Three takeaways from Syracuse's 48-14 win over UConn

It’s nice to actually sit back and enjoy a big win once in a while

David Butler II-USA TODAY Sports

Well, sorry UConn.

From start to finish, the Syracuse Orange handily took care of business and soundly defeated the UConn Huskies 48-14 in Storrs. It’s only the second Orange win in Connecticut against the Huskies, but boy that one was lopsided.

Here’s our three takeaways from a predictable win:

Who is this guy?

Whoever took 2021 Garrett Shrader and replaced him with 2022 Garrett Shrader, thank you.

I’ll take this guy instead.

Shrader backed up his strong opening week performance by hitting targets at various ranges tonight. He short-armed a couple of passes early on, but after that almost nothing went wrong for Syracuse’s signal caller. His accuracy, compared to last season is immaculate and he’s balancing out the Syracuse offense in a way that the Orange couldn’t last year. Taking more focus off Sean Tucker running is a great way to keep opponents on their toes.

Options. All the options.

One thing we constantly asked for last season is that someone on Syracuse needed to make themselves an option at receiver for Shrader to throw to. With the new offensive system and an offseason to improve, there are now options for the Orange QB. Five guys had at least three receptions for Syracuse while Shrader was in and the routes that they ran gave him a clear line of vision to hit their hands. Combined that with Shrader’s improved accuracy and there’s a lot to like about the Syracuse aerial game.

Big plays

These are all of the plays that opponents have scored on Syracuse this season:

• Tiyon Evans 36 yard rush
• Devontae Houston 28 yard rush
• Aaron Turner 56 yard screen

Don’t get me wrong, this defense is still impressive and great. But limiting explosive plays is just another factor that defense that definitely sees itself as elite is going to need to do in order to give Syracuse a spark, especially when the Orange get deep into conference play.