Syracuse (1-2, 0-1 Atlantic Coast) blew a 17-point first quarter lead and lost South Florida (3-0), 45-20, on Saturday in the Carrier Dome. It’s the second straight year USF beat the Orange.

Here are three quick reactions from the game:

Flipping the script

Syracuse started the game off about as well as it could have hoped for. It got the ball to open the game and rattled off a 16-play, 79-yard drive in just under five minutes to take an early 7-0 lead.

Then, after limiting USF’s drive to five plays and regaining possession, the Orange scored again when Eric Dungey found a wide open Brisley Estime streaking down the slot for a 47-yard touchdown. A field goal by Cole Murphy six minutes later gave SU a 17-0 lead at the end of the first quarter.

But the second quarter was even worse than a reverse mirror image for the Orange. USF scored four touchdowns in the quarter to take a 28-17 lead. The SU defense had no answer.

Part of it was field position, as two touchdown drives took less than 50 yards. But not one of the drives took longer than 1:37 to complete. Bulls senior receiver Rodney Adams scored on three of those drives, once receiving and the other two times on jet sweep handoffs.

What looked like a promising start for the Orange became an 11-point deficit at halftime — one SU never recovered from.

Workhorse

Coming into the game, Syracuse’s starting running back Dontae Strickland had only 17 carries and 48 yards.

But in the first quarter alone, he had 76 yards on 15 carries, good for an average of 5 yards per. By halftime he had eclipsed the 100-yard mark.

On SU’s first drive after the break, Strickland got a handoff on 4th-and-1 after an SU timeout, but failed to pick up the first down and was slow to get up. Overall, he got just six carries in the quarter and was a non factor in the fourth as Jordan Fredericks was in at the end of the game.

SU had success running the ball for the first time this season, even if just for a half.

Off target

Eric Dungey started the game on target, completing 10-of-14 passes in the first quarter for 138 yards and two touchdowns. But after that first 15 minutes, he struggled with accuracy.

He was intercepted twice, both on balls that were underthrown and easily cut off by Bulls defenders. On the last drive of the first half, he missed a wide open Ervin Philips. He proceeded to turn around, jump up and down and beat his chest in disappointment.

Dungey would’ve had a third interception if not for a roughing the passer penalty that negated it.

Even when he did connect with receivers, he was off. Although Dungey finished with 350 yards passing, he was uncharacteristically sloppy after the first quarter, and struggled to make a lot happen.

Published on September 17, 2016 at 7:03 pm