">
Week 4: Syracuse Orange vs Maine Blackbears
Syracuse is looking to pick up where it left off this week as it faces the Maine Black Bears. Can the Orange gain its first
back to back wins since 2006? Read on as Reyes39 and LvilleOrange get you up to speed on this week’s matchup.
When: Saturday September 36th, 2009 – 7:00 PM Eastern
Where: Syracuse, New York in the Carrier Dome
Capacity: 49,262
Television: Time Warner Sports
Tailgating information: TexanMarks Tailgate Guide
Northwestern Reading Material (via pacusefan): http://www.cuseorange.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=10162
The Spread: No line.
Rivalry info: This will be the first meeting between these schools. Syracuse is 675-474-49 all time. Maine is 484-453-40 all time.
Coaches: Maine – Jack Cosgrove – 17th season at Maine (90-96 overall.) Syracuse- Doug Marrone – 1st season at Syracuse (1-2 overall.)
Syracuse Offense vs Maine Defense: Basically this weeks game against Maine is an opportunity to work on some of the kinks and sharpen up a bit before Big East play. The Orange have been able to run the ball well in spurts but not consistently enough. Delone Carter has looked better than he ever has in a ‘Cuse uniform but the offensive line hasn’t been able to give him enough room to break out for a 100+ yard game yet this season. This is probably the week to do so against an inexperienced defense that lost 8 of their top 11 tacklers from 2008. Senior DE Jordan Stevens should be the only real threat for the Orange offensive line as he’s already racked up 4 sacks and 6 total tackles for loss. Aside Stevens is a young DL starting two sophomores and freshman Kris Enslen who was able to rack up his only two sacks against Northeastern. The key of the Blackbear defense seems to be at linebacker. Sophomore Donte Dennis has surprised and leads the team in tackles and converted DB Brandon McLaughlin has been impressive racking up 4 tackles for loss and a sack on the season.
The weakness for the Blackbears seems to be in the secondary. Three starters from last year are gone and the remaining starter in McLaughlin moved to Linebacker. On paper the Blackbears looked to have bounced back nicely from the secondary departures picking off six passes and ranking in the middle of the pack in the FCS pass defense rankings. The problem is – Maine has yet to face a team that averages over 200 yards passing or that ranks higher than 78th in the FCS in passing offense. Mike Williams alone should give an inexperienced Blackbear secondary fits alone…as he has to much tougher opponents this season. This is the type of game where you try to instill some confidence into a receiving core that seems to seriously be lacking behind Williams. It would be nice to see Sales improve on his 1 catch 12 yard performance and Davis to get open more often.
Maine Offense vs Syracuse Defense: The focus of the Black Bear offense is running the ball. That job was supposed to fall mainly to FB and 2nd team AA Jarod Turcotte. However, Turcotte has been lost for the season with a pulled groin that requires surgery. In his place, RB Derek Sessions has carried the load nicely, averaging over 100 yards per game while tallying 3 scores. The quarterback spot has turned into a committee approach. Starter Mike Brusko is more of a runner, carrying the ball 44 times for 122 yards and two TDs. Brusko has thrown just 26 times, completing 18 of 
those for 141 yards and 1 TD with 1 INT. Backup QB Warren Smith, a transfer from Iona, is more of a traditional passing QB. He was a nifty 10-13 for 103 yards and one TD versus Northeastern. Brusko has been sacked 7 times versus just once for Smith. Either way the line is allowing way to much pressure on its QBs. The top WR, Landis Williams, has caught 12 balls for 126 yards and two TDs. Williams has caught a TD in each of his two games, missing the opener with a hand injury. He and Desmond Randall will be asked to keep the chains moving as the two leading receivers.
Syracuse’s main job will be to shut down the running game. Expect Art Jones to play a major role in clogging up the running lanes. I think it will be important for the Syracuse front four to try and establish some pressure without the use of so many blitzes. The Maine Oline has been prone to holding penalties – racking up 7 alone in the Northeastern game. If Mikhail Marinovich, Jared Kimmel and Co can get pressure off the edge that should allow the Orange secondary to not have to play on an island so much. That should cut down on the yardage that Northwestern was able to rack up last week against the unit. Derrell Smith leads the team in tackles. He and Doug Hogue have anchored the LB unit. Bet that the goal of Scott Shafer’s unit will be to increase the number of 3 and outs so that the offense has more opportunities to work with the ball. Maine has an inexperienced set of players in many of the skill positions. Making them feel the effects of a physical style of play for 60 minutes will be the goal this week.
Why Syracuse will win: The Orange prove why they are an FBS team and why Maine is in the FCS. Maine is totally outmanned in the trenches and is unable to get any type of pressure on Paulus or establish their strong run game. Most of the starters are sitting midway through the third and Nassib makes a few ‘Cuse fans excited for 2010.
Why Maine will win: Maine is able to keep position of the ball with its ball control offense. They cash in on Syracuse mistakes and get the Orange playing tight. Momentum swings in their favor and they are able to dictate the tempo of
the game. Derek Sessions rushes for 150 yards.
Syracuse player to watch: Delone Carter. He’s due for a breakout game and this is the perfect opportunity to do so. The Orange Offensive Line should be able to dominate in this one and open up more than a few gaping holes for Carter.
Maine player to watch: Warren Smith seems to be the X factor for Maine. With him in the lineup, Maine has a much more diversified offensive philosophy. Smith was supposed to play in 2-1 rotation with Brusko. However, his play the last two weeks has bumped that to a more 50/50 split. Look for Smith to see more of a load this week. Especially if they fall behind early.
Reyes39 Prediction: Syracuse rolls 52-10.
LVO Prediction: Second victory a bit easier to stomach for us fans. Syracuse 34 Maine 17.
