SYRACUSE -- The sky is falling.

The season is over.

No, settle down.

That sounds like some of the inner monologue from the Orange Empire after another lopsided loss. Syracuse is sitting 1-2 after three weeks, but as I pointed out in our preseason special, this wasn’t out of the realm of possibility. You shouldn’t be surprised about the result. What you should be surprised about is how Syracuse has arrived at this point.

This week during Three-and-Out, we’ll take a deeper look at one, maybe two, reasons why the Orange has struggled.

I want to talk about Tommy DeVito.

What’s the deal with those INTs?

You know what I’m talking about. In case you’re having trouble racking your brain, here’s a refresher, because we’ve seen virtually the same mental mistake from DeVito three weeks-in-a-row.

Whether it’s rolling left, or rolling right, Tommy has failed to see the underneath coverage, and thrown it right to the defense. Now, I know what you’re thinking… “Erik, he’s a young quarterback. Give it time.” Well, actually, that leads me to my next point.

DeVito isn’t that young.

Number 13 is now in the middle of his sophomore season… his redshirt sophomore season. Meaning, DeVito has been on The Hill, and in Dino Babers’ system, for two-plus seasons, and the start of his third hasn’t been great.

Last week was fine. I liked DeVito’s play, with the exception of that ugly pick we talked about earlier. It’s the first and third weeks that really stick out. In the loss last night, DeVito converted just 55.6% of his passes. In the win at Liberty two weeks ago, it was worse, as the former Elite 11 quarterback completed 48.6% of his throws. Tack on the fact he combined for 0 TDs and 3 INTs in those games, and I believe the Orange Empire has a right to be concerned about Tommy’s play. As for Dino, he's sticking with his guy:

But let's take a look at other "guys" Dino has had at quarterback since becoming a head coach:

  • 2012 Jimmy Garoppolo (Eastern Illinois) – 3823 Pass Yds, 31 TD, 15 INT
  • 2013 Jimmy Garoppolo (Eastern Illinois) – 5050 Pass Yds, 53 TD, 9 INT
  • 2014 James Knapke (Bowling Green) – 3173 Pass Yds, 15 TD, 12 INT
  • 2015 Matt Johnson (Bowling Green) – 4946 Pass Yds, 46 TD, 8 INT
  • 2016 Eric Dungey (Syracuse) – 2679 Pass Yds, 15 TD, 7 INT
  • 2017 Eric Dungey (Syracuse) – 2495 Pass Yds, 14 TD, 9 INT
  • 2018 Eric Dungey (Syracuse) – 2868 Pass Yds, 18 TD, 9 INT

If you were to project DeVito’s numbers for the whole 2019 season he would have 2712 Pass Yds, 12 TD and 16 INT. It would, by far, be the worst production from a Dino Babers starting quarterback since he became a head coach.

The great news is, sports don’t work like that. We can’t say hey “This is what a person/team has done thus far, so this is what we can expect.” Otherwise, the Falcons would have a Super Bowl championship.

DeVito, and the staff, still have time to make adjustments, and find out what works for the RS-soph. QB. Let’s just stop pretending arrived on campus this summer.

Once again, the offensive line is a big problem.

I sound like a broken record, but it’s actually that bad. The play of the offensive line has limited what this offense can do, and in part what DeVito can do under center.

Running the ball has been a problem for the Orange. Let’s look at the numbers from Saturday night. First of all, let’s throw DeVito’s 15 attempts for -42 yards out the window. Eight sacks from the best defensive line in the country is the reason for those weird numbers.

Once we’ve done that, SU racked up just 57 yards on 27 attempts. That averages out to just to 2.1 yards-per-carry for the Orange from the backfield. Needless to say, that kind of production isn’t helping anyone, especially DeVito.

Last season, Eric Dungey masked some of those inefficiencies – the threat of Dungey taking off opened up holes in the running game, and lanes in the passing game.  

I don’t know what the remedy is, but what I do know is that Babers, and the offense need to figure it out.

So, let’s all take a deep breath. Do you feel better? Neither do I. The past two weeks were rough, but it wasn’t unexpected. And you know what? It’s not the end of the world. Syracuse still has almost every single one of their goals in front of them. SU can still win double-digit games, and SU can still go to a great bowl game.

They just have to make the correct adjustments, and execute. Though sometimes, that’s easier said than done.