Ten Things: UConn at Syracuse
Trying another new feature, ten things that stood out to me during the Syracuse game this past weekend. If there’s something that stood out to you, reply in the comments!
1. Kyle McCord is very, very good. Insane to think that Ohio State fans didn’t want this guy to be their QB. What stood out most, was his ability to place the ball exactly where it needed to be.
2. Unlike the UConn QBs, who, despite being better than the QBs from recent history, inaccuracy is an issue. Joe Fagnano got the start, and threw 49 times, the most any QB has thrown this season for the Huskies. He completed 55% of those passes, but there were some missed throws in big spots.
3. UConn rushed only 16 times, accounting for the one sack on Fagnano. Easily the lowest total of the year for a run-first offense. Taking out to big runs of 71 and 35 for Cam Edwards and Mel Brown, respectively, the Huskies rushed 14 times for just 25 yards.
4. Jayden McDonald. is awesome, and I wish he could spend more than one year in Storrs.
5. Lee Molette III replaced Malik Dixon-Williams, who missed the first half because of a targeting call in the UAB game, pretty well, and led the team in tackles at the half.
6. Dixon-Williams came out to start the second half, and immediately put a big hit on the Orange ballcarrier.
7. Mora has made no secret of his disdain for ACC refs, and he had to be unhappy with the PI call on Malcolm Bell that led to a Syracuse TD. Interestingly, Jordan Wright had a no-call on the same drive, that I thought was much more egregious. Refs, huh?
8. The unsportsmanlike conduct penalty for using a substitution to deceive the defense was wild, and the first time in my roughly 27 years of football fandom that I’ve seen it called. The crowd was not happy.
9. Speaking of the crowd, it was announced at about 35K, but it gets loud in the JMA Wireless Dome. A fun place to watch a ballgame, and even nicer now that they’ve renovated it.
10. UConn is close to getting there, but obviously not there quite yet. They played three ACC teams, and lost by 5, 3, and 7. The biggest difference between P4 and G5 are noticeable on the lines, and we saw that on display this year. The run game got nothing going against Wake, but they were able to move the ball on the ground against Duke.