Syracuse 2012 Recruiting

2012 Syracuse Orange Season ... Head Coach: Doug Marrone

Syracuse Orange

2011 Record: 5-6

Sep. 3 Wake Forest W 36-29 OT
Sep. 10 Rhode Island W 21-14
Sep. 17 at USC L 38-17
Sep. 24 Toledo W 33-30 OT
Oct. 1 Rutgers L 19-16 OT
Oct. 8 at Tulane W 37-34
Oct. 15 OPEN DATE
Oct. 22 West Virginia W 49-23
Oct. 29 at Louisville L 27-10
Nov. 5 at Connecticut L 28-21
Nov. 11 USF L 37-17
Nov. 19 OPEN DATE
Nov. 26 Cincinnati 30-13
Dec. 3 at Pitt

2010 CFN Prediction: 4-8
2010 Record: 8-5

Sept. 4 at Akron W 29-3
Sept. 11 at Washington L 41-20
Sept. 18 Maine W 38-14
Sept. 25 Colgate W 42-7
Oct. 2 OPEN DATE
Oct. 9 at USF W 13-9
Oct. 16 Pitt L 45-14
Oct. 23 at West Virginia W 19-14
Oct. 30 at Cincinnati W 31-7
Nov. 6 Louisville L 28-20
Nov. 13 at Rutgers W 13-10
Nov. 20 Connecticut L 23-6
Nov. 27 Boston College L 16-7
PINSTRIPE BOWL
Dec. 30 Kansas State W 36-34
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The Entire 2012 Recruiting Class

Top 5 Syracuse Recruits To Care About
Player writeups by Scout.com

1. TE Ron Thompson
6-4, 215, Scout.com 13th ranked, four-star tight end. A matchup problem waiting to happen, Thompson is a tight end-receiver tweener with excellent hands and ball skills. Goes up and gets the ball with the best of them and makes it look easy. Good ability after the catch, although he's not a blazer. Needs to add strength to his game if he's going to be a true tight end and be an inline blocker. Overall effort and conditioning can be improved.

2. TE Ashton Broyld
6-3, 235, Scout.com four-star tight end.

3. DE Markus Pierce-Brewster
6-4, 235, Scout.com three-star JUCO transfer.

4. RB DeVante McFarlane
6-1, 195, Scout.com 74th ranked, three-star running back.

5. OG Kyle Knapp
6-4, 260, Scout.com 58th ranked, three-star guard.

The 2012 Class Was Heavy On... The defensive line needs prospects. The Orange have tried everything possible over the last few classes to get more talent for the offense, and now is when it all has to kick in with an upgrade of talent ready to sweep in. Three starters are gone off the defensive front along with most of the top backups, so any lineman who comes in must be prepared to shine immediately.

Team Concerns For 2012: The defensive line is the biggest problem by a ten-mile wide margin, but the offensive backfield is going to get the most attention. Charley Loeb is expected to take over the starting quarterback job, but he needs a battle and there have to be other options from recent classes. It’ll be a wild open fight for the quarterback pecking order.

Looking Ahead To The 2012 Season: After last year’s collapse with a 1-6 Big East record and five straight losses, the Orange has to come up with more on offense. QB Ryan Nassib is gone, as is top runner Antown Bailey, three starters up front, and WR Van Chew. Big bomber Charley Loeb is up next at quarterback, and he needs Alec Lemon to become a more dangerous No. 1 target. The defense was good, not great, and now it has to replace three starters up front and has to hope the loaded back seven can shine. The loss of leading tackler and pick-off artist Phillip Thomas to suspension late last year was a problem, but it gave other players time to be ready to hit the ground running. Shamarko Thomas and Jeremi Wilkes form a decent safety tandem, while undersized MLB Marquis Spruill should be a top tackler. PK Ross Krautman will be one of the team’s top weapons.

The 2011 Class Was Heavy On … More offense, more offense, more offense. The 2010 class was loaded up with prospects for the offensive side of the ball, and head coach Doug Marrone kept the fun going with a heavy class of offensive prospects to move around where needed. The quarterback fight should be an interesting one with Aston Broyld and Terrel Hunt to dangerous playmakers, while running backs Tyree Smallwood and Adonis Ameen-Moore are shifty, multi-talented backs with good size. Marrone also added six receivers led by Brandon Reddish out of Brooklyn.

2010 CFN Recruiting Ranking: 69. That Class Was Heavy On ... Offense, offense, offense. After loading up with a ton of defensive back prospects last year, this year's massive class brings in players to salvage something out of Doug Marrone's offense. 17 offensive players were brought in headlined by quarterbacks John Kinder and Jonny Miller and six running backs. The D wasn't ignored with linebackers Malcolm Carter and Myles Davis good enough to see time early.

2009 CFN Recruiting Ranking: 92. That Class Was Heavy On ... defensive backs. Understanding the need to address a secondary that was last in the Big East in pass efficiency defense, the staff loaded up on defensive backs. In fact, almost half of the entire class was either a safety or a cornerback. The best of the lot are corners Torian Phillips, Phillip Thomas, and Dale Peterman, who’ll all have a shot for immediate playing time.

Nov. 26 Cincinnati 30 … at Syracuse 13
CFN Analysis: COMING

(AP) SYRACUSE, N.Y. -- Munchie Legaux threw for two touchdowns, one a short toss that Isaiah Pead turned into a backbreaking 69-yard score in the fourth quarter, and Tony Miliano kicked three field goals as Cincinnati beat Syracuse 30-13 on Saturday to remain in the running for the Big East title.

When play began Saturday, four teams remained in the hunt for the Big East's automatic bid to the Bowl Championship Series and the Bearcats (8-3, 4-2 Big East) were one of them. They could clinch a share of the title by winning their final game at home next week against Connecticut, but they also needed losses by West Virginia and Rutgers. The Scarlet Knights obliged, losing at UConn on Saturday.

A loss next week by Cincinnati would give Louisville, 5-2 in the Big East, the title. If there's a tie, the team with the highest BCS ranking would get the conference's automatic BCS bid.

It was the fourth straight loss for Syracuse (5-6, 1-5 Big East), which needs to win at Pittsburgh next week to become eligible for the postseason.

Without senior quarterback Zach Collaros, who's out for the rest of the regular season with a broken right ankle, the Bearcats had become vulnerable, losing two straight. In a 20-3 loss at Rutgers last week, Cincinnati was limited to a season-low 225 total yards with Legaux at the helm in his first college start.

Legaux entered the Syracuse game 27 of 59 for 363 yards and two interceptions and no touchdowns. He did just enough on this day, completing 13 of 22 passes for 169 yards, without a turnover or a sack. Pead finished with 244 all-purpose yards, including nine receptions for 112 yards.

Ryan Nassib was 19 of 38 for 203 yards passing with one touchdown and interception for Syracuse. Antwon Bailey had 27 carries for 135 yards to go over 2,000 yards for his career and Nick Provo had a 13-yard touchdown catch late in the third quarter to pull Syracuse within 23-13.

Syracuse was unable to gain any kind of field advantage the entire game, starting no better than its own 26. The Bearcats did, though, and none better than on the second-half kickoff.

Freshman Ralph David Abernathy IV returned the kick 71 yards, failing to beat the only defender left between him and the end zone as kicker Ross Krautman made a saving tackle at the Orange 24. It went for naught when Pead scored on the next play for a 17-6 lead.

Backup quarterback Jordan Luallen's 49-yard run set up the Bearcats at the Syracuse 1 midway through the third, but he lost 2 yards on the next play and a false start put the Bearcats back at the 8 and they had to settle for Miliano's 22-yard field goal for a 20-6 lead.

Miliano upped it to 23-6 with a 48-yard field goal at 4:40 of the third and Pead put the game out of reach when he took a dump pass over the middle from Legaux and scored with 9:13 left in the fourth.

Against Rutgers, Legaux was 12 of 31 for 158 yards and one interception and rushed for another 31 yards on 12 carries in his first start in place of Collaros. He was better against the Orange and began to show it late in the second quarter.

After briefly being pulled in favor of Luallen, Legaux overcame a personal foul penalty whistled against Bearcats tight end Travis Kelce. Cool in the face of the Syracuse rush and backpedaling to stay out of trouble, Legaux hit a wide-open D.J. Woods for 29 yards.

After Syracuse linebacker Dyshawn Davis was called for a horse-collar tackle, Legaux hit Kelce for a 2-yard touchdown pass with 2:06 left in the second for a 10-6 halftime lead.

Nassib hit Provo for a 13-yard score on third down to pull Syracuse within 23-13 heading to the fourth.

Nov. 12 South Florida 37 … at Syracuse 17
CFN Analysis: The offense has fallen flat over the last two weeks and the defense hasn’t picked up the slack. The defensive front wasn’t able to contain B.J. Daniels, who avoided the rush time and again and made things happen on his own. … Ryan Nassib wasn’t effective despite throwing for close to 300 yards. He had to keep throwing to make up for the lack of a running game, and while tried to get the team back in the game, but his 58-yard pass play to Alec Lemon was too little, too late. … Lemon finished with ten catches for 179 yards and two scores. … The Orange still needs to work to get to a bowl game with Cincinnati and a trip to Pitt to close. To get a win, the running game has to start working again. Fast. 

Nov. 5 at Connecticut 28 … Syracuse 21
CFN Analysis: The Orange got the benefit of five takeaways, and the offense outgained UConn 365 yards to 311, but it wasn’t enough. The offense’s three turnovers were bad, but the lack of a steady running game was worse with the SU line having a hard time keeping the aggressive pass rush out of the backfield. After the disappointing loss to Louisville, this game hurts even more with Big East title hopes now completely dashed. It’ll take one more win over South Florida, Cincinnati, or Pitt to have a shot to go bowling, but the blowout over West Virginia is long gone now and the offense has to find a way to get more pop. Turnover margin has been a positive all year long, and SU has to start taking advantage of mistakes again. 

Oct. 29 at Louisville 27 … Syracuse 10
CFN Analysis: Syracuse was on a roll after blowing away West Virginia, and then it came up with this. The offensive line couldn’t handle the Louisville defensive front, and the defense couldn’t come up with a big stop early or a key play late. Ryan Nassib threw the ball 36 times, but he only threw for 162 yards and didn’t connect on anything bigger than 20 yards. The first touchdown in the final quarter was too little too late for an attack that needs more pop from the ground game. The defense came up with three sacks, but it only came up with one takeaway. The Connecticut game is winnable, but a little offensive consistency would be nice. 

Oct. 22 at Syracuse 49 … West Virginia 23
CFN Analysis: Syracuse needed to pitch a near-perfect game to beat the Mountaineers, and it did. With no turnovers, just three penalties, and with third down conversion after third down conversion, everything worked in the biggest win of the Doug Marrone era by far. Now the Orange might be a top 25 team and now, with Rutgers losing to Louisville, the Big East title is a possibility if the offense can stay balanced and Ryan Nassib can continue to be as efficient and as effective as he was against the Mountaineers. Antwon Bailey closed things out by running well late, Nick Provo was a strong go-to target catching six passes for 61 yards and three scores, and the defense played with a spring in its step and an aggressiveness it didn’t show much of this year. Despite giving up 338 yards, the much-maligned pass defense did its job with two interceptions, and now with road games against Louisville and Connecticut coming up, and now worries about the opposing passing games, the run could continue.  

Oct. 8 Syracuse 37 … at Tulane 34
CFN Analysis: Can the Orange ever play better than its competition? Rutgers is playing extremely well, and the Orange lost in OT last week, managed to beat a red-hot Wake Forest in the opener needed a big break to beat Toledo and a last second field goal to beat Tulane. Outside of the loss to USC, every SU came couldn’t gone either way, and while it’s a major plus to be on the right side of four of them, it’s playing with fire. Antwon Bailey, who became the star of the game on the game-winning drive, gave the ground game a kick with 111 yards and a touchdown, and Ryan Nassib balanced things out with a decent day. However, the struggling secondary continued to whiff, allowing Green Wave quarterback Ryan Griffin to put up 320 yards and two scores, and with West Virginia up next, it’s uh-oh time.  

Oct. 1 Rutgers 19 … at Syracuse 16 OT
CFN Analysis: Syracuse finally lost an overtime game. With five turnovers, eight penalties, and no long drives in the fourth quarter, the team was hardly sharp. The run defense was excellent, the pass rush was strong, and Dan Vaughn came up with 15 tackles and Dyshawn Davis was terrific with six tackles, two sacks, 3.5 tackles for loss and a forced fumble. The team has been getting by with little offensive production and not enough from its secondary, but playing Tulane next week should be a good break before getting two weeks off to prepare for West Virginia. 

Sept. 24 at Syracuse 33 … Toledo 30 OT
CFN Analysis: Syracuse might have gotten a mega-break on the missed call on an extra point that shouldn’t have counted in the final minutes, but even with all the defensive issues, and even with all the problems for an offense that saw too many drives end in a field goal instead of a touchdown, it was still an overtime win over a dangerous team. Toledo has firepower, and going forward, the defense has to do more to come up with stops on third downs and has to get more production out of a secondary that’s struggling to come up with stops. There might have been two overtimes so far, but 3-1 is a nice start going into a final season in the Big East.  

Sept. 17 at USC 38 ... Syracuse 17
CFN Analysis: Syracuse wasn’t ready to win a game like this. It was there for the taking, but the offense couldn’t do enough in the second half and the defense couldn’t figure out how to slow down all the good Trojan receives. The pass defense is giving up yards in chunks, and considering Wake Forest and Rhode Island were the first two opponents, the secondary needs far more work. The running game hasn’t shown up yet, with 73 yards against a team like USC not enough to make a dent. Ryan Nassib is having a decent year, and the passing game is efficient, but he can’t do it alone. Against Toledo, Rutgers and Tulane, the Orange has a shot at a three game winning streak and a 5-1 record before facing West Virginia, but only if the offense can balance out a bit more. 

Sept. 10 at Syracuse 21 ... Rhode Island 14
CFN Analysis: It took way too much work to put Rhode Island away. Ryan Nassib might have thrown for 318 yards and three touchdowns, and Alec Lemon and Van Chew combined for 18 catches, but Nassib didn’t do enough to move the chains and struggled on third downs. Worse yet, especially against an FCS team, the running game was non-existent netting just 36 yards on 25 carries. The offensive line had an awful game, and now it has to deal with the USC offensive line. The Orange has to find a running game or Nassib will have way too much on his shoulders, and while he showed he could handle it this game, the team is playing with fire. 

Sept. 1 at Syracuse 36 … Wake Forest 29 OT
CFN Analysis: Syracuse might have played it too cautiously at the end of regulation before getting its possible game-winning field goal blocked, but the brilliant play by Ryan Nassib to Van Chew to end in overtime will overshadow just how strong the team was in the fourth quarter. Antwon Bailey came up with a brilliant game with 25 carries for 114 yards and two scores, but it’s Nassib who managed to keep the game rolling, even though the Orange were lousy when moving the chains. The problem was that the offense wasn’t consistent and didn’t do nearly enough until it absolutely had to. The defense struggled way too much, especially in the secondary, but the pass rush helped the cause in the second half generating enough pressure to stop the Demon Deacon offense when needed. There’s one more week of tune-up with Rhode Island up next before going to USC, and now, after a confidence-builder like this, the team should be ready. The Orange wouldn’t have won this type of game last year.   

The 2011 Recruiting Class Is Heavy On … More offense, more offense, more offense. The 2010 class was loaded up with prospects for the offensive side of the ball, and head coach Doug Marrone kept the fun going with a heavy class of offensive prospects to move around where needed. The quarterback fight should be an interesting one with Aston Broyld and Terrel Hunt to dangerous playmakers, while running backs Tyree Smallwood and Adonis Ameen-Moore are shifty, multi-talented backs with good size. Marrone also added six receivers led by Brandon Reddish out of Brooklyn.

Five Syracuse Recruits You Should Care About
Player writeups by Scout.com

1. WR Defarrel Davis
6-2, 180, four-star JUCO transfer.

2. QB Ashton Broyld
As a senior, Broyld ended up throwing for 1961 yards and 24 touchdowns. He also had 1560 rushing yards and 24 more scores. As a sophomore, Broyld threw for more than 1,800 yards and 17 touchdowns and ran for more than 600 yards while at Marshall High School. Threw for 1769 yards and 17 TDs and ran for 595 yards and 8 TDs as a junior at RHS HS.

3. LB Cameron Lynch
Lynch plays outside linebacker for his Brookwood team, and he's a very good tackler in space. He is strong enough to move inside where his height might not be as big of a liability. He is an instinctive player that would be an asset against a spread option as he makes good reads and can accelerate in tight spaces well

4. DE Donnie Simmons
Simmons size is an advantage and a disadvantage depending on where he plays in college. As a junior he lined up with his hand down and he is not your prototypical end or tackle on defense. With Simmons speed he could very easily make the move to outside linebacker. He is very quick and disruptive off the edge. He gets to the quarterback or disrupts the play a lot. He has a frame which should allow him to bulk up considerably.

5. OG Robert Trudo
6-4, 280, Scout.com’s 34th ranked guard

2011 Entire Recruiting Class

Louis Addazio TE 6-3 235 Gainesville, Fla./Buchholz
Lou Alexander OL 6-4 310 Palmdale, Calif./Highland
Adonis Ameen-Moore RB 5-10 215 Denver, Colo./Mullen
Ashton Broyld QB 6-3 215 Rochester, N.Y./Rush Henrietta
Eric Crume DL 6-2 305 Detroit, Mich./Detroit Central
Kristofer Curtis OL 6-5 290 Fayetteville, Ga./Fayette County
Dyshawn Davis WR 6-3 210 Woodbury, N.Y./Woodbury
Ritchy Desir DB 6-1 185 North Miami Beach, Fla./North Miami Beach
Siriki Diabate LB 6-0 218 Bronx, N.Y./Lehman
Durell Eskridge WR 6-2 195 Miami, Fla./Miami Central
Jonathan Fisher P 6-2 200 Oakfield Alabama Central
Kyle Foster WR 6-2 205 Ann Arbor, Mich./Pioneer
Ivan Foy OL 6-5 300 Brooklyn, N.Y./Fort Hamilton
Jaston George DB 5-10 170 Chesapeake, Va./Oscar F. Smith
Keenan Hale WR 6-3 185 Conyers, Ga./McCallie School
Terrell Hunt QB 6-3 210 Rosedale, N.Y./Christ The King
Jeremiah Kobena WR 6-0 185 New York, N.Y./Cardinal Hayes
Cameron Lynch LB 5-11 220 Lawrenceville, Ga./Brookwood
Shutang Mungwa DB 6-2 192 Oradell, N.J./Bergen Catholic
Brandon Reddish DB 5-11 175 Brooklyn, N.Y./Fort Hamilton
Nick Robinson OL 6-6 265 Baldwinsville, N.Y./Charles W. Baker
Sam Rogers LSN 6-2 200 Mercersburg, Pa./Mercersburg Academy
Donnie Simmons DL 6-3 240 Hartsdale, N.Y./Archbishop Stepinac
Ryan Sloan DL 6-4 295 Bellport, N.Y./Bellport
Tyree Smallwood RB 5-11 165 New Windsor, N.Y./Cornwall Central
Rob Trudo DE 6-5 285 Farrell, Pa./Farrell
Oliver Vigille LB 6-2 207 Miami, Fla./Miami Central