The good and the bad of Syracuse’s 42-14 victory over Holy Cross

However, despite the 28-point victory, there were question marks on both sides of the ball, as well as plenty of special teams issues.

Here are the good, the bad and the question marks following Syracuse’s third win of the season.

GOOD

Devin Grant

This was Devin Grant’s first drive of the game. The Buffalo transfer, a recent star mover, had a pass break and then a decisive point guard rush that forced an early three-point play.

Grant, who had his first interception at Syracuse last game, had an impressive all-around performance. He finished the game with four tackles, two pass breakups and two quarterback hits.

King Joseph Edwards

The true freshman recorded his first stat line of the season, and he did it with great aplomb. Playing in the fourth inning, Edwards recorded three sacks in two runs. This puts him at the top of the leaderboard for the entire team.

“He’s a good passer, that’s what he’s known for,” head coach Fran Brown said. “And he has a third down pack that we will make sure he can get to.”

Jackson Meeks

After three years of playing sparingly in Georgia, Jackson Meeks introduced himself to the college football world today.

“He just plays good football,” head coach Fran Bown said.

The wide receiver had 10 receptions for a career-high 161 yards. The biggest catch came in the second period when quarterback Kyle McCord perfectly fielded a 38-yard touchdown pass to Meeks for a 21-0 SU lead.

BADLY

Ordone Gadsden

It was another tough day for Syracuse’s top forward. Gadsden finished the game with one catch for four yards. This is a follow-up to last week’s 12-yard performance.

Gadsden had fewer goals to score than he expected, but when the ball did come his way, it usually wasn’t successful. Early in the third, the pass got out of his hands.

“We just went away for a few. … I know it’s coming,” McCord said of his relationship with the tight end.

Special teams

Syracuse’s biggest problem all day was special teams. Brady Denaburg missed his first two field goals. So the Orange tried redshirt freshman Jadyn Oh, who then made a missed 41-yard field goal.

“We have to make those kicks,” Brown said.

After returning to the boat, the problems continued. Great comebacks by Trebor Pena and Davien Kerr were interrupted by penalties for Syracuse.

IFFY

Kyle McCord

It’s hard to call an unreliable 385-yard pass the best of his career. But there were some problems. McCord threw two interceptions for the second straight week. And he took three sacks, which Brown partially attributed to some offensive line changes.

“We probably shouldn’t have changed players at the beginning,” Brown said.

Secondary

In the second quarter, Syracuse’s secondary was exposed. Wide receiver Max Mosey had a 63-yard touchdown reception for the Crusaders where he was wide open in the middle of the field. And then a trick play later in the corner, left tight end Jacob Petersen wide open for a touchdown pass from quarterback Sam Slade.

Defensive back Jayden Bellamy helped in the second quarter, however, with a pick-six in the fourth quarter for the final score of the day.

“That might have been his third interception,” Brown said after the game, following two near-interceptions earlier in the game.

Running game

It was definitely better than last week. The Orange went from under 30 yards to 125. SU was helped by the return of backup Will Nixon, who crashed with Yasin Willis behind LeQuint Allen.

However, the game was still dominated by SU’s 50 passing attempts, compared to just 39 rushing attempts. SU, on the other hand, averaged just 3.2 yards per run.

“There is definitely more room for improvement,” Allen said.