Our 2011 Syracuse Football preview has looked at every unit on the team. It's time to put it all together. Let's look at the offense first.
Quarterbacks
Running Backs
Tight Ends
Wide Receiver
Offensive Line
Syracuse stunned the Big East last year and won 8 games -- which was almost as many victories as Greg Robinson had in four destructive years on the hill. The team did it by playing great defense and controlling the clock. The team finished 97th in the country in total offense. If we get the same performance this year, there's no way this team is winning eight games.
Luckily for the Orange, this year isn't last year. I fully expect Ryan Nassib to be greatly improved, Antwon Bailey to be the dynamic threat out of the backfield we first saw in 2008 against Notre Dame, and a receiving and tight end corps to be more dynamic than either have been in years. The bedrock for this offensive performance will be an offensive line that has four starters back and the potential to be the best in the league.
Our prediction is an offense that delivers the big plays that have been missing for years and can still control the clock with an effective short passing and running game. Look for close to 400 yards of offense and 28 points a game out of the 'cuse.
And for all the hub bub around town about the fans not supporting the team, a lot of that has had to do with 13 years of bad offense. Paul Pasqualoni didn't get run out of town because he was 16-20 in his last three years. He got run out of town because of some blowout losses and the fact that fans got bored. If they had been winging the ball all over the field and losing games 45-42, fans would have stuck around a lot longer than they did. Rather, fans, and ultimately the administration, got tired of an option attack and the lack of a quarterback that could make big plays. P didn't get fired because he didn't win enough games -- he got fired for an even worse sin -- his teams played boring football.
Then came the abyss that was Greggers. Doug Marrone has turned things around, but he's done it playing defense and running the ball. We believe this year that's going to change -- but if you want another reason why a small, fickle fan base hasn't flocked to the Dome box office to gobble up every available ticket, it has something to do with the fact that the last truly dynamic offensive threat this program has had graduated in 1998.
This is the year that all changes. If it does, you'll see a much fuller Carrier Dome.
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