Syracuse football: Three keys to play for the Orange in the Holiday Bowl

While most people expect the Syracuse Orange to have an easy time with the Washington State Cougars in the DIRECTV Holiday Bowl, we still can’t assume that the Orange can just show up and win the game. Here are three keys to securing the tenth win of Fran Brown’s debut season:

Win the revenue battle

In Syracuse’s three losses, the Orange’s turnover margin was -5. While that number would be 0 if we removed the Pitt game, it showed the weakness of the Syracuse offense this year in not taking care of the ball, especially in key spots. Both Stanford and Boston College scored defensive touchdowns against the Orange. To avoid the upset, it’s important that the offense doesn’t give Washington State easy points.

End drives in the end zone

Another way to give a team hope is to settle for field goal attempts when entering the red zone. Syracuse scored touchdowns on a nice 69.1% of its chances in the red zone, good for 31st in the country. Against FBS opponents this year, Washington State’s defense allowed 10 touchdowns on 14 red zone attempts. When playing against a team that is missing its two best offensive players, you want to increase the pressure by scoring touchdowns to complete drives.

D. Ross Cameron-Imagn Images

Make the Cougars offense work

Without John Mateer, Washington Sate will have two quarterbacks who have attempted a combined nine passes this season. Syracuse’s defense will have to limit big plays and force the Cougars to go long to score points. If the Orange can get Washington State to play a methodical game, that increases the chance of mistakes and would help Syracuse get turnovers and get the ball back on offense.