LYNCHBURG, Va. — Syracuse’s new-look offensive line survived its first test of the 2019 season on Saturday night.

The line, which includes four players at new positions — including two entirely new starters — surrendered two sacks, both in the first quarter, before a stream of adjustments from the sideline and the wearing down of Liberty’s defensive front keyed some late success for a group that only got better as the game went on.

“I’ve been telling you guys and gals all week, ‘We don’t know what they’re going to do,’” head coach Dino Babers said. “And sure enough they came out and it was like, ‘OK, we’ve never seen this. Let’s start adjusting.’”

Syracuse did suffer a potentially major blow in losing starting center Sam Heckel to injury. Heckel left Saturday’s game in the first half and did not return. Heckel “seems like he’s OK,” Babers said postgame. He said he hadn’t spoken to any medical staff prior to speaking with media and didn’t provide further details on Heckel’s condition. 

In his absence, starting left tackle Airon Servais moved back to his old position of center, starting right tackle Carlos Vettorello flipped to the left and graduate transfer and backup Ryan Alexander took up the right tackle role. Switching sides of the offensive line in his first start wasn’t ideal for Vettorello, Servais said, but the redshirt freshman handled himself well. 

“I bet that was a little bit scary for him,” Servais said, “but I think he did a good job. We’ve been practicing for it all camp and all spring and things like that. Obviously that’s why we practice it, for situations like today.” 

Also making his first start alongside Vettorello on Saturday was redshirt sophomore Dakota Davis, who started at right guard. Even linemen like Servais and Heckel, who have made starts before, were new to their respective positions, left tackle and center, at kickoff.

The combination of new positions, finally seeing Liberty’s schemes and adjusting on the fly caused SU’s slow start. Once Liberty tipped their looks and Babers and his staff could adjust, the offensive line started to look smoother and smoother. 

By games end, they had worn down a smaller front — Liberty’s average defensive lineman is more than 40 pounds lighter than an average SU starting offensive lineman — and started showing glimpses of what the group could become. 

“We’ve got some good in this game but we’ve got some bad as well,” Servais said. “It’s going to be nice to be able to get in the film room and figure out what we did wrong and what we can improve on.”

Published on September 1, 2019 at 12:11 am

Contact Andrew: aegraham@syr.edu | @A_E_Graham