Syracuse (2-2, 0-1 Atlantic Coast) is coming off a seven-point win over Connecticut on Saturday and is prepping to face a 1-3 Notre Dame team that fired its defensive coordinator this week. Beat writers Tomer Langer, Chris Libonati and Jon Mettus answer three questions surrounding SU.

Can Amba Etta-Tawo keep up the torrid pace he’s been on for the rest of the season?

Tomer Langer: My incredibly limited math knowledge wants to assume that at a certain point, some of Etta-Tawo’s numbers are going to regress. Also, you’d imagine that as Syracuse plays stronger Atlantic Coast Conference teams with stronger secondaries that his numbers might dip. But I still think he’ll have an unbelievable year and potentially break receiving records for SU. In terms of the exact pace he’s on, I do think that’ll dip ever so slightly, but he should still be set up for a phenomenal year.

Chris Libonati: The answer is both yes and no — I think he can keep up a torrid pace, but I don’t know if he can keep up this torrid pace. Right now he’s on schedule for 2,118 yards, which would beat the NCAA record by 58 yards. The last receiver to have 700 yards through four games was Michael Crabtree, who went on to rack up 1,962 yards in 2007. There’s been only one receiver in college football history who has gone over 2,000 yards and that was in 1999.

In the end, I think he can gain at least 100 yards per game, which would put him somewhere around 1,500 yards for the season. The way the offense works, I think teams can take Etta-Tawo away but not entirely. They’ll have to leave someone open (probably the inside receiver that plays next to him).

Jon Mettus: I’d be surprised if Amba Etta-Tawo keeps up his record-breaking numbers the whole season — but I didn’t think he’d keep it up through four games either. Right now, Etta-Tawo is on pace for 120 receptions for 2,118 yards and 15 touchdowns. That’d be more yards in a season than the current record of 2,060 set by Nevada’s Trevor Insley in 1999. He’s also had two 200-yard games, which puts him on pace to tie the record of six in a season also set by Insley that year. SU head coach Dino Babers acknowledged that at some point a defensive coordinator will decide to caught off Etta-Tawo entirely and give up plays to the Orange’s other receivers. That hasn’t happened yet, but Etta-Tawo’s pace is too absurd right now to think he’ll sustain it completely.

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How much longer can Syracuse go before its depleted offensive line costs it games?

T.L.: I’m not sure it’s fair to say that its offensive line has cost it any games yet and so it’s unclear exactly when that will become an issue. The line hasn’t been perfect, but it’s been more than OK throughout most of the season. The bigger concern for the Orange is its seemingly disappearing offense after the first quarters. Not including the Colgate game, SU’s offense has scored just 24 points in the second half combined (six quarters) against Louisville, South Florida and Connecticut. That has to change if Syracuse wants to compete.

C.L.: I actually think it can go a while. It’ll be a week-to-week judgment call based on the type of defensive line it plays, but Colin Byrne has stepped in at one of the hardest positions to play on the O-Line and played well. That said, other positions will be tougher to fill out with backup offensive linemen. Missing Omari Palmer and Cody Conway will be a much tougher fix with fill-ins.

J.M.: Before the season, Babers said that games are won at the line of scrimmage with the hippos and elephants. The SU offense throws the ball quick enough (a lot of the time) to hide deficiencies in its offensive line. But the O-line is central to establishing the running game, which the Orange needs to do to compete against better teams. The patchwork offensive line had its ups and downs against Connecticut, but contributed to the team’s worst running game of the year (62 yards). I don’t think Syracuse will win many more games if Jason Emerich, Cody Conway and Aaron Roberts are out for an extended amount of time.

Tony Curtis | Staff Photographer

Are you convinced that if SU is in a close game against an ACC opponent, the Orange will pull out the win like it did at UConn?

T.L.: Not at all. That’s not to say that Syracuse can’t win, but there’s a long way to go before feeling convinced. I personally wasn’t even convinced that SU would beat UConn even thought it had the ball up a score with just over six minutes left in the game. The 99-yard touchdown drive was one of the most impressive drives the Orange has put together over the last few years. But it’ll take a lot more impressive big play moments before that can be considered the standard.

C.L.: Again, depends. Is SU ahead? Is its opponent ahead? How big is the lead? Without context, the best answer is maybe. What I really think is that this team is better at closing games than last season, largely because it can score more points quicker. The Orange offense is legitimately better than it was last season. I do think SU will have trouble coming back because in critical situations, I’m not so sure whether the defense can keep up with other teams’ offenses.

J.M.: No. Not at all. Unless we’re talking about Boston College or Wake Forest. And even then I’m not convinced, I just think it’s possible. I don’t want to say Syracuse got lucky against UConn, but the Orange cut it real close with the goal line stand. I’m not very confident in the depleted defense’s ability to get a stop when it needs. But I do think the offense will be able to manufacture scoring drives in dire situations — kind of like the 99-yard fourth quarter touchdown drive against the Huskies.

Published on September 27, 2016 at 11:54 pm