The Syracuse Orange had looked to have found an offensive line group that was effective. After knocking off UNC and SMU, the running game seemed to be propeling the offense down the stretch.
Then in the first drive last week against Clemson, guard Jayden Mann went out with injury and the offensive line wasn’t able to control the Tigers defense. Now Syracuse will be without Mann this week and have to worry about the status of tackle Trevion Mack.
While they aren’t on the injury report, Khalil Stewart, Byron Washington and Oluwafunto Akinshilo have all been dealing with injuries. The offensive line has been an issue all season long and with this seeming like a must-win game for bowl eligibility, the Orange might be shuffling the deck again according to Fran Brown
“We’ll have some things that we’ve got to do now to figure out who’s going back into the opposite side,” Brown said. “Do we move Joe Cruz to the other side? Do we play [Akinshilo] because he had a little high-ankle sprain? Do we get an opportunity to have [Akinshilo] go back in or will it be Byron to play the other side?”
D’Appolonia has taken the most snaps for the Syracuse defense this season. The Toledo transfer has barely left the field and his leadership and experience have been important, even if his coverage hasn’t matched the standards he set last year. The Orange might be able to use a combination of Gary Bryant III on running downs and Zyian Moultrie-Goddard on passing downs if D’Applonia is unable to go this Saturday.
There is some hope that Malachi Nelson will be available this week and while that’s a positive sign, it would probably indicate a problem if he was thrown back into action in Raleigh. The Orange have to hope Steve Angeli can bounce back this week if they want to win this game.
Syracuse won’t get any sympathy from NC State as you can see from their injury report. The Wolfpack will be missing their top tackler Popo Aguirre and two safeties- starter Ronnie Royal III and key reserve Tristan Teasdell.
At this time of year, it’s about overcoming injuries and finding a way to win. It will be on Juan Castillo to get the Orange offensive line working well enough to get Syracuse to grab a 2nd ACC road win of the season.
