Syracuse (3-2, 1-0 Atlantic Coast) visits Virginia (1-4, 0-1) on Saturday at 3:30 p.m. in its second ACC matchup of the season. The Orange is coming off a 45-24 loss at South Florida and is on a two-game losing streak. Follow along with SU-UVA coverage here or on Twitter @DOSports.

To learn more about the Cavaliers, The Daily Orange spoke with The Daily Progress beat writer Andrew Ramspacher.

The Daily Orange: What is quarterback Matt Johns biggest strength?

Andrew Ramspacher: I think early on, his biggest strength was a swagger, a moxie he brought to the position. He’s not the most talented guy, he’s not the biggest guy — he’s tall, he’s 6’5” but he’s pretty skinny — and he’s not the fastest guy either but somehow he finds his way to make things happen outside the pocket. He’s kind of a gamer. I think you saw that in parts of last season when he was splitting time for a little bit with Greyson Lambert. You saw it early on this season, especially against Notre Dame, where he played the game of his career to this point.

The D.O.: How much should Syracuse fans worry about playmaker and tailback Taquan Mizzell?

A.R.: I wouldn’t worry too much about him out of the backfield in terms of being a running back … There’s been a little bit of improvement since his freshman and sophomore years, but now as a junior, I think he’s found his niche and it’s not necessarily as a pure running back — it’s as a receiver. I think he’s one of the better slot guys they have. He’s leading the country’s running backs in receiving yards. He’s really dynamic as a pass-catcher. As far as a runner, he’s not going to give you much.

The D.O.: The Cavaliers are allowing an average of 35.8 points. How vulnerable is their defense?

A.R.: The biggest problem with this team this year is they aren’t as experienced (as last year’s), talented and they haven’t been giving themselves any easy opportunities in terms of creating turnovers. Up until last week, they hadn’t had a takeaway yet. They got two against Pitt, maybe that’ll get them going a little bit, but two takeaways in five games is not good … They have a lack of play-making, they still haven’t developed an edge rusher that they desperate need and the secondary, which had a lot of experience coming back, has really struggled. … They’re very vulnerable. The one positive is last week against Pitt, in the last three quarters, they really improved. They got beat early; they gave up 217 yards in the first quarter and only gave up 146 the final three quarters.

The D.O.: If UVA was to win, what’s the most important thing it would have to do well?

A.R.: There’s a lot of things. You’re talking about a 1-4 team, I don’t think you can narrow much down. This team has not beat an FBS team all year. Obviously the one win against William and Mary and even that was a struggle 35-29. So, I think it starts with the basics of football: taking care of the football. Matt Johns has thrown too many interceptions. He’s tops in the ACC with (seven) picks … And they need to create takeaways. They’re down near the bottom of the country in turnover margin so they have to do better there. This is a chance for them to win. There’s not many games like this remaining on the schedule.

Published on October 15, 2015 at 6:30 pm

Contact Paul: pmschwed@syr.edu | @pschweds