5 hours Ago By Tribune News Service
Syracuse, N.Y. — Syracuse coach Fran Brown made the case this week that the Orange is only two fourth-down plays away from being an 8-1 team and alive in the chase for the ACC championship.
California coach Justin Wilcox might have him beat in the near-miss category. The Golden Bears have lost four games by a combined nine points this season, leaving Cal just 13 points away from controlling its own destiny in the College Football Playoff race. Amazingly, at least given that statistic, the ACC newcomer will welcome the Orange on Saturday while sitting near the bottom of the conference standings.
The Golden Bears are 5-4 (1-4 ACC). Syracuse comes in at (6-3, 3-3). California has lost to Florida State by five points, Pittsburgh by two points and Miami and N.
C. State by one each. Syracuse would have beaten Stanford if it had stopped the Cardinal on a late 4th-and-9.
It’s less clear what would have happened if the Orange didn’t allow a critical touchdown on a 4th-and-1 against Boston College last week. “I like to be honest with you guys, I’m not a BS’er,” Brown said this week. “If you take our season right now, 4th-and-9 and 4th-and-1, we’re 8-1 right now.
You’d be there saying how great it was. Two plays have changed our season. And that’s football.
That’s the way it is.” The Golden Bears have the ACC’s leading defense in points allowed per game (19.3) and interceptions (17).
The matchup between Syracuse’s pass offense and Cal’s pass defense will be particularly spicy. Syracuse quarterback Kyle McCord is the ACC’s leading passer at 350.3 yards per game, while California defensive back Nohl Williams leads the conference in interceptions (7) and defensive end Xavier Carlton is third in sacks (9).
“Our goal was to be the top defense in the nation,” Carlton said. “You guys heard when we first got in the ACC, a lot of people were expecting us to be an easy team. .
.. We’re going to show teams that we play it’s going to be a long night or a long day, whenever we are playing.
Teams are afraid of us. We want to instill fear int our opponents.” Former Syracuse offensive coordinator Sterlin Gilbert is Cal’s quarterbacks coach and passing coordinator.
Cal quarterback Fernando Mendoza has passed for more than 300 yards in each of the past two games, both of which the Golden Bears have won. Both programs are still capable of reaching relatively rare — but fairly modest — heights with a victory. If Syracuse reaches seven regular-season wins on Saturday it will be only the third time in the past 12 years the Orange has hit that mark.
The Orange would have two games remaining and a chance to win nine regular-season games for the second time in 23 years. Likewise, great seasons have been hard to come by for California. A victory on Saturday would give the Golden Bears six regular-season wins for the fourth time in nine seasons.
Cal would have a chance to finish the year with eight regular-season wins for the first time since 2009. While most of the Syracuse-centric attention this week focused on the Orange’s inability to stop the run over the past two weeks, the Cal football program spent time talking about its inability to run the ball. The Golden Bears were able to get some plays on the ground by using their quarterback last week but the team’s running backs only totaled 64 yards.
The previous week Cal had just 89 yards when you took away Mendoza. California has had a player rush for more than 100 yards in a game just once this season. The Orange, meanwhile, allowed two Boston College players to accomplish it last week.
Carlton on the Syracuse offense: Kyle McCord is a good quarterback. He transferred from Ohio State. I was watching a couple of his games last year.
He’s a good quarterback. They have a pretty good offensive line. I think the objective is to trust our eyes, run our line as edge defenders and create havoc for them.
Watching Pittsburgh play Syracuse, Pittsburgh was really bringing the pressure. He was getting frazzled, throwing interceptions left and right. Really the objective is to get him off his spot and make sure he doesn’t go on fire.
Wide receiver Mickey Matthews on the Syracuse defense: They sit in a lot of zone. They’re going to do what Wake Forest did and sit in a lot of zone. They have a lot of big dudes on their team.
We’re going to have to exploit them and make a lot of guys miss. Head coach Justin Wilcox on Kyle McCord: They’re throwing the ball for 350-plus yards per game. He’s completing a lot of balls, throwing a lot of touchdowns.
They have one of the most potent passing attacks in the country. They are scoring 30 per game, throwing it for 350-plus, they have a lot of weapons at receiver. It’ll be a really great test for our defense.
Wilcox on the Syracuse defense: They give you some of the 3-3 stack, real disruptive up front. They give you a lot of different looks. Fadil Diggs, the linebacker.
Marlowe Wax. Those guys are really good players. Defensive coordinator Peter Sirmon on SU’s pass offense: Talk about a dangerous passing attack.
Really well-coached, fundamentals. They are going to give us a lot of different pictures. They have done a great job of bringing some talent in and the best job is they are playing to the strengths of their quarterback.
That’s what good coaches do. Offense and defensive coordinators identify the strengths of the skill players, of the offensive line and play into those hands. You still see them continue to grow.
We are going to have our hands full. Sirmon on SU’s offensive weapons: You have (Trebor) Pena, (Jackson) Meeks, (Oronde Gadsden II), who is a crazy physical matchup for us. The back (LeQuint Allen), I believe is the Syracuse leader in receptions (for a running back).
He is extremely involved. They are going to use the entire field, stretch you horizontally, vertically, quick game, some shot plays, some of the big box fades where it’s difficult to get support to the DBs. With the size of the guys doing it, this is going to be a big challenge.
Syracuse has added at least one significant injury since its game against Boston College. Cornerback Jayden Bellamy will not play against California, Fran Brown said on his radio show this week. That means SU will be playing without two of its top three corners.
Freshman Marcellus Barnes is out for the season. That’s the second defensive area for the Orange that has sustained heavy losses from injury. Syracuse will continue to be without defensive tackles Dion Wilson and Kevin Jobity Jr.
One player to look for pre-game is defensive end Denis Jaquez Jr. who would provide at least some boost to the defensive line. Jaquez has missed the past two games but Brown has not mentioned a timeline for his return.
Backup running back Yasin Willis is another player who has missed time with injury recently but hasn’t been ruled out for the year. Wide receiver Yazeed Haynes, who missed much of the season due to a family issue, has been limited to working out in the weight room since returning to the team. California has actually gotten some key players back in recent weeks.
Two wide receivers who were expected to be Cal’s leading options but missed most of the year, Tobias Merriweather and Kyion Grayes, both played for the Golden Bears last week during a win over Wake Forest. Merriweather, a Notre Dame transfer, played more than 45 snaps. Grayes, an Ohio State transfer, played a small number.
Both have missed almost all of the season. Starting guard Rush Reimer, who missed last week for the Golden Bears, is expected to be available after missing Cal’s win over Wake Forest. Fran Brown was widely praised for upgrading the Syracuse roster with the transfer portal this offseason.
California was also one of the most productive teams in the country in chasing transfers. Cal actually brought in 24 new players including the big-school wide receivers, while the Orange took 18 new faces in the portal. Syracuse’s transfer class was ranked No.
9 in the country by On3.com , while Cal’s was ranked No. 13.
The biggest injury concern for the Golden Bears and the player to watch for pre-game is starting linebacker Cade Uluave, who is day-to-day. He was injured against Wake Forest, a re-aggravation of a previous injury. Uluave is Cal’s second-leading tackler for the season with 67 tackles and was on Phil Steele’s All-ACC Preseason Second Team.
Wide receiver Mavin Anderson is considered day-to-day by Cal, while wide receiver Mason Starling was ruled out for the season this week..
