Pitt gears up for Syracuse's up-tempo offense

Syracuse had a highly successful 10-3 season in 2018. The Orange rode that wave of momentum into this season as they were predicted to be a preseason top 25 team. Things have not been quite as easy for Dino Babers’ squad, however.

Syracuse is having a tough time replicating the prolific 2018 offense this year, and have started out with a 3-3 record through the halfway mark of the season. Last year Syracuse scored 40.2 points per game, which was good for 11th nationally. This year the Orange are scoring 25.5 points a contest, which ranks 91st.

Syracuse’s 378.3 yards per game is 93rd nationally this season, a far cry from the 468.8 yards the team was averaging during the 10-win campaign from a year ago. So even with the noticeable drops in production, if you ask a member of the Pitt football team they are still preparing for the up-tempo, preseason top-25 team, not the one with a struggling 3-3 record.

“They’re a lot like recent years, but they’re a lot more explosive,” Pitt senior cornerback Dane Jackson said on Tuesday. “They like to take a lot more shots. They've got some good receivers on the outside, good receivers on the inside - pretty well-rounded offense.”

Syracuse is led on offense by quarterback Tommy DeVito, as he tries to take over for the prolific Eric Dungey. Dungey threw for over 9,000 yards and rushed for nearly 2,000 and accounted for 93 touchdowns in his career. His loss cannot be measured and may be the reason for some early season struggles.

“That guy was a great player,” Narduzzi said of Dungey. “And DeVito is getting his first year under his belt and he's done some really nice things.”

“They’re kind of similar in a way, but he can throw the ball very far,” Jackson said of the difference between DeVito and Dungey. “Just watching on film he has a nice deep ball. He just goes through his progressions and reads his routes very well.”

DeVito has been solid overall in his first year of starting with 1,534 yards and 12 touchdown passes. Still, he’s dealt with some shaky offensive line play, and he himself is not the same running threat that Dungey was. In Syracuse’s last game, Dungey was sacked eight times by the North Carolina State defense in a 16-10 loss.

Pitt junior defensive end Patrick Jones has a quiet demeanor, but even he couldn’t hide the fact that he knows exactly what the Wolfpack defensive line did to Syracuse. With Pitt being ranked towards the top of the country in sacks, Jones and company will be gearing up to put some pressure on the first-year starter.

“Of course I’m going to look at it,” Jones said of that NC State performance. "Yea that was definitely something we looked at and you look at the pass protection and all that stuff and just take those things into factor.”

While the Syracuse offense isn’t humming like it was last year, from a stylistic standpoint it is a lot similar to what Pitt has seen from the likes of UCF and Duke, so Pitt is prepared for the tempo and speed of the game Syracuse will try to use.

“It’s really mostly the same stuff we’ve been seeing,” Jones said. “We’ve just been watching other teams and how they play and just trying to study their film.”

The Orange have found a big play receiver in senior Trishton Jackson, and Pitt will be wary of his abilities to stretch the field. Jackson has 33 catches for 499 yards and six touchdowns on the year.

“He’s a nice deep-threat, he’s just an all-around good player,” Jackson said of the Syracuse standout.

Narduzzi even used his old coaching connections to find out more about the Syracuse wideout, as he is a Michigan State transfer.

“I've talked to those guys up there just to get exactly who he is physically, so we know a little bit more just because of the contacts up there,” the Pitt coach explained.

This Syracuse team might not have the same explosive offense as last season, but Pitt is preparing like they will be that team. Maybe more importantly, though, the Pitt defense is going into this game with faith in themselves.

“I definitely feel like we’re starting to become more in-sync,” Jones said. “I feel like as the season goes along we’re going to keep getting better and better as a unit and we’re going to get more chemistry going.”