55. Syracuse Orange |
#12 in ACC |
In Syracuse coach Dino Babers’ first season at Eastern Illinois, he took them from 2-9 to 7-5 and reached the FCS Playoffs. Then in his second season went 12-2, reached the Elite 8, and finished ranked #4 in the FCS. He then left for Bowling Green, where he went 8-6 in his first year, and 10-3 with a MAC Championship in his second, before taking the Syracuse job. So the trajectory had been solid in Year 1, and taking off in Year 2. That’s not exactly how year 2 at Syracuse went. The Orange upset Clemson in a Friday night game last year to get to 4-3 overall, 2-1 in the ACC, and perhaps turn a corner. Instead that was the last they tasted success, and a 5 game losing streak to end the year happened instead, with the wheels completely coming off at the end. Over the final three games, against Wake Forest, Louisville and Boston College, Syracuse gave up 54 ppg. Even the offense began to sputter, averaging 12 ppg over the final two, and one of their three scores was a meaningless touchdown already down 56-3 to Louisville in the final 5 minutes. Everyone knew Babers wasn’t particularly concerned with defense, but offense has been his calling card, and the Syracuse offense simply hasn’t taken off. The were third in the ACC in total offense, but mainly because their 85.6 plays per game lapped the field. Their 5.3 ypp was near the bottom of the league, and they turned the ball over more than anyone in the league. Hanging your defense out to dry when you are putting up points is one thing, was the Orange defense was worst in the ACC with 32.2 ppg allowed, and 6.4 ypp allowed. In season 3, you’d hope the offense would start to click. Quarterback Eric Dungey is in his fourth year as the starter, third under Babers. The dip his completion percentage took last year needs to correct. This offense simply can’t run at the tempo it needs to with those incompletions. He’s doing it without his All-ACC WR duo, but that is more a product of system than talent. Their loss will be balanced by what should be an improved rushing attack, with a pair of 500 yard rushers returning behind an offensive line returning five starters.
Key PlayersQB | | Eric Dungey, Senior |
RB | | Dontae Strickland, Senior |
RB | | Moe Neal, Junior |
| . | |
DE | | Alton Robinson, Junior |
CB | | Christopher Fredrick, Junior |
S | | Evan Foster, Junior |
54. Ole Miss Rebels |
#11 in SEC |
Seven games into the 2017 season, all seemed lost for the Ole Miss program. Hugh Freeze was forced out prior to the season after being dogged by all sorts of accusations, the team was 3-4 (with wins over South Alabama, UT Martin and Vanderbilt), and starting quarterback Shea Patterson had just been lost to an injury for the season. Then a funny thing happened. They started playing well. The Rebels won three of their final five, including wins over bowl bounds teams in Kentucky, and Mississippi State in the Egg Bowl. The two losses were one score losses. Three days after the win over Mississippi State, the interim tag was removed from head coach Matt Luke. There is reason for optimism going into 2018, although the Rebels remain ineligible for a bowl for one more year. The most surprising factor might be Jordan Ta’amu. Ta’amu spelled Patterson late in the Vanderbilt win, but didn’t attempt a pass. His first came the next week, when he became the starter following Patterson’s injury. Over those final five weeks he actually had a higher completion rate than Patterson, more yards per attempt, a better TD:INT ratio, higher Passer rating, and higher Total QBR. The only guy who might be upset is A.J. Brown. Patterson to Brown was money. Brown had at least 8 receptions and at least 110 yards in four of the five games he and Patterson were both healthy, averaging 7 receptions for 136 yards in those five, even with a 1 catch-6 yard performance against Alabama messing the whole thing up. His numbers were just fine with Ta’amu, but the ball was getting spread around more, and the Biletnikoff talk cooled. He still wound up 8th in the nation in receiving yards, and is third among returning players. Defensively the secondary is very good, but the front needs to get drastically better after allowing 245 ypg on the ground a year ago, 7th worst in the FBS. Aside from that Ole Miss doesn’t look like a team on probation, and they aren’t recruiting like one either. This looks like a program, much like Penn State a couple years ago, that could exit probation running, because of the right coach at the right time. Matt Luke bleeds Rebel blue, and he’s selling the hell out of the program. Everyone knew Freeze was dirty all along, but maybe it’s time to buy that Oxford is a place you can recruit to. The Rebels already have 13 commits for their 2019 class, which ranks #9 nationally in the 247 composite rankings.
Key PlayersQB | | Jordan Ta'amu, Senior |
WR | | A.J. Brown, Junior |
T | | Greg Little, Junior |
| . | |
DE | | Josiah Coatney, Junior |
CB | | Javien Hamilton, Senior |
S | | C.J. Moore, Senior |