Syracuse Football: Horrible coaching is main culprit in latest loss to FSU

Syracuse football is doomed by horrible clock management and bad coaching vs FSU. Here are all the lowlights and how it all went down.

That was a pathetic display and another loss incurred by the Syracuse football team vs Florida State. Here’s how the Orange blew it and why the season is on the rails after the team’s fifth loss of the season losing 35 to 17.

First half

Heading into this game the team seemed near a breaking point. The Orange had lost two in a row and a bombshell dropped the day before the game when offensive tackle Ryan Alexander quit the team.

Tommy DeVito, despite all the quarterback noise all week got the nod.

Despite that confidence from the head coach to stick with his guy, that confidence didn’t seem to be flowing for the rest of the team.

The defense was gashed left and right by Cam Akers, wildcat, and big plays. We all knew that containing Cam was the key to the game, but the Orange continued to shoot themselves in the foot.

So many missed tackles throughout the first half that allowed small gains to become medium gains. Then medium gains became huge gains and FSU started to move and groove.

Strangely despite the fact, Cam Akers was seemingly on pace for a career day, suddenly the Seminoles tried to do something different and go away from Akers.

FSU had gotten a 13-0 lead but went away from what worked and the game slowed down.

Andre Szmyt finally put the Orange on the board early in the second quarter with a beautiful 50-yard conversion.

Things started to pick up for Syracuse with some creative play-calling in the middle of the second quarter. Tommy DeVito gained some confidence, got the ball out quick, but ultimately the drive was stalled near midfield and the team was forced to punt.

While the offense didn’t do its job of scoring, they did a good job of forcing FSU back in a corner and the defense pinned its ears back and got to work.

Antwan Cordy who started in place of Trill Williams who got hurt vs Pitt made a huge sack, which was followed up by another sack by Brandon Berry to give Syracuse new life deep in the second quarter.

Tommy DeVito seemingly found Trishton Jackson on a deep concept for a touchdown, when he dropped another long ball. In the Pitt game, he had an uncharacteristic drop that likely also would’ve went for a touchdown. Syracuse was then forced to settle for a field goal and Szmyt doinked it off the uprights keeping the game 13-3 with under four minutes remaining in the first half.

FSU made the Orange pay in more ways than one. First off on 3rd and 8, the Seminoles dialed up the trick play. Syracuse seemed more prepared for it than they had been and somehow it still worked for a huge gain.

This was the third straight week that Syracuse was duped by a trick play. In the prior two games, Syracuse lost by a single score and in all instances, the trick play ended up costing them the game.

FSU would eventually punch it into the endzone to extend their lead 21-3. They also converted the two-point conversion, untouched after a Syracuse timeout.

But to make matters worse it was deja vu again for the Orange. Vs NC State a few weeks back, Syracuse got the ball with under 1:30 remaining in the half down a bunch of points and seemingly the team was complacent with their position in the game.

Vs the Wolfpack, Syracuse was down 13-0 and seemed cool with ending the half with that deficit. After two straight runs and running clock, the other team calls a timeout and forces you to do something.

Syracuse then dials up the long ball and Trishton Jackson put the team in a position to kick a field goal, which Szmyt missed vs NC State.

Fast forward a few weeks and Syracuse does the same thing vs FSU, seems complacent with 18 point deficit, then turns on guns when they’re forced to.

Horrible clock management from Dino Babers there and multiple times this season quite frankly.

The best way to articulate this loss is as follows: everything that could’ve possibly gone wrong did go wrong for the Orange.

• Andre Cisco dropping an interception right to him, when he led all of college football in that category last season.
• A busted trick play still finds a way to destroy the Orange.

Second half

Clearly the main culprit for this loss was terrible coaching and bad clock management. Although in the grand scheme of things, the clock management issues are just the tip of the iceberg of issues on the hill.

Syracuse was unimaginative for the most part offensively. The defense did some nice things in this game, but Cam Akers was overwhelming and Syracuse couldn’t do anything to stop him. The missed tackles didn’t help either.

The coaching ineptitude continued in the second half. Syracuse down 25 points, faced a 3rd and 7, the Orange decided to run the ball then punt.

Offensive line play is awful, coaching is terrible, and the play-calling is trash. There just seems to be zero similarities between the 2018 Syracuse team that shocked the world and the 2019 version that continues to disappoint on a weekly basis.

Syracuse for the third straight game made a rally late to make it closer than it ever was, but alas the team suffered its’ third straight loss.

Interesting nuggets:

• Freshman LB Geoff Cantin-Arku made an appearance in this game meaning officially he can’t redshirt.
• “Matthew Bergeron is believed to be Syracuse’s first true freshman offensive lineman to start since 2008 and first tackle since 2002, he filled in for Ryan Alexander. Bergeron, Nick Lepak, Quinn Ojinnaka and Blake Bednarz are believed to be the only first-year OL to start for Syracuse since 1986,” per Stephen Bailey of Syracuse.com.

Up next the Syracuse football team returns to the loud house to play Boston College on November 2 at 12:00 p.m.