Syracuse, N.Y. -- Syracuse football’s offensive line is under siege, as fans have grabbed their pitchforks and excoriated the unit for turning a season everyone looked forward to into one they’re just as eager to forget.

The offensive line, to be sure, strikes at the heart of what ails a program that entered the year with a plethora of talent at running back and receiver and had been grooming the most decorated high school quarterback recruit this century to take the reins of Dino Babers’ fast-paced offense.

Adequate play up front likely makes a 3-4 team 5-2 as it heads to Florida State for Saturday afternoon’s 3:30 kick.

Instead, it has been a trainwreck beyond the coach and administration’s worst premonitions, leaving the staff with no recourse.

Babers couldn’t let this continue without taking a long look at making changes to the starting offensive line. The stakes are such: Get better, or the season is lost and any momentum from last year’s 10-win season will be laid to waste.

If this were Tuscaloosa, Baton Rouge, Columbus or Clemson, heads would roll if improvement was not made.

Florida State fired its offensive line coach earlier this year on the heels of a season-long embarrassment.

In Syracuse, we’re on the verge of finding out if surrendering 35 sacks in seven games -- the worst mark out of 130 FBS schools -- has any repercussions and if anyone will be held accountable if this doesn’t get fixed.

We’re about to find out if this is tolerable.

Syracuse has closed ranks this week as the unit has folded under intense scrutiny.

Left tackle Carlos Vettorello was not made available for an interview. Neither was center Airon Servais, who was receiving treatment after Tuesday’s practice, according to the school.

Babers refused to expound on the job offensive line coach Mike Cavanaugh has done this season when asked at his Monday news conference, saying coaching evaluations are kept in-house.

SU declined to make Cavanaugh available for an interview, too, though it has been common practice under Babers to shield assistants from the press.

Among the most-asked questions amid a disappointing season: How did we get here?

And will it get better?

ATTRITION

Babers’ explanation for his line’s performance has been youth and inexperience.

Last year’s unit was anchored by three seniors, and for the first time in nearly 30 years every starter had at least one full season of starting experience under his belt. They were durable, as the same five linemen started all 13 games.

This is rare, a perfect storm of program development, evaluating the right transfer to bring in and injury luck.

Syracuse entered this season needing to replace three starters off last year’s line.

Babers accounted for those losses and other attrition that has impacted the number of upperclassmen in the pipeline.

Syracuse lost three of five offensive linemen in its 2015 recruiting class, the final cluster of players brought in by former coach Scott Shafer. One graduated and played all four years (Cody Conway). Another was medically disqualified (Sam Clausman). The third was passed by younger players and left the team (Colin Byrne).

Syracuse also lost two of four offensive linemen in its 2016 recruiting class, one to medical disqualification (Liam O’Sullivan) and the other to an injury that has led to significant time loss (Sam Heckel).

That makes five potential senior starters in 2019 who have been wiped off the board.

All but one of these players took a redshirt year as a freshman, which is the traditional path college linemen take because they are often at a physical disadvantage relative to their competition. Programs often elect to stow their linemen in the weight room for a year to get bigger and stronger.

Here’s a review of those five players.

Colin Byrne did not return for his fifth season after seeing no game action as a redshirt junior. He played 52 snaps at guard in 2017 as a reserve and played 620 snaps with eight starts as a redshirt freshman in 2016.

Sam Clausman, a high school teammate of Byrne at St. Thomas Aquinas in Florida, was medically disqualified after the 2017 season because of multiple concussions.

Cody Conway played as a true freshman in 2015, getting snaps in six games. That usage did not allow Conway to take a redshirt and be eligible to compete in the 2019 season.

Babers’ first recruiting class in 2016 has had tough injury luck, too.

Liam O’Sullivan was medically disqualified by team doctors because he suffered multiple concussions. Before his career ended, O’Sullivan was listed as a second-string left tackle who played in the first six games of the 2017 season.

Sam Heckel, who started the season as the first-team center, has not played since the second quarter of the season-opener at Liberty because of an undisclosed injury. It was the second time within a month Heckel missed time with an injury. He has been on the home bench for each of SU’s home games this year but has not dressed in uniform.

HAS SYRACUSE WHIFFED IN RECRUITING? THAT DEPENDS ON YOUR DEFINITION OF A MISS

A team’s pool of depth is only as good as its recruiting.

The best opportunity to evaluate may come in a recruiting camp, but those are limited to single days and players aren’t dressed in full pads.

Seven-on-seven ball has become a popular way to evaluate quarterbacks, running backs, receivers, edge rushers, linebackers and defensive backs.

Offensive linemen don’t play at all.

Individualized one-on-one matchups in camps or national showcase events are good for judging technique, hand placement, hips, feet and lateral movement. But it does not judge the cohesion required within a unit of four other teammates or how a lineman will deal with crowd noise and pressure situations.

And it can be tricky evaluating high school offensive linemen on game film because they often times dwarf the opposition.

“It’s a position that has a lot of opinions,” Babers said, “and you’re really judging big guys playing against little guys.

"When you’re a 6-foot-5 guy in high school at 260 pounds, you may play against one guy as big as you, so you’re always pushing around smaller people.

"They really don’t get to see people their size until they step on a college university and everybody looks like them. Then you find out where they’re at a little bit going up against people their own size.

“That’s where some people may have misses.”

So, has Syracuse simply missed too often in the recruiting process?

Babers says no.

There are several upperclassmen who haven’t been deemed, to this point, worthy of regular snaps by the coaching staff. There may be myriad reasons for this. Their strengths and weaknesses as a player may limit what plays can be called. Younger players on the roster may be better.

Mike Clark, a redshirt junior, came in with the 2016 class and did not log any playing time a year ago after playing on special teams in 2017.

Andrejas Duerig, a fifth-year senior considered to be one of the strongest players on the team, has been a key cog up front on special teams but never has cracked the rotation on offense.

Patrick Davis has been on the two-deep the past two seasons. He’s likely one of the players who is getting an extended look this week in practice as an option to play at Florida State.

What might be hurting the program more is the number of prospects that has passed on Syracuse in the recruiting process.

5 OFFENSIVE LINE RECRUITS WHO GOT AWAY

Stewart Reese would have been a fifth lineman in the 2016 class. He took an official visit to Syracuse. The coaches visited him multiple times in the weeks leading up to signing day. The Fort Pierce, Fla., native chose to play for Dan Mullen at Mississippi State instead of the Orange.

The 6-foot-5, 345-pound Reese, a redshirt junior, has been a three-year starter. He shifted inside to right guard this season after starting the previous two seasons at right tackle.

Joshua Fedd-Jackson was a big loss for Syracuse because the New Jersey product was courted by quarterback Tommy DeVito and headed south with teammate Louis Acceus to become starters at North Carolina State.

Fedd-Jackson did not redshirt as a true freshman in 2017 and has been a two-year starter at right guard for the Wolfpack.

Syracuse wanted to add a third offensive lineman with Dakota Davis and Patrick Davis in its 2017 class but missed on several targets.

Tyran Hunt is an offensive tackle in his third year who has not yet cracked the lineup at Maryland.

Alex Palczewski, however, has made 30-straight starts at right tackle for Illinois heading into this week’s game at Purdue.

The Illinois native chose the in-state school over Syracuse and Vanderbilt.

Syracuse has been looking for help at offensive tackle, scouring the graduate-transfer market each of the previous two seasons.

Texas A&M-transfer Koda Martin adapted well to Syracuse’s tempo system in 2018.

The transition has not come as easy this season for South Alabama-transfer Ryan Alexander.

Syracuse wanted to bring in a second grad transfer this offseason.

Ryan Roberts, the ex-Northern Illinois right tackle, chose to transfer to Florida State and has been OK, per reports in Tallahassee. Not an All-ACC performer by any stretch but also not harming a unit that was looking for immediate improvement.

He’s expected to start Saturday’s game against the Orange.

WILL IT GET BETTER?

Syracuse’s midseason lineup tinkering is a signal Babers is keeping an eye toward next year as well.

Syracuse will need to replace Evan Adams, a four-year starter at guard.

Alexander was brought in as a plug-and-play stopgap for one year while the younger tackles continued to develop behind the scenes.

Aside from Patrick Davis, Syracuse will be expected to develop its future offensive lines from a nucleus of six young offensive linemen.

2018 recruits

Carlos Vettorello, a redshirt freshman starter at left tackle, shoulders a responsibility to get better this season and as a third-year sophomore in 2020.

He’ll be among the most experienced offensive tackles on the roster next season.

Qadir White, the four-star prospect from the Bronx, provides an ideal frame for an offensive lineman. After redshirting as a freshman, White has spent his second year continuing to work on his body and ability. He’s not ready to play.

Willem Froumy, received a scholarship offer after a camp workout at SU. It was his only major-conference offer. The New Hampshire native was also offered by New Hampshire, Maine, Massachusetts and Bryant.

2019 recruits

Matthew Bergeron, the true freshman from Canada has played on special teams and in some short-yardage run situations this season. He is a candidate to see more time at tackle this week at Florida State.

Darius Tisdale, a junior-college transfer who can play tackle or guard, will have two more seasons of eligibility in 2020 and 2021.

Anthony Red, the true freshman from Connecticut enrolled last January and has received high marks early in his career that suggests he’ll be a name to remember at the tackle position in the coming years.

2020 recruits

Syracuse has two offensive line recruits committed to its 2020 class.

Garth Barclay is a 6-foot-7, 250-pound senior from York (Pa.) Suburban High School. Other regional schools to offer him include Virginia, Connecticut, Bowling Green, Buffalo, Central Michigan and Temple, among others.

Josh Ilaoa, a North Carolina native, is coming in to play guard but can also play along the interior of the defensive line. He was also offered by Illinois, Colorado State, Hawaii, East Carolina and Kent State, among others.

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