Frank Ordonez / The Post Standard

By Tim Schlittner

I am fresh off a fantastic road trip to Akron with Euclid 419er and some of our best “Friends of the Army.” Read Euclid 419er’s tremendous recap of the trip here.  These are the 10 things I learned in Akron, other than one should not eat Popeye’s and Roy Rogers in a 48-hour window.

1. Nolan Weidner was right. We were (mostly) wrong.

During a Squeezing the Juice in April, Syracuse Post-Standard football beat writer Nolan Weidner told us the players who caught the attention of coaches in spring ball were Van Chew, Aaron Weaver, and Nick Provo. All made enormous contributions in the opener and look poised for a big season. As a reminder, here is who we picked as our offensive MVP’s. Good job Nolan.

2. Hofstra’s loss was our gain.

Speaking of Weaver, if there is a program that benefitted more from Hofstra shutting down football, I have yet to find it. Weaver and tight end Jose Cruz are both imposing forces and will be major factors in the Orange offensive attack. Kudos to Doug Marrone for using his contacts in Long Island to bring these players on board.

3. Ryan Nassib is legit.

During the 3rd quarter of Saturday night’s game, I got a text message from “Friend of the Army” Syracuse Dilf that said “Ryan Nassib looks legit.” He did and he is. Other than a few underthrown deep balls and the pick, Nassib showed good command and accuracy on a windy night. His touchdown pass to Van Chew before the half included a brilliant pump fake to give his wide receiver just enough space for the completion. We’ll learn more about Nassib’s poise in Seattle next week.

4. Teams are going to stack the box against Delone Carter.

I’ve seen teams stack the box against Carter before, but not to the extent Akron did. Sometimes they had as many as nine defenders on the line of scrimmage. Carter managed 91 yards on 26 carries but if teams continue to do that, Syracuse must throw the ball over the top to Chew, Weaver, and Alec Lemon.

5. Syracuse was right to start Marcus Spruill.

I was really impressed by freshman linebacker Marcus Spruill who started in place of senior Ryan Gillum, a move Dave Cooperman called in August. He did not disappoint, making tackles all over the field, especially in the second half.

6. The PAT operation needs to be cleaned up. NOW!

Two blown PAT’s is unacceptable and a reminder of our bitter loss to Louisville last year for this very reason. From where I was sitting, it looked like the snaps were an issue. If anyone saw the game on TV and believes differently, please leave it in the comments section. This needs to get cleaned up now. We cannot afford to leave any points on the table against Washington.

7. Dave Cooperman and I blew it on our offensive MVP picks. But we can feel good about our defensive choice.

Marcus Sales is clearly not going to be Syracuse’s offensive MVP this year. At this point, it’s unclear if he will play a snap. So after 1 week, it’s safe to say that Dave Cooperman and I got that question wrong. We also made identical selections on the other side of the ball, picking defensive end Chandler Jones. For my money, Jones looked like the best player on the field Saturday night. He even blocked the field goal that resulted in a Mike Holmes 57-yard return for a touchdown. At least that pick is looking good.

8. Syracuse can be very good defensively, but Akron was an awful test.

Syracuse’s defense lived up to its hype, holding the Zips to 166 total yards and 3 points. But Akron looked impotent on their own. Patrick Nicely made some bizarrely inaccurate throws. I predict the Zips won’t put up a lot of points on just about anyone this year.

9. Syracuse fans travel.

Euclid 419er wrote about some of the wonderful fans we met in Akron. Syracuse sold out their entire allotment of 5,000 road tickets for a game that wasn’t exactly marquee. The Orange fans inside were passionate and loud, standing on big third and fourth downs. I have no doubt it pumped up the team to see such a great turnout. Big East bowl sites should take notice of this effort by the fans.

10. Dr. Gross was right and Doug Marrone is different.

Again, I ask that you watch this video to see how we were embarrassed in 2008 by Akron. Greg Robinson was unsure how many times out of a thousand we should beat them. Dr. Gross wasn’t: “We’re Syracuse. We should beat Akron. It’s that simple.” Doug Marrone did something no Syracuse coach has done in 7 years—win the opener. The fact that he did it in such dominating fashion is yet another reminder that we may have our long term head man here.