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All Oronde Gadsden II could do was watch. With 7:30 left in the first quarter he stood behind the left end zone in crutches with a boot on his left foot.

Gadsden spent the rest of Syracuse’s game against Western Michigan on the sidelines. On SU’s second offensive play from scrimmage, he seemingly rolled his ankle before limping toward the tunnel.

Two minutes later, however, Syracuse’s passing attack struck. Garrett Shrader escaped a collapsed pocket, rolling to his right, to find Donovan Brown down the right sideline. Brown made the catch and cut all the way across midfield. He remained untouched for an 86-yard touchdown, the first of his collegiate career.

Even without Gadsden, Syracuse’s (2-0, 0-0 Atlantic Coast Conference) offense totaled 496 yards against Western Michigan (1-1, 0-0 Mid-American Conference) in a 48-7 victory. After Gadsden went down, Shrader led six straight scoring drives in the first half. Running back LeQuint Allen scored three times, all from within the 2-yard line, while safety Jason Simmons Jr. capped off the first half with a pick six.

The receiving core ended up with 343 yards for the whole game, the most by the unit since it tallied 357 yards against Wake Forest last season on Nov. 19. Brown said that when the wide receivers like himself, Isaiah Jones and Umari Hatcher realized they had over 50 yards, they started to have fun.

“We’ve just started playing games like, ‘Okay, let’s see who can get the most yards,’” Brown said.

But while Syracuse held them to just one score, the Broncos struck first. Western Michigan running back Jalen Buckley found a massive hole in the defensive line and broke away for a 75-yard touchdown on the second play of the game. He was untouched by the SU secondary.

While the Orange responded with a field goal, their opening drive felt disastrous. After an incomplete pass to Brown, Gadsden’s injury came after making a catch on a slant route. Gadsden had previously rolled his right ankle during a fall camp practice which caused a brief scare.

Syracuse head coach Dino Babers said that the coaching staff will have to see how Gadsden feels during the 12-hour time period before he sees the trainer. Meanwhile, David Wohlabaugh Jr., who went down in the second quarter will likely be out for an extended period of time, according to Babers.

Brown said the team didn’t panic despite the two injuries. With the coaching staff preparing them for similar situations, the team was able to keep its composure on the sideline, he said.

“So it’s not just like, everybody’s just not knowing what to do,” Brown said. “We’ve got to be prepared for stuff like this. So nobody was really tripping.”

Brown also attributed the steady preparation to his 86-yard score in the first quarter. Brown said that he and Shrader practiced a play like that “every day.” He added that the duo discussed plays like this after practice and it was executed to perfection.

“I went to him, and I saw his hands pluck it out and saw him make the cut,” Shrader said. “And that’s when I knew he was gone. Nobody’s going to catch him.”

Despite Gadsden’s injury, Shrader led the offense on an efficient second drive. Shrader rushed for nine yards to pick up a first down and found Jones for multiple pick-ups. On a 2nd-and-6 from Western Michigan’s 18-yard line, wide receiver Damien Alford found a soft spot in the coverage and was wide open. Shrader lofted the ball toward the end zone but Alford dropped the routine pass. Still, Brady Denaburg knocked in a 36-yard field goal to put SU on the board.

The Orange defense managed a stop and Shrader returned to put together another efficient drive. Shrader hit Alford on the left sideline and Jones pulled in a deep rocket-ball from Shrader to set SU up at the 1-yard line. From there Allen scored his first touchdown of the game to give Syracuse a lead it never relinquished.

SU tasked Allen with finishing its drives at the goal line. On the team’s fifth drive of the game, it showed another stacked formation from the 1-yard line and Allen leaped into the end zone. Syracuse managed to tack on over 30 points in the first half for a second straight game. Allen finished with only 21 rushing yards but three touchdowns.

When Syracuse was pinned to its 1-yard line in the second quarter off of a dropkick punt from Western Michigan’s Jack Salopek, its receivers started to make more catches and draw multiple penalties. A Shrader pass to Hatcher went long but Broncos safety Tate Hallock was called for pass interference. Two plays later, Shrader completed a delivery to Jones before being tackled at the 38-yard line.

Then, as SU neared the end zone, Shrader got Western Michigan’s defensive line to jump offside. Given a free play, Hatcher drew another interference penalty on an incomplete pass to the end zone. From there, it was all too easy for Allen.

The Orange offense had already put the game out of reach for the Broncos, but the defense earned the final highlight of the first half. On a 4th-and-5, Salopek looked for Malique Dieudonne over the middle. The ball went over Dieudonne’s fingertips and ended in the waiting arms of Simmons Jr. who returned it 84 yards for a pick six to give Syracuse a 45-7 advantage.

By the second half, Carlos Del Rio-Wilson came in at quarterback and Juwaun Price received the handoffs. The backups initially did not have as much success, though, leading to Jack Stonehouse’s first punt of the game. But Price did eventually put the team in field goal range to cement the final score.

Even with the blowout, the Orange’s receivers stayed out on the field for the majority of the third quarter. The starters all lined up with Del Rio-Wilson through those drives. Babers said he and the coaching staff wanted to see what the receivers could do with Del Rio-Wilson as the signal caller. Babers said that the team still looked to pick up first downs and move the ball down field.

“When Carlos comes in he should have some good receivers in there as well,” Babers said. “…We want to see what Carlos can do as well.”

Gadsden got a hug from offensive lineman Mark Petry during the waning minutes, and then one from Derek McDonald before using his crutches to head to the locker room. But even with Gadsden’s status up in the air at the moment, the Orange still felt confident in their ability to execute the offense.

“You got to operate,” Shrader said. “So (we’ll) try to get those guys healthy and get them back so we’re at full force.”

Published on September 9, 2023 at 7:53 pm

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