Syracuse DE Chandler Jones Has Huge Impact on Orange Upset vs. West Virginia

“Us going 100 percent. Geno Smith is a good quarterback, and if you allow him to sit back and pick defenses apart that is something he will do. He has a lot of guys who complement him like Stedman Bailey, Tavon Austin, guys in the open field who can make big plays. Our job is not to let Geno Smith sit in pocket and pick us apart.”

That was what Chandler Jones said before last night’s prime time matchup against the West Virginia Mountaineers, and Syracuse was able to deliver in a big way, beating West Virginia 49-23.

Jones had been out for the last few games with a knee injury and is considered one of the better, more underrated defensive end prospects in the country. At 6’5″ 265 pounds, this is a guy who has great size and he was sure to make his presence felt in the Orange victory over WVU last night.

He finished the game with two sacks and this is what ESPN Big East blogger Andrea Adelson said after the game:

“The Orange (5-2, 1-1 Big East) dominated the line of scrimmage, mercilessly harassed Geno Smith into one mistake after another…”

I suppose then that Jones reached his goal of not letting Geno sit in the pocket and pick the Orange apart, because this game was ugly if you are a Mountaineer fan.

The senior defensive end proved that he has a fantastic skill-set and can be absolutely dominant at times, so he is certainly a prospect to keep an eye on as we move forward.