Realizing that Gerald Christian had a few steps on him in the flat, Cameron Lynch darted toward the left sideline.

Lynch was right on Christian’s back when the Louisville receiver caught a pass from Reggie Bonnafon. It put Lynch in perfect position to strip a ball that Christian never had great control of.

That’s exactly what he did, and Wayne Williams recovered the fumble to set Syracuse’s offense up at the Cardinals’ 43.

“I just pulled it out,” Lynch said. “I just did what we practice. We practice that a lot so I just did it.”

Lynch’s simple explanation of the then-game-changing play was similar to the way SU linebackers coach Clark Lea defined Lynch’s performance against Louisville on Friday night — something the defense expects, but doesn’t overlook. With Syracuse’s secondary shorthanded by injury to Wayne Morgan, the linebackers, led by Lynch, have been a major part of the Orange’s late-down defense.

In a 28-6 Orange loss to the Cardinals, Lynch led the team with seven total tackles, and added a sack, a tackle for loss and the forced fumble, all while helping the SU defense excel in late-down situations. On the season, Lynch has 40 total tackles, 6.5 tackles for loss and 5.5 sacks, which is tied for the third-most in the Atlantic Coast Conference.

“He’s such a big part of what we do and our identity,” Lea said. “Getting to the quarterback and also being able to do different things in certain downs and Cam and the rest of the linebackers, Marqez (Hodge) and Dyshawn (Davis) also being a part of that.”

Lynch and Hodge both collected sacks in the game as SU held the Cardinals to 7-of-16 on third down. That is in large part due to the pressure the outside linebackers generate out of the “Okie” package — in which an extra defensive back replace a defensive lineman on the field.

Overall, the Cardinals ran for 178 yards and passed for 174, but most of the damage wasn’t done on late downs.

“That’s how we play and it’s something we take seriously,” Lea said. “Generating that pressure on the secondary blitz is huge to our success. I was happy with that.”

And even as Lynch’s forced fumble was followed by a Terrel Hunt interception, the Syracuse defense remained businesslike. Its statistical and emotional leader made sure of that.

Said Lynch: “We got back out there and tried to make it happen.”

Published on October 6, 2014 at 12:27 am

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