The next day: Syracuse still can’t score in 2nd half

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Syracuse entered halftime down by just three points. When pulled aside by the Atlantic Coast Conference Network sideline reporter, head coach Dino Babers projected that Saturday night was turning into a classic Wake Forest game, one that is high-scoring and typically comes down to a final drive or play.

The Orange were humming with a terrific start from Garrett Shrader and a hefty dose of Sean Tucker for the first time in a month. They looked like they would be able to overcome Wake Forest in the second half.

Babers had talked previously about possibly changing up the halftime adjustments and routine in order to come out of the gate faster. SU had scored just three second-half points in the last two games en route to two more losses. But the Orange’s defense held strong against Sam Hartman and Wake Forest coming out of the break. A seven play, 31-yard drive ate up just two minutes and 31 seconds and ended with a broken up pass by Marlowe Wax on 3rd-and-long.

But the offense that had been tearing up Wake Forest couldn’t get anything going. A three and a half minute drive — the Orange’s first in the second half — resulted in just one first down, netting just 17 yards. Then the Demon Deacons scored to take a 10-point lead, one they’d extend to 24 at one point. Meanwhile, SU punted on both drives, and went for a quick three-and-out on its second possession of the third quarter.

Whatever Babers and the Orange are doing at halftime, it isn’t working.

Over the last few games, SU has been buckled by its opponents scoring out of the break, but it’s been even worse at generating its own offense. The Orange have scored a touchdown in the third quarter just five times — two of which came against Wagner and UConn. In close games, like against Pittsburgh, it’s sunk Syracuse out of contention. Against Clemson, a scoreless second half led to the season’s first loss. Finally against the Demon Deacons, in a winnable matchup on the road, not scoring for 20 minutes ultimately led to a fifth straight loss.

“The biggest thing is that (Wake Forest) got the ball coming out in the third quarter, and if you watch their drive … they ate a ton of clock,” Babers said.

Wake Forest operates in a “slow mesh” offense, one that it executes better than any other team in college football. Its calculated approach to the run-pass option leads to longer drives throughout the game. It had the ball for 34:53 minutes of the game as opposed to 25:07 minutes for the Orange. It’s what led to SU only having two possessions in the third quarter. And when SU is only gaining one yard on one of the drives, it’s not going to have much success.

Babers has said that he wants to start the game with the ball, deferring the second-half kickoff to the opponent. He wants to get off to a quick lead with a scripted drive, one that tends to work for the Orange — SU is outscoring teams 92-47 in through the first quarter. But that puts pressure on the Orange to make proper halftime adjustments. They just haven’t been able to do that.

Against the Demon Deacons, SU gained a first down off a cut-back rush from Tucker, but sunk the possession when backup center Josh Ilaoa prematurely snapped the ball to LeQuint Allen, lined up in the wildcat formation. The second drive started off strong with a play-action pass to Oronde Gadsden II. But then Shrader — attempting to avoid a sack — threw the ball away inside the pocket and got called for intentional grounding.

“We had great plays on first down. Second down, we just fell asleep at the wheel,” Shrader said.

The Orange clearly changed their offensive approach on Saturday night, ending the game with seven different receivers getting catches and having Allen be a more integral part of the offense. And while Syracuse scored two touchdowns in the fourth quarter, the scoring was sandwiched between two punts, an interception and a missed field goal from Andre Szmyt.

Not every team is going to slowly matriculate the ball down the field like the Demon Deacons do — an abysmal Boston College certainly isn’t. The difficult question for Syracuse is what needs to change heading into next season? Shrader thinks the issue is poor play on second and third down. Babers chalked the momentum swing up to time of possession. But coming out flat in the third quarter has been the norm for SU this year. It’s part of the identity of the Orange.

“It’s 100% on us,” Shrader said. “Just got to be better on second down, gotta be efficient.”

The game was won when…

Defensive back Brendon Harris grabbed a fluttering pass from Shrader around the 20-yard line and returned it for a pick-six to give Wake Forest a 24-point lead. Shrader was looking for Gadsden across the middle, but with pressure coming after left guard Jakob Bradford lost a hold of his defender, Shrader’s elbow hit Bradford. The pass went behind Gadsden and made for a clean interception.

The Orange were already reeling from an 11-play, 55-yard drive that resulted in a 17-point deficit. They had the entire fourth quarter to rebound from the three-possession hole, but the second play of the drive dealt SU a blow it couldn’t come back from.

Quote of the night: Garrett Shrader

“We just fell asleep at the wheel. Inexcusable and unacceptable.”

After such a prolific start to the game, Syracuse looked like it was back to its old ways. Twenty-one points in the first half came from multiple deep passes from Shrader and even a trick play that resulted in Allen tossing his first career touchdown pass. But a goose egg third quarter and Wake Forest scoring 21 points ensured the Orange would lose a fifth straight game.

Stat to know: 7.8

Despite the loss, Syracuse averaged 7.8 yards per play, helped mainly by long passes from Shrader to D’Marcus Adams or Damien Alford. Thirty-five points is the most SU has put up against a conference opponent since it scored 31 in the opening win over Louisville.

“For those guys to go out and score that many points against that defense, and for everyone else that played with that unit, I thought they did a really nice job,” Babers said.

Wake Forest’s defense has struggled throughout the season, but SU, an offense that went two games without a touchdown and has fallen off as the season progressed, finished with 477 yards of total offense.

Game ball: LeQuint Allen

Likely one of the brightest spots of an otherwise disappointing finish to Saturday’s game was Allen, who was as involved in the offense as he’s been all season. Against Wagner, the backup running back put up 112 rushing yards and a touchdown. Shrader mentioned that involving people like Allen more, specifically in a number of wildcat formations, was a byproduct of the typical offensive approach not working through the last few games.

Allen finished with 50 receiving yards, including a 41-yard touchdown where he exploded through open space and broke a tackle. He also perfectly dotted a pass to Devaughn Cooper during the second quarter on a trick play off a pitch from Shrader.

Three final points

Return game looks promising

Even though the offense sputtered out in the second half, a combination of Trebor Pena, Courtney Jackson and Allen bursted out of kickoff and punt formations to help set up the Orange in solid positions. Pena has been explosive at times throughout the season, but has yet to return a kickoff past the opposing 40-yard line. On Saturday, he not only strung together consistently successful returns, but did not make a mistake returning the ball.

Bob Ligashesky has molded the special teams kickoff unit into a cohesive one, and a group that is successful at blocking in front of speedy returners like Pena. Jackson had two returns for a total of 37 yards, while Pena’s best return totalled 34 yards and set up Syracuse on the 41-yard line for its second drive of the afternoon. Even Mario Escobar Jr. returned a low kickoff late in the game for 37 yards.

There weren’t any costly penalties that stunted the beginning of drives, nor were there any dropped punts or kickoffs. It seems as though the mistakes that have plagued SU in the past have been erased by the experienced Ligashesky and another year with Pena as the return man.

Tucker returns

Tucker has been at best an afterthought throughout the last few games. Babers said either the game flow dictating a more pass-heavy offensive approach or the defense overcorrecting for Tucker were reasons why he wasn’t involved. But against Wake Forest, Syracuse established the run early and continued to go to it, ultimately allowing Tucker to finish with 106 yards on the ground and two rushing touchdowns.

It was his best statistical game since Wagner, and the most yards he’d rushed for in a conference game since week one against Louisville. And the All-American running back did this despite a completely different offensive line, one that was without three starters due to injury. Tucker flashed his incredible ability to cut back and reverse course after the handoff throughout the game. While he wasn’t a factor in the passing game aside from dropping a wide open pass to halt a drive in the third quarter, having Tucker back as a threat will certainly help Syracuse against Boston College and in its bowl game.

No more injuries

The Orange have already dealt with a litany of injuries at key positions throughout the season. Beginning with the defensive line and extending to the secondary, Syracuse has had to rely on second- and third-string players in all units. It’s led to some difficult matchups that are unfavorable to Syracuse and have played a part in five straight losses.

The offensive line has been a beacon of consistency throughout the year. That is, until Saturday. Then during the game, Mikel Jones, SU’s leading tackler, went down with an injury that Babers said was too much for him to reenter.

Babers said that he’s hopeful the three linemen would be able to come back next week against Boston College, but if any of those players — Matthew Bergeron, Chris Bleich or Kalan Ellis — are unable to return for the final two games, SU is going to have difficulty moving the ball. On defense, Jones has been the vocal and statistical leader for a unit that’s slowly been depleted throughout the year. Wax does step up in Jones’s absence, but being without the linebacker could also prove to be disastrous.

Next up: Boston College

Syracuse travels to Boston on Saturday to face off against the bottom dwellers of the ACC. The Eagles are 3-8 and hit rock bottom after UConn beat them 13-3. Though they were able to upset NC State two weeks ago, Notre Dame boat raced BC to the tune of a 44-0 win.

Starting quarterback Phil Jurkovec was out with an injury against the Fighting Irish and is unlikely to play against the Orange. Syracuse has one last chance to right the ship on this sinking season that once looked as promising as ever for the program. A win would also guarantee SU’s first winning season since 2018.