsby made nice adjustments on a couple grabs, including a juggling catch for 21 yards from Rich Belin late in the second quarter and reaching back for a 43-yard deep shot on a slight underthrow by Belin in the third. The combination of the number of targets and the ball skills shown make Hornsby a name to remember for the fall.
Emanuel Ross, a redshirt freshman playing for the Orange side who was named the most improved offensive player of spring practice, was officially targeted five times, catching only one pass for 22 yards, but it was also the lone passing score of the day. Ross was victimized by a couple uncatchable passes, but also drew a first quarter pass interference penalty in the end zone that set up Yasin Willis’s short touchdown run that opened the scoring.
Tyshawn Russell was targeted seven times over three quarters for the Blue team, but only caught one, picking up 20 yards on an on-the money throw from Joesph Filardi, the third quarterback to play for that side. The redshirt sophomore transfer from South Carolina certainly saw enough targets to suggest he has a developing role for the team.
Freshman Darius Johnson may be listed at just 5’10” and 160 pounds, but he showed a penchant for big plays. Targeted just three times, Johnson hauled in two passes, a 24-yard completion from Williams and a 40-yard deep shot from freshman Luke Carney early in the fourth quarter.
With Willis done for the Orange side after four carries for 34 yards and a touchdown to go with two screen receptions for three yards, Montanez was the primary runner in the game and looked the part. Serving as the lead ballcarrier for the Blue, Montanez staked a claim to the third running back role behind Wills and Will Nixon, who is still recovering from injury.
Over the first three quarters (there was a lot of choppy play in the fourth, including several poor shotgun snaps that threw off the timing of several plays), Montanez had eight carries for 42 yards and a touchdown along with two receptions for 29 yards. The redshirt freshman from Texas looks ticketed for a growing role down the line.
The offseason has not put to rest special teams concerns, at least in the kicking game. Both Jayden Oh and Iowa transfer Tripp Woody missed field goals with no defense on the field. Oh pushed a 44-yard attempt from the left hash too far right in the third quarter while Woody’s miss to the left of the uprights was from 42 yards.
As alluded to earlier in the week, Samuel did play on both sides of the ball. While credited with five tackles at cornerback, the youngster did also get flagged for pass interference, but the penalty was declined. Samuel was also targeted four times at wide receiver over the last two-and-a-half quarters of play, he did not log any receptions.
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