Dino Babers talks decision making, state of the program ahead of Boston College
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Syracuse has now lost five straight games after its 45-35 loss at Wake Forest, jeopardizing its chances of a winning season despite winning its first six games. SU will take on 3-8 Boston College in its regular season finale Saturday night, hoping to pick up its first win since beating NC State on Oct. 15.
After failing to hit double-digit points against both Pitt and Florida State, the Orange showed offensive improvement against the Demon Deacons, totaling 477 yards and 35 points. Garrett Shrader threw for over 300 yards for the first time in his career, and Sean Tucker recorded 100 rushing yards for the first time in six games. Syracuse still lost, as it couldn’t slow down Wake Forest’s mesh offense, led by quarterback Sam Hartman and receiver A.T. Perry.
Last week, head coach Dino Babers said SU’s biggest offensive strength was its triangle, consisting of Shrader, Tucker and wide receiver Oronde Gadsden II. Gadsden finished with six catches for 85 yards against Wake Forest, his best performance in nearly a month.
“The triangle was alive again,” Babers said Monday in his weekly press conference. “I think the offensive coaches did a good job with that.”
Here are some other takeaways from Babers’ press conference:
Babers addresses questionable decisions
A frequent criticism of Babers’ coaching, particularly in the past two seasons, has been his in-game decision making. Most significant was letting 25 seconds run off the clock late in the fourth quarter against Clemson, limiting Syracuse’s chances of putting together a game-tying drive.
SU faced a 4th-and-5 on its first drive of the second half against Wake Forest, trailing by three. Max Von Marburg came out to punt, but Babers called a timeout. It hurt the Orange later in the game when they tried to mount a comeback, but ultimately ran out of time.
“There was a bad look that was on that play, and it was going to give us difficulties and we called timeout,” Babers said when asked about his decision. “Then when they came out next time, they changed the look. There’s some things that go on that you guys don’t see.”
Later in the half, Syracuse trailed by 18 points after LeQuint Allen’s touchdown. Babers went for the extra point, cutting the deficit to 17, instead of attempting a 2-point conversion that could’ve made it a two-possession game. Babers said some advanced analytics explained his decision, adding the chances of making three 2-point attempts against Wake Forest is less than 10%.
Babers wanted to get three more possessions and use veteran kicker Andre Szmyt instead of going for a last-second touchdown on the final drive. The Orange only got the ball two more times, though Hartman nearly turned the ball over in the fourth quarter.
“That was the magical fourth possession that we needed,” Babers said.
Trying to solve the injury, depth problems
Syracuse has lost 12 players to season-ending juries this season, including key starters like Garrett Williams, Chris Elmore and Stefon Thompson. It’s forced an unusually high number of backups into games this season, and SU’s defense, which at one point was the ACC’s top defense, has slipped to No. 6 after giving up over 35 points in three of its last four games. Garrett Shrader’s injury thrusted Carlos Del Rio-Wilson into the starting quarterback role for six quarters, and limited the Orange’s offense even after Shrader returned.
When asked Monday about how to limit the high number of injuries, specifically looking at a balance between players just getting hurt versus strength and development issues, Babers said Syracuse will evaluate “everything” in between playing Boston College and its late-December bowl game. He said SU will look at adding transfers and JUCO players after figuring out who will return and who will leave.
“Mathematically, the numbers are concerning,” Babers said. “So we do need to look at everything.”
Babers said most of the injuries are not career-ending, but rather ones where players can return and be “as good or better” than they were before the injury.
“As these guys get older, I think we’re going to be absolutely fine,” Baber said. “Our defensive line, which everyone looks at as a weakness, next year, it should be a strength. All those guys playing that young before they’re supposed to play. All it’s going to do is make them better.”
Babers on his tenure and the state of SU’s program
Now nearing the end of his seventh season as Syracuse’s head coach, Babers has earned bowl eligibility in two seasons, and gotten the Orange in the national rankings in parts of three years. He also has a record of 35-48, struggling particularly in the month of Novembern.
Asked Monday on his opinion of where the program sits today, Babers said SU isn’t “exactly” where he wants it to be. He attributed some of that to New York state’s previous COVID-19 restrictions, saying Syracuse lost assistant coaches because their children couldn’t play high school football in the area during the pandemic. He felt the 1-10 season in 2020 would eventually pay off, and still believes that now.
“With the injuries we had, with the 6-0 start, this could have been that big payoff year,” Babers said. “Think about all the guys that got hurt…I think we’re right there, still on track. A little bit slower, but we’re on the right track.”
Babers mentioned how much Syracuse’s defense has grown under third-year defensive coordinator Tony White, and expects a similar outcome from the offense in the future, now led by first-year coordinator Robert Anae. Babers said the Orange are trying to consistently reach bowl games and be in the hunt for Atlantic Coast Conference Atlantic Division titles.
The head coach declined to answer a question Monday about if he’s had any conversations with Director of Athletics John Wildhack concerning the future, or if he feels like he’s earned an extension to his contract (which is believed to run through 2024).
“That’s way above me,” Babers said. “I’m not going to talk about any of that stuff.”
