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NEW YORK CITY, N.Y. — Syracuse has two chances to do something it hasn’t done since 1999. If the Orange can beat either Georgia Tech or Wake Forest over the next two weeks, they will earn a bowl berth in back-to-back seasons under the same head coach.

As Dino Babers has earned much of the criticism that has been directed his way, SU now has a chance to win six games for the third time in his tenure with the program.

Babers should earn credit. With Garrett Shrader unable to throw, he and offensive coordinator Jason Beck made the adjustment to become a run-heavy, wildcat and wishbone offense to defeat Pittsburgh 28-13 at Yankee Stadium. While Babers said the game plan was more of a product of wanting to be more physical, there would have no doubt been more passing if Shrader was at full health.

Babers knows the competition will be stiffer, especially on the road against GT, who is also fighting for a postseason berth. SU’s next two foes will have a chance to game plan around this offense, which currently has no true passing game.

The Orange ended up with 382 rushing yards against the Panthers, the most since last year’s blowout victory over Wagner. Shrader had 96 total rushing yards, including a 21-yard touchdown to put Syracuse back ahead. But running back LeQuint Allen Jr., and tight end Dan Villari got most of the hard yardage. Villari recorded a team-best 154 yards on the ground, pounding and scraping for every yard while mostly getting direct snaps. Allen Jr. received many direct snaps and also got the ball on jet sweeps, finishing with 102 rushing yards.

Babers said it took a lot of belief for the players to implement this offense, reflecting his words after the close loss to Boston College. He and Villari said there wasn’t as much belief at times during the week. Eventually, the Orange got on board with the approach and it worked in their favor.

“We asked them to do something that was drastic, extremely different,” Babers said postgame. “And you can’t pull that off without belief, and belief in the scheme.”

While Villari said there was adjustment, he, Allen Jr. and Shrader all expressed confidence in the system. Villari thinks the Orange can win with the offense they ran, but noted that the decision to run it again is up to the coaching staff. Allen Jr. is all in.

“We can get two more,” Allen Jr. said when asked if SU could win its remaining games with the offense it implemented against the Panthers.

Rushing for 382 yards will give any team confidence, but context is required. The fact that Pitt knew what Syracuse was going to do for the entire game early on and still couldn’t stop the wildcat offense is a negative mark on the Panthers defense. Quarterback Christian Veilleux also had about two decent throws all day and gifted some others to defenders like Jayden Bellamy.

With a run-heavy strategy, the Orange could very well still be efficient, yet potentially lack enough versatility to win games. Stacking the box either forces Babers and Beck to be stubborn and still run or makes a passing game necessary. At the moment, it doesn’t seem like there’s any real passer that will get in the game. So, Syracuse will have to adjust.

“We’re waiting on some guys to get healthy,” Shrader said. “But there’s no telling what it’s going to look like next week.”

The game was won when…

It was the Villari show late in the third and fourth quarters. Near the end of the third, Villari took a direct snap up the middle for 38 yards. He cut past Shayne Simon and Javon McIntyre to keep going and needed two defenders to bring him down at the 7-yard line.

On the next drive, Villari cemented the end of the losing streak. After an Allen Jr. rush went for two yards, Villari got another direct snap for a 27-yard rushing touchdown. He cut up the left side and burst away from defenders to increase the lead to 15 points. With 14 minutes left in the game, SU had Pitt on the ropes.

Quote of the night: Shrader on his flip

“Normally on plays like that you had an offensive lineman, do to a cartwheel out there, act like they’re having a heart attack,” Shrader said. “(I said) ‘I’ll just do a backflip.’”

While Shrader’s viral backflip was “spur of the moment,” he said he talked about a flip like that the day before with teammates at the hotel. Shrader needed to prove he could pull off a backflip, though he noted that he wanted to do it earlier in the game before he got hit a lot more.

Stat to know: 0 catches by wide receivers

While Syracuse’s wide receivers haven’t been making a dent on offense since it played Army, they pulled off something that hasn’t happened during the Babers era. No SU wide receiver made a reception during its win over Pitt yesterday. In the 94 previous games under Babers, a wide receiver has made at least one catch.

This figure has the caveat of the fact that Syracuse implemented a run game and only let Shrader throw twice all afternoon. Allen Jr. and Villari both tried throws to wide receivers, but they were way off target.

Game ball: Villari

Throughout the five games where Syracuse struggled to pick up first downs and score touchdowns, Villari was always the most vocal about its struggles. When the Orange needed to win without their starting quarterback at full strength in the second half, Villari became the team’s leading rusher. Throughout the whole game, Villari didn’t even have a single negative rush as he averaged 9.1 yards per attempt.

“I had no doubt. That’s what I do,” Villari said. “I’m used to running with the ball in wildcat like that, so I was confident and I tried my best to get everyone else on board.”

Three final points:

Have a day Mr. Bellamy

Along with having the pick-six that put Syracuse up by eight points midway through the third quarter, Bellamy had a fumble recovery earlier in the quarter where he took advantage of one of Pitt’s botched handoffs. The recovery set up SU at its own 48-yard line and Shrader eventually scored on a 21-yard quarterback keeper.

Where’s the pass rush?

Under defensive coordinator Rocky Long, the Orange have shown a consistency to blitz, especially on third downs. It has led to results like eight quarterback hits against UNC’s Drake Maye and four sacks against Army.

But over the last two games, where Syracuse has lost close or won by double digits, the pass-rushing stats are not the same. Against BC and Pitt, SU combined for three quarterback hits and zero sacks. While the Orange still had eight tackles for loss against Boston College, they had just three against Pitt.

Bucking historical trends

In Babers’ tenure, Pittsburgh has given SU as much trouble as Clemson and Florida State have. Before Saturday, Babers had only beaten the Tigers, Seminoles and Panthers all just once. The losses against Pitt, which are always scheduled later in the year, have sometimes resulted in the Orange missing out on a bowl game appearance like in 2021. The last time SU beat Pittsburgh was in 2017, when then-quarterback Eric Dungey threw 365 yards and two touchdowns.

Next up: Georgia Tech

The Orange now travel to Atlanta to face one of the streakiest teams in the Atlantic Coast Conference. Like Syracuse (5-5, 1-5 ACC), Georgia Tech (5-5, 4-3 ACC) is one win away from making a bowl game. The Yellow Jackets haven’t been in the postseason since 2018 and seem to finally be hitting their stride under first-year head coach Brent Key.

Georgia Tech has wins over Wake Forest, then-No. 17 North Carolina and then-No. 17 Miami. Its 5-5 record can be attributed to having the fourth-best scoring offense in the ACC, highlighted by quarterback Haynes King and freshman wide receiver Eric Singleton Jr.

Published on November 12, 2023 at 3:51 pm

Contact Henry: henrywobrien1123@gmail.com