Syracuse Looking to Play Spoiler Against Notre Dame: Three Orange Players To Keep An Eye On
- Brenden Duffy
- 3 minutes ago
- 3 min read
Photo via Syracuse Athletics
On Saturday afternoon, the ninth-ranked Notre Dame Fighting Irish hosts their home-field regular-season finale against the 3-7 Syracuse Orange. With the ‘Cuse on a six-game skid, they have turned to walk-on freshman QB Joseph Filardi in an attempt to pull off the unthinkable. While Filardi likely does not have enough to single-handedly topple the Irish, here are some players who will need to perform well to give the Orange any chance this weekend:
WR Johntay Cook
Syracuse’s top receiver is the junior transfer from Texas. Cook, 6-0 and 198 pounds, hails from DeSoto, TX, where he was a big-time recruit for the Longhorns. With the Orange this season, Cook has worked primarily out of the slot; however, last game, he was out wide for the majority of the loss against Miami. This year, the junior has recorded 518 yards and two touchdowns on 41 receptions, averaging an impressive 12.6 yards per catch. Cook has at least two catches in nine games, including a season-high of seven against SMU, where he tallied 82 yards and a score. The slot-man had a season-high 113 yards against Clemson across six receptions. Cook’s drops and fumbles appear to be a thing of the past, as he has not dropped a pass since week eight or fumbled since he dropped the ball twice against Duke. The versatile receiver can beat defenses over the top, but most of his production comes via the short-pass game.
TE Dan Villari
Perhaps one of the more underappreciated players on Syracuse is their starting tight end. Villari, a redshirt senior, has 33 receptions for 379 yards this season but has yet to find the endzone. The 6-4, 245-pounder from Massapequa, NY has shown his versatility playing inline and in the slot. Villari averages a solid 11.5 yards per reception and has at least one catch in nine games. He popped against UConn with a season-high seven catches for 104 yards in the Orange win. The senior has also shown strong hands with no drops across 46 targets, and he is 3/5 on contested catch attempts. No matter who has played QB, Villari has been a consistently reliable short-yardage option. He likely will not be beating the Irish defense over the top, assuming he does not just sneak by on a fluke play. Villari has also served as a solid all-around blocker this season. (Note: Villari left Syracuse’s last game early with an injury, and there is no current public status for this week’s game.)
DL Kevin Jobity Jr
If Syracuse is going to have success defensively, it starts with getting to the QB. Enter the Orange’s sack-leader, Kevin Jobity Jr. The 6-4, 300-pound DT from Buffalo has 26 tackles, six tackles for loss, five sacks, and one pass breakup this season. Jobity, a senior, has at least one tackle in eight games. He exploded against Pitt when he racked up a season-high six tackles and three sacks in the loss. The DT had another solid outing against UConn, where he tallied five tackles and a sack. Jobity has created 20 pressures, including his five sacks, across 228 pass rush attempts this season. He has also been solid against the run with 11 stops; however, all four of his missed tackles have come in this spot. The last point on Jobity is that he has been a clean player this year, with no penalties across 376 snaps, ultimately signifying he is not one to blame for Syracuse’s subpar season.
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