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Syracuse Football Report Card: Who stood out in loss to FSU?

Andrew Carey
Andrew Carey

Inside the Loud House

TALLAHASSEE, FL - OCTOBER 31: Wide receiver Travis Rudolph

The Syracuse football team couldn’t find their first road win in 2017, falling to FSU 27 to 24. ITLH gives their weekly report card on this week’s loss.

The Syracuse football squad suffered another tough loss this past weekend in the state of Florida, this time at the hands of Florida State. Syracuse has now lost two in a row after knocking off previous undefeated Clemson in the Carrier Dome on Friday October 13th.

Syracuse once again fought hard for the entire game but, ultimately came up just short, as Kicker Cole Murphy’s field goal sailed wide left at the end of the game. The kick would have sent the game into overtime and given Syracuse a new life.

Once again Eric Dungey and the Orange offense was stagnant throughout much of the first half. Dungey was picked off on the first offensive drive of the game (stop me if you’ve heard that before). The Syracuse offense has to do a much better job of starting these games out with a lead. Syracuse has yet to win a game when their opponent scores first in this season.

The Syracuse run game was disastrous once again. As a team, Syracuse rushed for 149 and 109 of those were by Dungey. To me, that is the main issue the Syracuse offense has still. If you cannot consistently gain 3-5 yards on run plays then you become an extremely predictable offense.

Ervin Philips set a Syracuse school record for most receptions in school history at 207 and counting. What is remarkable about this is Philips has really only been a wide receiver for the past two seasons. He broke the record previously owned by Alec Lemon (201). Another Syracuse receiver not too far way from passing Lemon is Steve Ishmael (196 rec). Ish was fantastic again this past weekend and Syracuse is still struggling to find that solid third option in the passing game.

The Syracuse defense was once again stellar on third down, only allowing Florida State to convert 1-in-13 attempts. However, Syracuse’s defense gave up the big play far too much. The Orange allowed touchdowns of 51, 54, and 78 yards. This just cannot happen, not three touchdowns of that length. Kendall Coleman and Scoop Bradshaw both did good things in their return to the Syracuse starting lineup.

Lets examine the top performers:

The Miami native had himself a day in his return to Flordia. Ishmael didn’t perform all that well in Miami against the hurricane’s two weeks ago and you knew he was out for revenge. Ishmael was being covered by All-American corner Tarvarus McFadden.

Ishmael once again performed extremely well for Syracuse recording 12 receptions for 143 yards and one touchdown. The senior made some big catches for Syracuse on third down situations, and Dungey seems to always look his way on third and long.

Ishmael now has 78 receptions for 986 yards and 5 touchdowns on the season. He is playing like a first team All-ACC receiver and may have worked his way into contention for playing on Sundays in years to come.

Ishmael still is primarily used next to the sidelines and I would like to see him run more routes over the middle of the field. Syracuse still does not look for those 15-20 yard routes down the middle of the field. I think it is an area where many college football defense’s can be exposed.

For his efforts, Ishmael once again earned ACC receiver of the week.

If Syracuse wants any chance of making a bowl game this year Ishmael will need to continue to put up big numbers. It’s clear he’s the guy for Syracuse and if double teams come his way, Syracuse will need others to step up in a big way. Ishmael has answered all questions about whether or not he was ready to step in for Amba Etta-Tawo.

Alright, I am going to start this off by saying yes Dungey is a warrior and I have the utmost respect for him and the beating he takes week in and week out. With that being said, there is still a TON of room for improvement for Dungey. He makes plenty of mistakes, and had a couple of plays turned out differently last week Syracuse would have likely won.

First, Dungey has to do a better job of taking care of the ball in the beginning of the game. He has turned the ball over on the first drive of the game three times this season, that cannot continue to happen. It’s almost as if Dungey and the offensive staff have plays scripted for the beginning of the game, and Dungey follows them to the script. His interception in the beginning of the game, targeted Dontae Strickland, on a play where he was double covered and absolutely nothing was there.

Later on in the game, at the end of the second half, Syracuse got the ball on the Florida State 11-yard line after a muffed put by the Seminoles. Syracuse got the ball with 1:18 on the clock down by 7 with a good chance to tie it up before halftime. The first two Orange plays went for 7 yards and brought up a 3rd-down and 3. Dungey then had his pass batted down at the line of scrimmage, but completely missed a man wide open on the other side of the field.

This is where Dungey can improve most, look through his progressions to find the best option. I realize his offensive line is not good, but he gets happy feet too early and looks to scramble or misses the correct option that would take just a few more minutes to find. This was Dungey’s second big mistake of the game, and Syracuse went for it on fourth down, coming away with no points, inexcusable out of the Syracuse offense.

Dungey’s third critical mistake of the game came on Syracuse’s last drive. Syracuse was six yards away from midfield with 1:01 left down three points. Dungey had plenty of time in the pocket to either find an open receiver or scramble and try to get out-of-bounds. Instead, he took a sack and Syracuse was forced to call their final timeout, effectively ending any chance to score a touchdown and win the game. I cannot stress enough how big of a play this was.

Dungey simply cannot take a sack here:

But now lets focus on the positives for Dungey. He correctly identified the wide open Jamal Custis on a 4th and 3 from midfield, that went for a 47-yard touchdown. Dungey also threw a nice ball to Steve Ishmael along the sideline and only put it where the 6-foot 2 wide receiver could make a play on the ball. Dungey executed a great bootleg play fake for a two yard TD to bring the Orange to within three points.

On the day Dungey had a great stat line especially for coming out of the game and missing a series or two. He finished 24/43 for 278 yards passing, 2 TD’s and 1 INT. On the ground Dungey ran the ball 22 times for 109 yards and a TD. He did a nice job and kept Syracuse within striking distance, while battling through an apparent ankle injury. But those mistakes are unforgivable. Grade: B-

The Tampa, Florida native made his return to the Syracuse starting lineup this past weekend against Florida State. The sophomore initially was in the starting lineup against Clemson, but had

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to depart early due to a shoulder injury. Bradshaw played sparingly last season but has become a mainstay in the Syracuse lineup this season.

Against Florida State Bradshaw proved to be a welcome addition to the Syracuse lineup. Scoop recorded 3 total tackles including two tackles for a loss, each of the one yard variety. Scoop has become very adept at sniffing out the bubble screen, both of his TFL’s came on bubble screens.

Bradshaw came up big on a third down play early on in the game, as he recorded a pass deflection. Syracuse’s other starting cornerback is Chris Fredrick, another first year starter who has played well on the season. Both corner’s are sophomores and Syracuse’s defense suddenly will be returning every starter besides the linebacking core.

On the season now the 5-foot 11 corner has 15 tackles, 4.5 of which are for loss. That is a huge number for a corner, and proves how effective he is at stopping those bubble screens. Bradshaw is now up to six pass breakups on the season. He has really surprised many, and now we know why DB transfer’s Jordan Martin and Devin M. Butler couldn’t beat out both Bradshaw and Chris Fredrick for starting roles.

Number 18 has been a real joy to watch this season for the Syracuse Orange and the improvement of the Syracuse secondary is the main reason why this unit is so much better than last year.

What can you say about the former Texas A&M commit. Robinson has been a tremendous addition to the Syracuse defensive line and has added a nice threat of rushing the quarterback. If Chris Slayton returns to Syracuse next season, rather than going to the NFL, the Syracuse defensive line could be the best in years.

Kendall Coleman returned this past weekend from an injury to join the likes of Robinson and Slayton up front. But it was Robinson who out-shined all of the Syracuse defensive lineman. The JUCO product had a huge game, recording two sacks for a combined total of 11 yards.

In addition to his two sacks, Robinson disrupted Florida State QB James Blackmon on a quarterback hit. You could say that Blackmon and Robinson were becoming acquaintances throughout the game on Saturday. Robinson is underratedly quick and at 6-foot 4 and weighing 245-pounds he is an ACC athlete up front for the Orange.

On the season now the Texas native has recorded four sacks, a respectable number and good for most on the team. After looking at his numbers in JUCO and studying his tape I had little doubts that Robinson would be an effective player here. However I did not think it would come this early on. You knew he was talented as a former four-star recruit and SEC commit.

Next: Syracuse Football: Dwight Freeney is thriving with Seattle Seahawks

Robinson’s checkered past was what worried college coaches and was the reason he could not attend Texas A&M. He reportedly stole an iPhone from his ex-girlfriend, but was rightfully given a second chance by Dino Babers and staff. As long as Robinson stays out of trouble he should be a mainstay for Syracuse in years to come.

Andrew Carey

Andrew Carey