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Countdown to Camp 2016

Syracuse football preseason storylines, No. 1: How Syracuse adapts to Dino Babers’ spread offense

Courtesy of The ACC

Dino Babers brought an offense that has had proven success elsewhere. This year will offer the first glimpse at whether it can work at Syracuse.

By Chris LibonatiSenior Staff Writer

With Syracuse football training camp less than two days away, The Daily Orange beat writers, Chris Libonati, Jon Mettus and Matt Schneidman, will analyze one of the top 10 preseason storylines, top 10 position battles or reveal one of 10 player files each day. Check out dailyorange.com and follow along here to countdown to camp.

Dino Babers’ spread offense is headed for the Carrier Dome. With the youth on Syracuse’s offense, this year should prove to be just a taste of what future SU offenses will be able to do.

Even with players adjusting to a new offense, the Orange should at least be able to put together an offense that can at the compete with middle-of-the-pack Atlantic Coast Conference teams in 2016.

Having developed from the system Art Briles started at Stephenville (Texas) High School, Babers’ form of the spread will ramp up SU’s speed of play as he did as head coach at Eastern Illinois and Bowling Green. Last year, teams running the offense (Baylor, Bowling Green and Tulsa) averaged 85 plays per game.

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At nearly every school the offense has been taken to — Houston, Baylor, Tulsa and Eastern Illinois — there’s been an immediate improvement. Bowling Green suffered a one-year, two-win drop off, but reached 10 wins, like it had the year before Babers arrived, in his second season.

The Carrier Dome turf, save for Doug Marrone’s shotgun offense — it was created weeks before the 2012 season and was predicated on the formation — has been accustomed to “Northeast football.” Under center, running-based offenses.

While the spread Babers is bringing uses the run often, it’ll sling the ball just as much, if not more than, any offense that has been put on the turf before.

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