The 2013 season for the Orange began a new era for the team. Scott Shafer took the reins as the head coach after being the defensive coordinator from 2009 through 2012 under Doug Marrone. Marrone went to the Buffalo Bills to be their head coach after the 2012 season. The Orange have been an underwhelming team for several years despite playing their games at one of the most interesting venues in College Football, the Carrier Dome.
2013 Syracuse Orange Season
Nothing terribly interesting to see here. They won just enough games to make it to a bowl game, which they were able to win the Texas Bowl against the University of Minnesota, 21-17. They did win their final conference clash against the Maryland Terrapins, who have now left to the Big Ten. They still were badly outscored over the course of the season, mainly due to crushing losses to the Florida State Seminoles, Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets, and the Clemson Tigers. It is not a positive sign for their outlook when they got crushed in those three games by a combined score of 164-17. Let's look at the returning players for the 2014 season.
Offense
The Orange have many things that they need to improve on the offensive side of the ball in order continue to have success. The quarterback that is returning for his senior season is Terrel Hunt. He threw for 10 touchdowns while throwing 8 interceptions, but he also had 500 rushing yards and 7 rushing touchdowns. Hunt did pretty well for his first season as the starting quarterback now that Ryan Nassib is a New York Giant. Hunt is probably a better runner than thrower at this point in his career, and it will be interesting to see if they use him to run the ball more this year than pass.
Jerome Smith is no longer on the team as he had 914 rushing yards this past season and graduated. Pictured above is the top returning running back, Prince-Tyson Gulley. He had 456 rushing yards, averaging 5.5 yards per carry, and was able to record one touchdown. George Morris II is also returning as a running back. He is more of a power rushing back and had 334 rushing yards last year. The other running back that could have an impact during the running back rotation is Junior Devante McFarlane. He averaged 6.1 yards per carry last year and it would be interesting to see if he is able to get more carries since Jerome Smith's 200 attempts will be spread amongst the remaining backs.
The receiving corps of the Syracuse Orange did not have anyone that stood out when it came to their statistics from the 2013 season. Their top returning receiver is the one pictured above, Junior Ashton Broyld. He had 52 catches for a total of 452 yards but no touchdowns. He is definitely more of their possession receiver, since no one else on the team had over 40 catches. A bigger deep threat is Jarrod West, who went with 26 catches for 397 yards and 1 touchdown. West, who will be a senior, is looking to continue to improve on his last season because he had a better season during his sophomore year when he had 588 yards and 2 touchdowns. However, he had more yards per catch during his junior year when he had 15.3 yards per catch. Josh Parris had 2 touchdowns and is a big red zone threat at 6' 2" 252 lbs as their tight end.
Defense
Robert Welsh was a top defensive end returning to the Orange this season. He had 32 tackles, 7 for loss and 4 sacks last year. He also had an interception that he returned 31 yards for a touchdown. Even though he is coming into his senior season, last year was his first with a large amount of game experience, and he is mainly going to be used as a pass rusher since that fits right for his size in the college game at 6' 3" and 248 lbs. Welsh should be looking for more sacks with the departure of Jay Bromley, who had 10 sacks last season.
When it comes to linebackers, Cameron Lynch, pictured above knocking down a Tajh Boyd pass to force a punt, was the best on the team last season and will be one of the best returning again this year. He had 4 sacks this past season, 12 tackles for loss, and 69 total tackles. Lynch is looking to be a strong linebacker and help shut down some of the different offenses they face in the ACC this coming season as it is his final year in a Syracuse Orange uniform.
The most explosive play maker on the Orange defense is their junior costless safety, Durell Eskridge, pictured above tackling Kelvin Benjamin. Eskridge led the team in tackles last season with 78 and he also had 4 interceptions. One of those interceptions came against the Seminoles as well, picking off the season's Heisman winner Jameis Winston. Eskridge has to have another strong season in order to bring the Orange back into some of those blowout games that they were up against last year.
Special Teams
The primary kicker for the Orange is junior kicker Ryan Norton. Norton had 12 touchbacks on 56 kickoffs last year, while only kicking the ball out of bounds twice. He was unreliable as a field goal kicker though, making only 10 out of 15 field goals attempted. Field goals are easy to take for granted, but at the college games they are missed much more often than at the professional level.
Former walk-on Riley Dixon is the punter for the Syracuse Orange. He had 21 punts that ended up inside the opponents 20 yard line, but he also had 6 touchbacks. He did have 15 punts over 50 yards though, so he certainly does have a strong leg. It will be interesting to see if he progresses any this year, but the Orange sure hope they don't need him to punt 75 times this coming season.
Someone to keep your eye on this fall is kick and punt returner Brisly Estime. He is a sophomore this year and just got started on returns late last year, but had this beautiful 70 yard punt return in the Texas Bowl (pictured above). The previous high for the Orange all year was a 23 yard return. Estime should get more experience returning the ball for the Orange, but his play making abilities have not gone unnoticed.
2014 Season Outlook
There is a lot of promise with many key starters returning for the 2014 season, so here is a closer examination of their schedule:
The best news for the Orange is that the Yellow Jackets that crushed them 56-0 are off the schedule for this coming season. However, they still play Florida State and go to Clemson, which is not a desirable schedule. Another thing that is difficult is getting Louisville added to the schedule and putting Maryland, a former conference foe, on their non-conference schedule. To be honest, it is tough to project another winning season for the Orange unless they take a large leap on offense. The best estimate is that they will go either 5-7 or 6-6, which would give them a bowl game opportunity for another chance at a winning season. The Orange keep rolling on, and are another team that people should keep an eye open for in the ACC, but not for a title, just maybe to spring a potential upset or two.