Syracuse boasts the nation’s second-leading rusher and the player with the fourth-highest sack total in the country, and both have been named AP Midseason All-Americans for their success.
Sean Tucker (all purpose) and Cody Roscoe (defensive end) earned the honors. The Orange’s two selections trail only Alabama (3) for most players selected to the team. The Associated Press only does a first team at the mid-year mark. ‘Cuse is also the only ACC school with multiple selections. Georgia and Iowa are the other two schools with multiple selections besides the Orange and Crimson Tide.
Tucker has run for 100+ yards in six of the team’s seven games and his 948 rushing yards ranks second in the nation. At 6.12 yards per carry (155 total), his average is eighth among players with 100+ carries on the year and third among those with more than 125.
He enters Saturday’s game at Virginia Tech having run for 100+ yards in five-straight games, which ties a program record. He is 52 yards from being the 17th player to run for 1,000 yards in a season at Syracuse and is on pace to shatter Joe Morris’ single-season record of 1,372 yards, as Tucker has posted the highest total through seven games by a running back in program history.
Tucker is also the team’s leading receiver with 224 yards through the air, which has helped him rank second nationally with 167.4 all purpose yards per game. He is the only player to run for more than 100 yards against Clemson this season and against UAlbany became the first player in program history to have over 100 rushing and receiving yards in the same game.
Roscoe has emerged as a standout defensive end and currently leads the ACC and all power five players with 7.5 sacks. His 10.5 tackles for loss is also tops in the ACC and fifth nationally. Roscoe has at least a half sack in five of the Orange’s seven games this season.
His 33 tackles rank third on the Orange this year and tops among defensive linemen. He also has two quarterback hurries and a forced fumble. His forced fumble came at a crucial time as well, setting up the game-winning drive in the Orange’s win over Liberty.
Syracuse heads to Virginia Tech on Saturday, before hosting Boston College for Orange Central/homecoming the following week.
Kyle leads sports coverage and hosts the Concrete Jungle podcast. Have a lead or question? Send it to [email protected].