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Several times in the aftermath of Syracuse’s 38-3 loss to Florida State, head coach Dino Babers said the loss fell on the shoulders of SU’s coaching staff. He took full responsibility for the Orange’s performance, by far their worst of the season, and repeated that his team has changed significantly because of injuries. It’s on the coaching staff to adapt, he said. The players are giving good effort, Babers said, but the coaches need to do a better job. 

“I take full responsibility for that performance,” Babers said. “Regardless of who’s out there and who’s not out there, we’re better than that. We can’t continue to act like that’s OK. It’s not OK.”

It’s true that injuries have decimated Syracuse this season. The defense has lost three starters for the season, including all-conference defensive back Garrett Williams. Freshmen and other inexperienced, often undersized, players have been forced to step up. The makeup of the SU team that started the season 6-0 and took then-No. 5 Clemson down to the wire is remarkably different than the one that is now in the midst of a four-game losing streak and just had one of the worst showings in the Babers era. 

The Orange have gone from 6-0 to 6-4, dropping out of the top 25 and into the middle of the Atlantic Coast Conference standings. Babers said Saturday night that changes need to be made, and he’s right. He’s also right that change starts with decisions he and the rest of his staff make. The head coach pointed to the experience and knowledge his coaching staff has, but that was tough to see in Saturday’s loss. Sean Tucker still isn’t getting enough touches, receivers still can’t get open and a depleted defense hasn’t been able to stop the run time and time again. All teams face injuries, especially once the calendar hits November. But for some reason, Babers and Syracuse can’t adjust. 

“When the talent level drops a little bit, we’ve got to find a way to be successful with the talent level that you have,” Babers said. “But we got a lot of experience, we got a lot of knowledge. And sometimes it’s time to do something different.” 

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What exactly “different” means is unclear. Garrett Shrader did say Syracuse has been making changes to its gameplans because of injuries, including his own, trying to find a “sweet spot” of doing what they’re good at while also playing to the strengths it has “at the moment.” What the Orange are good at — running the ball with Tucker, utilizing a dynamic Shrader on option reads and throws to Oronde Gadsden II, and playing stout defense for four quarters — helped them start 6-0.

The injuries piled up along the way, and with so many missing pieces, it’s difficult to see what strengths SU can still use to win. Questionable play calling from offensive coordinator Robert Anae, leading in part to repeated three-and-outs Saturday, put the defense in tough situations, leading to Syracuse trailing for the entirety of Saturday night. That performance makes finding a “sweet spot” seem like a fantasy instead of something the Orange can actually accomplish before the end of the regular season. 

“Clearly we haven’t found that point yet,” Shrader said Saturday night. 

How Babers and the staff will adjust and make the changes he talked about remains to be seen. Shrader said he isn’t 100%, still recovering from his unspecified injury.

That means it probably isn’t a great idea for him to run 10 times like he did against Florida State. It means Tucker, who Babers said is fully healthy, should get at least 20 carries — a number he hasn’t hit in six games. And while we’re at it, it means going back to hitting receivers on throws over the middle of the field instead of throwing shot after shot down the sideline in tight, one-on-one coverage. That hasn’t worked. Avoiding basic penalties like illegal formations are a must, too. The defense has to stop the run somehow. The punting game needs some consistency. A kicker can’t run out for a field goal with just 18 seconds left on the play clock like Andre Szmyt did in the second quarter. 

Anae has been running offenses for nearly two decades. Bob Ligashesky has led special teams units for decades. Tony White is a third-year SU coordinator. They have the experience to figure this out. 

Babers’ record in November as Syracuse’s head coach is now 8-19. He hasn’t won a game in the month since 2019. It’s tough to seriously compete in the ACC — or any conference, for that matter — when you don’t win in the season’s final month. Injuries create problems for all teams. Pitt, for example, was missing its best running back. The Panthers still ran all over the Orange, controlling the clock, en route to a 10-point win. It’s on Babers and his staff to put together strong game plans with the players that are available. That hasn’t been seen in several weeks now. With two regular season games left, though, it’s a must if Syracuse wants to dig its way out of the terribly deep hole it sits in after Saturday’s loss. 

Because as Babers put it, SU can’t allow any more opportunities to “slide by.”

The game was won when…

Jordan Travis hit Johnny Wilson on a short pass in man coverage, and Wilson eluded Duce Chestnut’s tackle for a 24-yard touchdown that put FSU up 21-3 in the second quarter. Syracuse had just registered its fifth three-and-out of the first half, and Mycah Pittman spun off two players to return the punt to the Orange’s 39-yard line. A costly face mask penalty on Syracuse moved the ball up an additional 15 yards, placing the Seminoles in great field position. They took advantage on their first play of the drive, and another SU punt directly after led to an FSU field goal that gave it a 24-3 lead going into the half, leaving no doubts about the game’s outcome.

Quote of the night: Garrett Shrader

“It was not pretty. It was definitely not fun to be a part of.”

Shrader summed up Syracuse’s offensive performance pretty simply, saying that the Orange had an ugly offensive showing in his return to the field after missing six quarters of action. Shrader finished 6-of-16 for 65 yards, his worst performance in a full game since going 8-for-20 for 63 yards last fall at NC State.

Stat to know: 9.09%

The Orange finished 1-for-11 on 3rd-down conversions, leading to their offense repeatedly jogging off the field as punter Max Van Marburg gave the ball back to Florida State’s offense. When asked about SU’s run defense struggles, Babers pointed to the third-down offensive woes, along with winning the field position battle, as to why Syracuse couldn’t slow down the Seminoles’ rush attack. The Orange rank 10th in the ACC, converting just over 35% of their 3rd downs this season, but couldn’t even come close to matching that number against FSU. It put their defense in bad spots and exhausted them to the point of allowing their second-most points of the season.

Game ball: Does anyone deserve one?

Syracuse lost by 35, by far its worst loss of the season, recording an eerily similar performance to the one it posted last November at Louisville, when it lost 41-3. Florida State scored easily on two of its first three drives, and the Orange never looked competitive. They only scored on Andre Szmyt’s 30-yard field goal in the second quarter, totaling just 160 yards to FSU’s 420. The defense couldn’t tackle, the offense had no space and SU looked like it didn’t belong on the same field as the Seminoles. We’ll leave this one blank.

Three final points

Syracuse’s starting offense stays in late, again

For the second time this season, Babers made the questionable decision of keeping his starting offense on the field late into the fourth quarter. Earlier this year against Wagner, Tucker appeared to suffer an injury while on the field late in a blowout game, but ended up being OK. Against Florida State, Shrader, Tucker and the rest of SU’s starting offense were on the field in a 38-3 game midway through the fourth quarter, finally officially exiting the game after another punt. Babers also kept Shrader and Tucker in late during last year’s loss against Louisville.

Babers said Shrader deserved to stay in the game based on what he had done for Syracuse in the past. He wanted Shrader and Tucker to stay in the game together until he decided to pull both. The move was especially strange since Shrader is just returning from an injury, and Tucker has appeared to be banged up at several points this season. Keeping them in a 35-point game during the fourth quarter risked losing Shrader, again, and possibly Tucker for the first time this season. 

Tucker’s disappointing season continues

For the sixth straight game, and the seventh time in eight, Tucker recorded less than 100 rushing yards. He only missed that mark three times all of last season. Granted, Tucker has become a focal part of opponents’ defensive game plans, and teams are doing whatever they can to stop him. The fact that he hasn’t gotten at least 20 carries in his last six games doesn’t help, either.

After entering the season as a candidate, again, for ACC Player of the Year and All-America recognition, Tucker has posted a disappointing campaign — at least by his standards. It’s been a bit since the running back was pleased with his performance, and without his production, Syracuse has struggled to move the ball. Babers said last week that Tucker is healthy, but whatever spark the running back had last season, and through this year’s first six games, has been missing since the Orange’s win over NC State. 

Where is this Syracuse season headed?

The first 6-0 start to a season in 35 years had SU fans thinking big — did this team have a legitimate shot at winning the ACC Atlantic Division, or making a New Year’s Six bowl game? Was this team as good, or even better than, the 2018 team that finished 10-3? It turns out the start to the season was mostly a mirage. The Orange needed a miracle to beat a mediocre Purdue team, and squeaked by a bad Virginia team that’s only notched one conference win so far. This four-game losing streak, especially Saturday night’s performance, has only reflected the fact that this team wasn’t great to begin with. 

SU, though, has locked up bowl eligibility and still has a game against Boston College, which lost by double digits to UConn (a team Syracuse beat handedly). The Orange’s next opponent, Wake Forest, hasn’t been playing great as of late, either. So SU has a shot of still finishing with an 8-4 regular season record and in position to appear in a solid bowl game. But if Saturday’s game was any indication of how this team will play in its final two games, a trip to a certain baseball stadium in Boston or the Bronx seems all too likely. That would truly put a damper on a once-very hopeful season.

Next up: at Wake Forest

The Demon Deacons are in the midst of their own skid right now, losing their last three after opening the season 6-1. Like Syracuse, Wake Forest was once a top-25 team in contention for a major bowl game, but has lost its touch. It lost to No. 13 North Carolina 36-34 Saturday night, lost to NC State by nine last weekend and by 27 to Louisville two weeks ago. The Demon Deacons have the ACC’s second-best scoring offense, but fourth-worst scoring defense.

Quarterback Sam Hartman, who torched the Orange for 330 yards and three touchdowns in an overtime win last year, has recorded explosive numbers again this season, ranking second behind UNC’s Drake Maye in the ACC’s passing yards and touchdowns rankings. After having to face one of the league’s best offenses in Florida State, SU’s defense will match up with another one next Saturday night in Winston Salem, North Carolina.

Published on November 13, 2022 at 5:59 pm

Contact Connor: csmith49@syr.edu | @csmith17_