Syracuse walked out of its opener with a 66-3 win over New Hampshire, and that kind of score usually tells you plenty before the film even gets rolled. Still, the bigger takeaway from the Orange’s start wasn’t just the margin - it was how quickly they settled in.
Beat writer Javon Edmonds of the Syracuse Post-Standard said the performance felt like a different operation from what Syracuse showed a year ago in a 66-24 win over Colgate. That game, he said, was “not a clean operation . . . it showed that was a team that had some work to do.”
Against New Hampshire, the tone flipped fast. Edmonds said Syracuse was “clicking on all cylinders from the start” and called it “a whuppin’” from the second drive on.
A lot of the attention naturally goes to quarterback Steve Angeli, who threw for 263 yards and three touchdowns in the opener after leading the nation in passing yards last year before tearing his Achilles against Clemson. Edmonds said he believes Angeli is physically all the way back, but there’s still the mental side that comes with trusting the body again.
“He just needs to know he can take a hit again. He took a few hits,” Edmonds said, pointing to the sack, the late hit out of bounds, and the moment when Angeli got tangled up and grabbed at his knee.
“I’ve never heard a sporting event get as quiet as it did when he started holding his knee. When he got up and sprinted off, that place got so loud and the crowd started chanting `Steve Angeli.’
I think Steve’s looking pretty fine.”
The backfield picture took an unexpected turn when Ju’Juan Johnson, the projected No. 1 running back, missed the opener with an ankle injury. That opened the door for Shavane Anderson Jr., and the freshman made a loud first impression by becoming the ACC’s first true freshman to rush for 100 yards in at least 20 years. Anderson finished with 105 yards against New Hampshire, and Edmonds described him as a runner who can punish defenses in more ways than one.
“I’ll tell you a story: The second-to-last week of fall camp was one of the few times we got to see a lot of practice. Shavane Anderson had that place going ooh’ and aah.’
He had back-to-back reps of just running clean through guys. You could hear the pop.
“So he gets out there vs . New Hampshire and what happens?
Six broken tackles, 80 yards after contact. That’s just who he is: A brutal, physical, downhill runner.
But he’s not some slow, stiff guy. He’s fast, he’s got wiggle to him.”
On defense, Syracuse is asking a lot from senior linebacker Keyshawn Johnson, the FCS All-American who arrived from Tennessee-Martin after posting 13 1/2 sacks last season. Edmonds said the opener gave Syracuse reason to feel good, but also made clear the real test still waits.
“If anyone on that defense needed a good game it was him. Brought you up from the FCS level, he had 13 1/2 sacks down there last year.
Need to see you replicate that and (he had) 2 1/2 sacks. One of them was a strip sack.
They need him to really perform this year.
“They had a transfer last year from Cal - David Reese, an eighth-year guy. David came in and had 2 1/2 sacks all season.
Seeing that from Keyshawn was positive, but he’s got to do it against the ACC teams. So Saturday’s going to be a big measuring stick for him.”
And then there’s Demetres Samuel Jr., one of Syracuse’s most versatile and dangerous players. He handled defensive back duties, returned punts and kickoffs, and even showed a little at wide receiver in the opener, including a 42-yard kick return and four punt returns for 83 yards. Edmonds called him “an electrifying kid . . . one of the spectacles of college football.”
He also pointed to the Orange’s cornerback setup, saying, “They’ve got probably the best cornerback duo in the ACC in Demetres Samuel and Chris Peal. It’s going to be a lot of man to man and just let those guys win their matchups. They got a few coverage sacks off that against New Hampshire.”
Samuel’s punt-return role comes with a built-in incentive plan, too. He has told the other 10 players on the unit that he’ll give each of them $100 if he takes one to the house, and coach Fran Brown has an arrangement to pay him $1,000 for a punt return touchdown.
Do the math, as Edmonds put it: “the kid is smart.” The setup may be a break-even deal financially, but it gives Syracuse a return man who can change a game and teammates who have every reason to celebrate with him if he breaks one.
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Jaron-Keawe Sagapolutele is part of the larger conversation too, because the Bears know every wobble gets magnified when a young roster is trying to find its footing. A win would immediately change the mood, give Cal an encouraging start in ACC play and keep the focus on the field instead of the noise around the program. A stumble, on the other hand, would leave plenty of room for the questions that tend to follow a team when the margins start to feel bigger than the record. [Read more 🡒]