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EAST HARTFORD, Conn. — Garrett Shrader wanted to throw the ball more heading into the second half. Two touchdowns and 222 yards passing wasn’t enough for Syracuse’s quarterback. His receivers were “fairly open,” leading to a few long passes. But there were still a few timing issues on his part, and the last ball he threw ended with a touchdown.

Courtney Jackson galloped in the back of the endzone with his arms outstretched to imitate a flying airplane. Two UConn safeties got to him seconds earlier, but not before he snagged Garrett Shrader’s second passing touchdown.

Pro Football Focus’s top rated quarterback from week one took flight against UConn. Following a possession in which he got sacked twice, Shrader steadied himself behind a nearly impenetrable wall of offensive linemen. In the winding seconds of the first half, Shrader scanned the Huskies’ defense zone coverage and found Jackson wide open to extend Syracuse’s lead to 26-7.

Head coach Dino Babers said he was expecting the safeties to come down on Jackson and recreate a “Superman comic book smash punch bang” style hit. The shifty Jackson instead avoided any contact for the score.

Syracuse (2-0, 1-0 Atlantic Coast) grabbed its first 2-0 record since 2018 with a 48-14 victory against UConn (1-2). The Orange soared behind the arm of Shrader, who tossed for 309 yards versus a young Huskies defense, continuously exploiting holes in head coach Jim Mora’s zone formation. Shrader bested his career high of 236 passing yards with a 20 yard pass in the third quarter to Trebor Pena.

“Shrader does a nice job of picking and choosing his targets,” Babers said. “He’s been extremely accurate this year and his throwing percentages have been extremely high.”

With the score already set at 10-0 Syracuse, Shrader found Jackson across the middle and scrambled his way to 24 yards and two touchdowns. Shrader tossed for 9-of-11 in the first quarter.

On his first touchdown pass of the night, Shrader stood in an immaculate pocket, easily protected from the impending five UConn rushers. Shrader executed a play action fake to Tucker, who leaked out to the left side for a screen route.

As was the case against Louisville, Tucker stood as Shrader’s first option, but he was well covered by Kaleb Anthony. So Shrader stepped up and set his sights down field, where he saw Damien Alford streaking across the left hash mark. Shrader rainbowed the ball 47 yards to Alford, who’d beaten his man, and watched Alford glide into the endzone.

“I give a lot of credit to the offensive line holding up. They hit on a couple of blocks,” Shrader said.

Oronde Gadsden said Syracuse thought UConn’s corners couldn’t cover its outside receivers, namely Damien Alford and D’Marcus Adams. When the Huskies showed man coverage, the Orange tried for long balls, like the 47 yard touchdown to Alford.

Shrader worked throughout the offseason to improve his arm, specifically his downfield passes that tended to fall short and inaccurate on attempts last season. He said that he was excited to have an offense this year that allowed him to pass more, and one that opened up the playbook more.

Babers said on Monday that the biggest improvements a team makes are between the first and second week. It would have been hard for Shrader to improve from the dominant showcase he put on against Louisville, throwing for 236 yards and rushing for an additional 94.

“I thought it was a really good opening day,” Babers said on Monday. “You could tell that the plan was well thought out and thorough.”

But Syracuse ended the first quarter with 172 total yards, 127 of which came from the arm of Garrett Shrader. Shrader finished last week’s win against Louisville with a career-high 94.1 passing grade, according to Pro Football Focus.

Gadsden also said that when UConn flashed a zone coverage or blitz, the Orange tried to hit them over the top and attack the soft spots across the middle. That’s how Jackson was able to slide in front of two safeties for his second touchdown. It’s also how Devaughn Cooper, Syracuse’s starting slot receiver and seventh-year player, has garnered the majority of his catches.

Cooper feels like he’s one of the players offensive coordinator Robert Anae can count on. When the ball comes to him across the middle, he feels like he can take advantage of it and be a “top performer” for Syracuse. Over the summer, he and Shrader started hanging out, first on the field running routes to build a repertoire with Shrader’s motion and techniques.

“I think the offense is motivated and determined,” Cooper said. “We don’t want to end up like we did last year.”

During training camp, Jackson said the receiving group was beginning to gain considerable trust with Shrader. He’s seen as a more confident conductor of the offense now that he stood as the solidified starting quarterback. Shrader and Jackson can now communicate by simply looking at each other and conversing with a few head movements. Isaiah Jones said even after practices, he’s texting Shrader along with the rest of the receiving room to ask about routes and work through what went wrong.
“We just needed to execute more on our end when it came to making plays when the ball is in the air because we had a few drops last week,” Jones said.
Prior to Saturday night, Mora said that Shrader was a better passer than other quarterbacks that have worked under Jason Beck. “First of all he’s bigger, taller, lankier,” Mora said. “When I compare him to (Taysom) Hill and to (Bryce) Perkins at this point in his career, he’s a better thrower.”

Mora was right, and he saw that heightened talent following a 13 yard sack in the red zone with seven minutes remaining in the first half. Shrader lofted a pass over to Isaiah Jones on the left sideline. Jones leapt as he fell backward and brought down the catch, setting the Orange up with a 1st-and-goal from the 8-yard line.

Following a first-down scramble from Shrader, SU’s offensive line stood tall. Shrader rifled a throw off of his back foot as he was hit to Pena, who was streaking down toward the right sideline. Mora leaned down from around the 40-yard line and clapped his hands, gritting his teeth as Pena corralled a basket catch in tight coverage.

Shrader had one more bullet left in his rifle to expel upon the UConn defense. Husky Dajon Harrison had just muffed a punt, and after a recovery by Mikel Jones, Syracuse started part two of its possession on the 36-yard line.

On another play action pass, Shrader once again had a man streaking down the left hash. This time, it was D’Marcus Adams vying for his first catch in a Syracuse jersey. Shrader calmly wound up and fired a 39 yard pass to the transfer receiver for a touchdown, securing Syracuse’s most points since the UAlbany game last season.

“We still like the traditional quarterbacks because we still have a traditional offense,” Babers said.

Published on September 10, 2022 at 10:20 pm

Contact Anthony: aalandt@syr.edu | @anthonyalandt