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On Nov. 28, 2023, Syracuse hired Georgia defensive backs coach Fran Brown as its 31st-ever head coach, ushering in a new era of SU football.

Since Brown’s hiring, he’s been exceptional on the recruiting trail, both through prep ball and the transfer portal. Additionally, he helped to keep some of the Orange’s best players from 2023, further fortifying the roster.

All that’s left is to see if Brown can transform SU on the field. The first test for Brown and his staff is Ohio. Hailing from the Mid-American Conference, fourth-year head coach Tim Albin has led the Bobcats to back-to-back 10-win seasons, including a conference championship in 2022. Despite his first opponent being outside the Power Four, Brown sees a difficult task in conquering the Bobcats.

“I would never say we could underestimate them because they have two 10-win seasons and I don’t think we did,” Brown said Monday. “So, in my eyes, they’re a better football team than we are when you go back to what’s been done.”

Here’s what to know before Syracuse’s first game of the 2024 regular season Saturday against Ohio at the JMA Wireless Dome:

All time series

Syracuse leads 3-0.

Last time they played …

In the first matchup in almost a century between the Orange and the Bobcats, SU opened its 2021 season with a commanding 29-9 road victory over Ohio. Running back Sean Tucker started his single-season rushing record season with a bang, totaling 181 yards en route to an eventual 1,496-yard campaign on the ground.

Syracuse’s defense put up one of its best games of the year as well, not allowing a touchdown and limiting Ohio to three field goals. Meanwhile, quarterback Tommy DeVito and Tucker bulldozed through the Bobcats with three rushing touchdowns, cruising to a 20-point win.

The Bobcats report

Though Ohio enters 2024 as one of the best teams in the MAC in recent years, its offseason indicates a possible drop-off in production.

Offensively, former MAC Offensive Player of the Year Kurtis Rourke has left for Indiana after 34 career starts with the Bobcats. In Rourke’s place enters Parker Navarro, who has attempted just 40 passes across one season at UCF and two at Ohio. Navarro played in Ohio’s Myrtle Beach Bowl win over Georgia Southern last season and recorded an impressive 83.6 overall grade on the year, according to Pro Football Focus.

“I watched him in the bowl game, this kid can play,” Brown said of Navarro Monday. “Definitely a dual threat so I’m excited to go against him.”

While Navarro’s protection on the left side is different, Second Team All-MAC center Parker Titsworth returns for his sixth year with the program. The Bobcats did lose most of their receiving core, including Sam Wigulsz to the NFL, but they brought in Coleman Owen from Northern Arizona to be one of their primary weapons.

On the ground, redshirt freshman Rickey Hunt Jr. will share snaps with Northwestern transfer Anthony Tyus III. The Bobcats are a mostly-new team, but still a program that has proven year in and year out that it can compete.

Sophia Burke | Design Editor

How Syracuse beats Ohio

Syracuse defeats, and likely dominates, Ohio by attacking the Bobcats’ new linebackers. A season ago, Ohio’s star linebacker tandem of Bryce Houston and Keye Thompson did the majority of its tackling, totaling 221. Both were named to the All-MAC First-Team Defense for their efforts.

But since then, it’s lost both, as Houston graduated and Thompson transferred to Pitt. With its core gone, the defense that ranked sixth in the nation in scoring defense (15.85 points against per game) will need Bucknell transfer Blake Leake along with redshirt junior Shay Taylor to step up.

With LeQuint Allen Jr. returning after a breakout sophomore season and true freshman Yasin Willis contributing, the Orange can exploit Ohio’s fresh faces in the middle. The run game excelling sets up Kyle McCord to get things going in the run-pass option game and in play-action scenarios.

“We have our hands full,” Albin said of SU’s offense during an Aug. 26 press conference. “They’re gonna put us in a lot of run, RPO conflicts because the McCord kid can create with his feet and they’ve got the weapons on the perimeter and at tight end to take full advantage.”

Stat to know: 13

In 2023, Ohio secured back-to-back 10-win seasons and two bowl wins in as many years. But when a mid-major school becomes a powerhouse, it often consequently gets pulled apart in the transfer portal.

The Bobcats lost 13 key contributors to Power Four schools this offseason, according to On3’s recruiting tracker. They did bring in nine transfers to replenish, but Ohio is largely a different team personnel-wise in 2024.

Player to watch: Adonis Williams Jr., defensive back, No. 5

While the Bobcats lost a flurry of talent through the transfer portal, one of their most promising defensive starters returns for his junior season. Williams has been a key contributor to the Ohio defense since his freshman season in 2022, primarily playing nickel while also appearing at safety.

Though only recording one interception over two years, Williams is advanced in coverage, scoring a 71.4 coverage grade in 2023, per PFF. As a staple of the Bobcats’ secondary, the 6-foot-2 defensive back will surely test the new-look SU air attack in its opening game.

Published on August 28, 2024 at 9:32 pm

Contact Aiden at: amstepan@syr.edu | @AidenStepansky