Syracuse is heading into Saturday night’s trip to Scott Stadium with a defense that has already shown two very different faces this season.
The Orange were carved up for 41 points by UConn two weeks ago, but they still walked away with a win. Before that, they opened by holding New Hampshire to a field goal and turned in solid efforts in ACC losses to California, 21-18, and Pittsburgh, 27-13. Now they’ll face a Virginia offense that faded after the opening stretch against Florida State last week and will be looking to find the kind of production UConn put up, when the Huskies rolled for 499 total yards.
Three Syracuse defenders stand out as players Virginia has to account for.
The first is edge rusher Fadil Diggs Johnson. He’s built a reputation quickly after transferring in from Tennessee-Martin, where he earned FCS All-America honors last season with 13.5 sacks.
Johnson, listed at 6-3 and 235 pounds, wasted no time making an impact at Syracuse. He piled up 2.5 sacks in his first FBS game against New Hampshire and now leads the Orange with 3.5 quarterback takedowns on the season.
With Virginia’s offensive line giving up 10 sacks of Beau Pribula against Florida State, Johnson will be a major problem all night.
Another disruptive force up front is Melvin Adeleye. Virginia does have some built-in familiarity here: Fisher Camac, the Cavaliers’ top edge rusher, lined up across from Adeleye at UNLV two years ago before both players moved on.
Adeleye, who checks in at 6-4 and 270 pounds, earned all-Mountain West Conference honors last season and has kept that momentum going in Syracuse. He has recorded at least half a sack in every game so far this year.
This is also his fifth college stop after earlier stints at Texas A&M, Michigan State, Texas State, and UNLV.
In the secondary, Davien Peal gives Syracuse another versatile piece. He was part of Georgia’s 2022 national championship team before transferring to Syracuse ahead of the 2025 season, and he has started every game over the past two years.
At 6-1 and 200 pounds, he can line up at cornerback or safety. Peal had a career-high six tackles in the opener against New Hampshire and is second on the team with 11 solo tackles, while also adding a quarterback hurry and a pass breakup.
He’s expected to spend plenty of time matched up with Virginia’s top target, Rico Flores Jr.
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