Syracuse football made its second trip out west and came away with its second win, a solid 33-25 victory over California.
The Orange are now 7-3 and did a lot of things against the Golden Bears that haven't been done in 2024. Most importantly for the players, Fran Brown got to take a shower. Here are my takeaways from the win.
My key takeaways from Syracuse football's week 12 win against California.
Syracuse played its best half of 2024
By the time the teams headed for the locker room, Syracuse held a commanding 27-7 lead over California. The Orange scored on all five drives, held the ball for over 21 minutes, and outgained Cal 299-181. It set the tone for how the game would go, with all five drives ending with points and two interceptions from the Golden Bears' normally reliable Fernando Mendoza. Even despite that, I still think the Orange could have played even better.
What could have been better you ask? Well, the biggest thing is third-down conversions. The Orange were 3-7 on third down, although successfully converted a trio of fourth downs to keep the drives alive. At the end of the day, Syracuse did convert and keep drives alive and that's what's most important.
However, it's hard to convert on fourth down consistently; it's not a recipe for sustained, long-term success. Additionally, Cal RB Jaivian "Jet" Thomas ran for a 75-yard touchdown. Am I being nitpicky here? Maybe, but I still believe this Syracuse team can play better and that is part of what's holding the Orange back.
The coaching staff was accountable
In my takeaways article last week, I wrote how much of DART, Fran Brown, and Syracuse's motto was missing in the loss to Boston College. I left accountability as a TBD, based on what would happen against Cal, and the staff answered the call. Penalties dropped from a disappointing 10 for 91 yards to a much more acceptable six for 50 yards.
More importantly, Cal couldn't get much going on the ground outside of two chunk plays. Take away the 75-yard run from Thomas and the 53-yard run from Jaydn Ott and Cal only has 21 carries for 38 yards.
Syracuse hasn't lost back-to-back games all season and whatever the coaching staff is doing after a loss is working. The last time that happened across a full season was 1998 and barring a shocking loss to UConn next week, it won't happen in the 2024 regular season. Practice what you preach and Fran Brown is absolutely doing that.
Kennedy the kicker has solved the special teams woes
I've given complaints to the special teams unit all year, quite frankly they've been embarrassing. However, that's starting to change with the help of one man: Jackson Kennedy. Kennedy is a fifth-year junior who transferred from Cornell and has provided the consistency and confidence needed for the field goal unit.
Against Cal, he drilled all four of his field goals, from 24, 32, 42, and 43 yards. He's now 6-6 on the year for field goals. For reference, Brady Denaburg (who still handles kickoffs) was 3-6 and his first backup, Jadyn Oh was 2-5. They were a combined 0-5 from field goals longer than 40 yards.
In addition to Kennedy's perfect day on field goals and extra points, punter Jack Stonehouse was only needed twice, yet averaged 41.5 yards and did not allow a return. Crucially, the Orange hands team made a recovery to end whatever hope Cal had at an end-of-game comeback.
As relieving as it is to see Syracuse with competent special teams, especially with the placekicker, I wonder why it took special teams coordinator James Vollono this long to make the change.