Syracuse (2-0, 1-0 Atlantic Coast) picked up its first conference win of the year on Saturday against Wake Forest (1-1, 0-1). Here’s a breakdown of the Orange’s three touchdown-scoring plays.

Donnie Simmons pick-six

Time and score: 14:16 left in second quarter, WFU leading 7-6

Down and distance: First-and-10 from Wake Forest’s own 38-yard line

Scenario: On the Demon Deacons’ second play of a drive following an SU field goal, quarterback John Wolford dropped back to pass

Result: Donnie Simmons returns interception 41 yards for a touchdown, giving Syracuse a 13-7 lead

Syracuse sets up with four down linemen —Simmons, Chris Slayton, Kayton Samuels and Ron Thompson — and Wake Forest uses a three-wideout set with Wolford in shotgun.

As Wolford takes the snap, three important things happen: Middle linebacker Zaire Franklin (red circle) blitzes the ‘A’ gap — between the center and left guard — and rushes toward left guard Josh Harris. Safety Antwan Cordy (yellow circle) also blitzes from 7 yards off the line of scrimmage. Simultaneously, Simmons (blue circle), who originally lined up as the left defensive end, drops into the flat for zone coverage.

Thus, Syracuse is only bringing a five-player blitz, but SU does it in a creative way, with a blitzer from each of the defensive levels.

Franklin successfully blows by Harris up the middle and gets into the Demon Deacons’ backfield. Tight end Brendan O’Neil, who set up next to Wolford, slides to the left, where SU’s blitz is coming from. But instead of picking up Franklin, he moves toward Cordy. That allows Franklin to get a clean shot on Wolford.

Feeling the pressure, Wolford unloads the ball quickly toward wide receiver Cortez Lewis on his right. But with Simmons in coverage in the flat, the senior defensive end makes the easy interception and uses the open space in front of him to find the end zone.

Dungey finds Brisly Estime

Time and score: 2:15 left in third quarter, WFU leading 17-13

Down and distance: First-and-10 from Syracuse’s own 11-yard line

Scenario: The Demon Deacons pinned SU on its own 11-yard line on the previous play and quarterback Eric Dungey slid away from pressure after the snap

Result: Dungey threaded a pass to Brisly Estime, who ran the majority of the 89 yards to the end zone after the catch, pushing SU’s lead to 20-17.

Syracuse lines up with two receivers — Estime (yellow circle) at the bottom of the screen — two tight ends in the “wing” position off each tackle and with a running back behind Dungey.

Dungey (blue circle) uses play action to draw every player in WFU’s front seven (white box) toward the line of scrimmage. This freezes Wake Forest’s defense and gives Syracuse’s receivers a chance to get deep in their routes downfield. Dungey rolls out to his right and has more receivers on that side of the field.

As a result of Dungey’s initial movement to the right, a Demon Deacons safety (purple circle) sells out toward that sideline. But when the Wake Forest pressure comes, Dungey slides back toward the middle of the field.

Estime, being the only receiver on Dungey’s left, finds himself in one-on-one coverage with a cornerback (red circle) streaking down the sideline and turning toward the middle of the field.

With the safety vacated from the middle of the field (white circle), he cuts inside and catches the ball about 25 yards downfield. He breaks a tackle from the cornerback defending him and has nothing but open field in front of him as he runs for the 89-yard touchdown.

Ishmael splits the defense

Time and score: 11:28 left in fourth quarter, SU leading 20-17

Down and distance: Second-and-13 from Syracuse’s own 47-yard line

Scenario: With a three-point lead, the Orange is moving down the field looking to add to its cushion. The drive began at the 15-yard line as SU steadily moved the chains.

Result: Dungey finds Ishmael down the right sideline between two defenders for the 53-yard touchdown

Wake Forest uses three down linemen and an outside linebacker all showing blitz. The Demon Deacons set up in a typical two-safety look while Dungey (yellow circle) had three wide receivers set up.

Syracuse’s running back stepped in front of Dungey to assist with pass protection while four SU players started their routes. Ishmael (blue circle), who lined up toward Dungey’s right got a step in front of his defender (purple circle).

As Ishmael started running straight down the sideline, Dungey had room in the pocket (white lines), providing him with a good opportunity to step into his throw.

Dungey quickly recognized that Ishmael would be open and he had the time to set his feet and make a strong throw.

One of Wake Forest’s safeties (brown circle) shifted toward Ishmael on the sideline, but Dungey thread the needle and hit Ishmael in stride. With the strong protection from the offensive line, Dungey made the throw look easy. Ishmael broke an arm tackle from the safety and ran into the end zone for the 53-yard score.

Published on September 13, 2015 at 7:19 pm

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