2010 West Virginia Mountaineers Football Preview: Syracuse

It’s Homecoming Week in Morgantown. The Mountaineers will welcome in longtime rival Syracuse for the second Big East conference game of the season.

The winner of the game since 1993 wins the Ben Schwartzwalder Trophy. Schwartzwalder, a college football hall of famer, was a former player for WVU also head coach of Syracuse from 1943 up until 1973.

This year’s match up will be the 20th since West Virginia joined the Big East in 1991. The Mountaineers have won 11 of the 19 conference games that have been played between the two.

The Orange has made steady improvements to their program including the 2009 campaign that brought a 4-8 record. Syracuse have collected three head coaches and only one winning season (2001) in the past decade.

  The Syracuse defense was the highlight of the 2009 season. The total defense finished the 2009 season at 37^th in the nation, along with finishing fifth in the Big East. Although the total defense was impressive, the team gave up almost 28ppg, good for last in the Big East and 81^st in the NCAA.

The Syracuse rush defense was one of the best units in the nation, giving up only 102ypg, good enough for 13^th in the nation, while leading the Big East in the category. The pass defense didn’t have as much luck, being that the team gave up more than 235ypg, finishing seventh in the Big East and 78^th nationally.

In 2010, 'Cuse returns 10 starters from the 2009 season, including six senior players. MLB Darrel Smith, who accumulated 82 tackles with 60 solo in 2009, will return for his for his senior season to lead the more competent defensive unit.

The Orange secondary will be a patchwork effort of experienced players in 2010. Improvement off of the 24 touchdown passes thrown on the defensive backfield has to be the main objective to start the season. Mike Holmes and Kevyn Scott will move from the safety position to corner to help sure up the secondary in 2010.

The ‘Cuse offense didn’t have such a productive season as a whole in 2009. The total offense marks for the team were seventh in the Big East by only producing 330ypg in conference play. They were ranked 94^th nationally,  implementing a gameplan that continued to prove ineffective each Saturday in western NY.

The offense will be led by new starting QB,  junior Ryan Nassib, who will have a very thin receiving corps. Alex Lemon, who grabbed 29 catches for close to 300 yards and one touchdown will be the main target running routes in his sophomore season in 2010.

On the ground, the suspension of Delone Carter will hurt the running game as he gained more than 1,000 yards, scoring 11 touchdowns in 2009. Junior Antwon Bailey might have to step in and carry the load behind an improving offensive line that will get more push than in recent years.

The historic place that has been the Syracuse backfield didn’t have much polish to it, only producing 127ypg, good for seventh in the Big East and 87^th nationally. Through the air, the passing game was slightly better than their ground game with 204ypg, fifth in the Big East, but 78^th in all of the FBS Division I.

Syracuse is improving bit by bit with second year head coach Doug Marrone, but it seems as though they won’t remove themselves from the Big East basement.   With a very thin roster, I believe the Orange will continue to scuffle to yet another losing season.

As for the West Virginia’s 2010 Homecoming Game, the Mountaineers will run their homecoming winning streak to 10 with a solid 38-14 win over Syracuse to earn a second Big East win.

NEXT GAME:       West Virginia at Connecticut, October 29, 2010