Syracuse vs. Colgate: Getting To Know Your Freshmen Defenders

The Maine win was a nice introduction to a couple of the new faces on the Syracuse defense. Chances are, we'll get to see a little more of them this weekend against Colgate.

LB Malcolm Cater made the most impact on Saturday. And he did so quite literally, applying a crushing hit and aggressive tackles that has fans thinking about his potential. And just  because you need to be reminded...

Cater almost ended up being a rival of the Orange, as he heavily considered Rutgers before making a decision he says he is extremely happy with in signing with the Orange.

And then there's Jason Bromley. Bromley was lightly-recruited last year in high school and was en route to prep school when a star-making performance at the Empire Challenge got the attention of SU (and others). Doug Marrone is thrilled with the discovery and the way Bromley is progressing:

"The kid runs, his effort . . . everything is great," Marrone said. "He’s a natural leverage player. He’s really strong and can run. He’s just a young kid, and we’re developing him. And I think he’s going to be a heck of a player."

Dave Rahme sat down with Bromley as well. Jason talks about what it was like to go from unheralded to very heralded so quickly and what he still needs to improve on:

"Everything. I want to help my team as much as possible. Me improving, me being the best I can be can only help my team. Me being a true freshman with Coach (Jimmy) Brumbaugh, that makes it better for me because I can learn things more than the seniors because the seniors are stuck in their ways, how they were taught before and learning now how to do it. But me, I’m teachable.

As for the Orange as whole, they're excited for the opportunity to not only beat a classic rival like Colgate but also work on the things that need it, like penalties.

"Obviously we want to cut down on little mistakes, little errors," Smith said. "Cut down on defensive and offensive penalties, of course. … It's one thing to do things at practice right and to answer all the tests that we receive, but when we get to the field, that's what we have to work on &- just doing our job better when we get into a game situation."