The Syracuse Orange are on a bye this week and I’m going to be in Chicago all weekend, so consider this the last missive from me until a Pitt preview comes next week. (Hint: subscribe if you’re a ‘Cuse sicko because I’m going to be looking at Rickie Collins in depth and what he can fix moving forward!)
In the meantime, the bye week is a great time to reset expectations, assumptions, and projections for this 3-2 team moving forward, as a lot has changed with the team for the good and for the bad. Let’s dive in.
Injuries: The killer of any season’s ceiling have come for ‘Cuse
Look, Steve Angeli’s injury is the obvious one here. Angeli was leading the NCAA in passing yards even after leaving midway through the Clemson victory with what would be a ruptured achilles. Angeli has since had surgery and is aiming for a 2026 season return at full health.
The problem for the Orange has been that Angeli is not the only major player with injury issues. Devin Grant injured his ankle against Tennessee, and the Orange saw just how valuable he is to the defense based on the second half of the opener and their follow up contests to Colgate and UConn. His return against Clemson was a huge reason for the Orange upset. But, he is clearly not 100%. He was a game time decision against SMU and ended up playing 47 defensive snaps, grading out on PFF as the worst Syracuse player with over 20 snaps.
Defensive tackle Rashad Perry is now out for the season with a torn bicep. Perry was rotating along the defensive line, but was the highest graded defensive lineman through the first four games of the season for the Orange. Redshirt senior linebacker Derek McDonald was injured after the Clemson game and missed both the Duke and SMU games. It is unclear when he will return.
Star receiver Johntay Cook II has been battling an injury sustained against Tennessee and was another game time decision against SMU. Other starters who came into SMU banged up included offensive linemen Travion Mack and Byron Washington.
Football is an incredibly physical game. Injuries will happen. However, last season, the Orange were able to navigate injuries to depth players due to the relative health of their stars. This season, there’s far more injuries across both sides, and getting the banged up players healthy while filling in for Angeli and Perry need to be a priority.
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