Three takeaways from Syracuse’s 31-7 win vs Louisville

Well if you’re gonna make a bowl run, this is one way to do it.

The Syracuse Orange came out of the gates running against the Louisville Cardinals to open the 2022 season in the newly christened JMA Wireless Dome. The Orange offense and defense went to work and impressed to defeat the Cardinals 31-7.

Here’s our three takeaways from a key Orange victory:

I am asking once again for your financial support

If you have money, I suggest giving it to the Syracuse football program.

They need it to keep Tony White.

The 2020 takeaway defense is back. Two picks and a fumble is just the cherry on top of a suffocating performance from the Orange defense. The linebackers continued to shine, the defensive backs didn’t allow Malik Cunningham to test them, and the defensive line proved a lot of people, me included, wrong.

We knew the defense was going to be the strong point of this Syracuse team, but this is perhaps better than expected. Tony White has done an excellent job and he’s getting paid by someone this offseason. Hopefully it’s Syracuse.

Photo by Gregory Fisher/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images

All you need is one offseason

Garrett Shrader’s arm is a big reason why Syracuse’s offense was humming, other than the obvious reason of Sean Tucker. The most impressive factor of Shrader’s night was his accuracy. The arm accuracy was the biggest concern about Shrader’s game coming into the season, and early on he’s put those worries to rest. The velocity on his short and mid passes were impressive as well. If the Orange didn’t drop three easy passes, Shrader’s numbers would look even better. That performance should give Syracuse fans a lot of confidence.

Mike Schmidt’s gonna have some thoughts

Well, we asked for some pre-snap motion.

That was an unintended consequence.

Shrader and Tucker did what they could to mitigate the damage, but double-digit penalties from the offensive line is not a healthy way to win a football game. Everyone except for Matthew Bergeron flinched at some point and killed off some promising Orange drives. Blocking-wise the offensive line had its moments, which is always a good sign especially with the talent Syracuse has on the ground. But penalties return to almost bury the Orange and that’s not a good omen for the rest of the year. I know some of you would like to be a fly on the wall in Mike Schmidt’s coaching room this week.