Syracuse Football: 3 biggest questions heading into summer 2020
Syracuse football is coming off a disappointing 2019 season and Dino Babers looks to turn things around. What questions are the Orange facing?
Coming off a 5-7 season, Dino Babers and Syracuse face a tough road to the top of the ACC.
In 2018, the Orange surged to a 10-win season, culminating in a Camping World Bowl victory over West Virginia.
Improving in these key areas quickly will get Syracuse back to its 2018 form. What questions are the Orange facing heading into the summer before the 2020 campaign?
3. Will the offensive line improve?
ESPN’s David Hale tweeted out an interesting graphic on Thursday detailing the Syracuse offensive line situation.
So is there hope for Syracuse? I'd say there's actually reason for LOTS of enthusiasm. The Orange return 4 likely starters: Servais, Davis, Vortello & Bergeron. But those guys were on the field together just 38% of snaps last year. These splits are insane... pic.twitter.com/izIHqvoDOI
— 💫🅰️♈️🆔 (@ADavidHaleJoint) May 21, 2020
Hale’s graphic reveals that the four returning (assumed) starting linemen are significantly better than most have given credit.
Aaron Servais, Dakota Davis, Carlos Vettorello and Matthew Bergeron were only on the field together for 38 percent of Syracuse’s offensive snaps, but the group performed significantly better than when at least one was not in the lineup. Quarterbacks were pressured 10 percent less, and the average yards gained were significantly higher.
As a whole, the offensive line struggled last season, surrendering 50 sacks to opponents. On average, opponents out-gained the Orange by 70 yards per game. During the 10-win 2018 season, the offense averaged 464 yards per game, compared to 394 yards per game in 2019.
Improvements along the line will go far in the development of Tommy DeVito.