That was an embarrassing loss for a Syracuse football team riding one of the best offenses in the country.
The fewer things said about the 41-13 loss at No. 19 Pittsburgh on Thursday night, the better, a game that felt worse than what the score would suggest, but I still need to give my takeaways, so here we are.
My key takeaways from Syracuse football's week 9 loss at No. 19 Pitt.
Syracuse got badly out-coached
Credit goes to Pitt head coach Pat Narduzzi, and DC Randy Bates. They embarrassed Syracuse and it started with the Panthers' pressure and pre-snap looks. The Pitt defense would load the box in a way where you couldn't tell who would blitz and what the coverage would be. The best comparison I've got is Brian Flores' defense with the Minnesota Vikings, a defense that confuses opposing quarterbacks and creates all kinds of chaos.
Syracuse's offensive line meanwhile, a position group that has struggled all year, looked absolutely lost. They were challenged by all the pressure from Pitt, forced into a lot of one-on-one's, and didn't get much help from tight ends and running backs. Some of that just looks to be an issue with roster construction.
TEs Oronde Gadsden II & Dan Villari are receiving options, and Max Mang is a run blocker. For running backs, LeQuint Allen Jr. is another receiving option and Yasin Willis is a freshman still figuring things out. In total, Kyle McCord was sacked four times and was pressured many more times.
I know it's hard to do this when you're down for so much, but you have to give him more quick, easy throws on screen passes. Syracuse ran a few slip screens to the running backs, but that's about it. Another problem was with using the play clock. Three timeouts were used to prevent a delay of game, which just can't happen. Overall, a veteran coaching staff took advantage of a rookie coaching staff and it has shown. It's even crazier when you realize Syracuse is coming off a bye.
Syracuse's fundamentals were horrific
Tackling has been an issue all year for Syracuse, and it was just as bad (if not worse) than usual. It was joined by drops and penalties. A lethal combination, one that would be difficult to overcome in any game, much less when you're down 24-0 just a couple of minutes into the second quarter. In total, Syracuse had 8 penalties for 70 yards.
I also counted at least two crucial drops - one on a beautiful back shoulder to Jackson Meeks and another on fourth down to Gadsden that would have led to six points. Darrell Gill Jr. was in a position for two more catches, although they would have to be highlight reel efforts. The Orange defense was overall pretty solid, but poor tackling led to Pitt's touchdown in the second quarter and extended more drives.
Of course, Syracuse missed a 48-yard field goal at the end of the game for good measure.
This isn't Fran Brown's program yet
As much as head coach Fran Brown has changed about Syracuse, a majority of the starters are still guys who were recruited and played under Dino Babers. Syracuse is recruiting better than ever before and the talent and size that will be on the roster is very impressive. It's brutal to see Syracuse get handled again in a primetime opportunity against a pretty comparable program, but here we are.
What Syracuse can't do, like so many Babers' teams did, is just collapse. As the season went on, the Orange, between a mix of injuries and a tougher schedule, would end the season close to .500 after a hot start.
I still have some concerns over laying an egg after a bye week, but I'm still confident in Fran Brown and what he's doing for the Syracuse program. In the fourth quarter, we saw contributions from freshmen like Emanuel Ross (5 catches, 78 yards), and other players like Marcellus Barnes Jr. were contributing throughout the game. He had an interception, although it got overturned by a penalty.
Despite the score, Syracuse (5-2, 2-2 in the ACC) was fighting throughout the game and I have no worries that Brown still has the locker room. The Orange will bounce back.