Wha' Happened?: Syracuse

I would call that "not a bad start," for the Wildcats this weekend. It was far from a great game, considering that we lost the turnover battle and couldn't get our offense clicking for most of the first half.

There are some very bright spots of course, such as very nice punting from Stefan Demos, and Fitz's third straight opening day victory. It says a lot about our preparation and concentration that we don't look past openers that some might consider gimmes. Oh, and a goose-egg in the L column always looks good, even when we're only one week in.

Let's see how my three important players did:

• Adam Hahn - The lineman didn't have a noteworthy game, but linemates Corey Wootton and Corbin Bryant played well with the LBs and secondary picking up for some missed tackles in the line. There is much room for improvement, and the return of John Gill will be very welcome.

• Stefan Demos - What more can I say except for Big Ten Special Teams Player of the Week. 6 out of 6 punts were inside the 20 and 3 were inside the 10. One of those set up the defense to earn NU's first 2 points of the game with a safety. Plus he kicked off well enough to keep Syracuse's vaunted returners to fewer than 100 yards on 5 kickoff returns.

• Ben Burkett - No problems in the center-QB exchange. Only one sack allowed, and C.J. usually had time. The entire line will have to continue to improve; most of our opponents will have more skilled D-linemen than the Orange. But a little confidence should go a long way for the still-green trenchmen.

Stay tuned for nervous thoughts about our trip to Durham, NC!