Syracuse football: it’s ok to have a fun opener

The Syracuse Orange easily took care of the Colgate Raiders yesterday. Almost all of us expected it would be an easy win, but 65-0? That was an impressive performance-especially from the defense.

It wasn’t a pretty start to the game but once Syracuse got into a rhythm, the mistakes were minimal. Shrader threw a bad pick, Justin Barron missed a PAT snap and Braden Davis coughed up a fumble. No one’s saying that there isn’t plenty for Dino Babers and staff to work on when they watch film later today.

The flip side of that is we saw a lot of Orange players finding their first bit of success and isn’t that something we could enjoy for at least the first 24 hours after the win? Donovan Brown and Umari Hatcher look ready to take on a role in this passing game. LeQuint Allen seems poised to be the lead running back. Oronde Gadsden showed he’s still the same OG and concerns about Garrett Shrader’s recovery should be eased. And how about Kendall Long and Darrell Gill, Jr. taking their first career touches into the end zone?

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Marlowe Wax and the Mob were all over the place. Not only did Syracuse get a shut out, they held Colgate to 106 total yards on 58 plays. Go back and read that again. Colgate had zero receptions for over 10 yards. The longest play from scrimmage was a 17 yard run. Yes, there will be tougher tests upcoming, but this group could be a lot of fun to watch in 2023.

I get that online forums aren’t the best judge of a fanbase, but from the game thread here to comments on Facebook and Twitter there was a lot of focus on what wasn’t good yesterday. I feel like anyone who has been invested in Syracuse Football this century would know how infrequent it is that we can just enjoy a relaxing Saturday of Orange football.

We just watched a game where Syracuse got to play 4th string players. Guys who take the brunt of the punishment from the starters each week lived out their dream of seeing the field in a college football game in the Dome. It’s never a bad thing when that happens, and it’s never a bad thing to be 1-0....just ask Boston College or West Virginia fans if they’d switch spots right now.

We’ve got time this week to dive into concerns and worries. Let’s spend a nice Sunday with some sunshine and positive vibes.