Football

Syracuse defense shredded in 64-43 loss to Wake Forest

Wasim Ahmad | Contributing Photographer

Syracuse was burned by Wake Forest senior quarterback John Wolford's run-pass options repeatedly throughout the night.

A handful of Syracuse players looked up. They gazed at the Carrier Dome video board in the back of the endzone, as if hesitant to watch, yet interested in, what exactly had gone wrong. Above them, Wake Forest senior quarterback John Wolford swallowed up open ground to his left for his third touchdown in a 64-43 victory over SU.

By the time Wolford had reached the five-yard line on the replay, they looked away, unable to stomach the unnerving sight: Another run-pass option read had burned Syracuse, this one giving WFU a four-point lead in the fourth quarter. By then, the path to another Syracuse loss was paved.

On Wake Forest’s next touchdown minutes later, following a Zack Mahoney interception, the same defensive players didn’t bother to look up at the replay at all. Wolford had connected with tight end Cam Serigne for his third receiving touchdown, bumping Wake Forest’s (6-4, 3-3 Atlantic Coast) lead to double-digits in a 64-43 victory over Syracuse (4-6, 2-4).

The plays gave Wolford his fifth and sixth touchdowns, silenced the Carrier Dome crowd and shifted back in WFU’s favor any momentum it had lost on a blocked extra-point attempt and two-point conversion.

“He’s so good at making the ball disappear,” SU head coach Dino Babers said of Wolford. “He’s a shifty guy. A fifth-year senior, he has all of the tricks. I just thought the game he played was, ‘Wow.’”



In front of an announced crowd of 38,539, Wolford and the Demon Deacons brought as balanced an offense Syracuse has run into this season, and SU’s defense was picked apart for a season-worst 64 points and 734 yards against. Save for a scoreless second quarter, Wake Forest’s spread, no-huddle offense clicked via run-pass options. Wolford entered Saturday with the highest passer efficiency rate in the ACC (161.2), with 17 touchdowns and only three interceptions. Running back Matt Colburn II had run for 100-plus yards in back-to-back games. He picked up 237 yards on the ground against SU.

As Syracuse’s defense faltered, the Demon Deacons picked opportune times to pounce. Wolford elected to run or pass based on whether there was room in front of him. He accounted for six touchdowns and 499 total yards. Syracuse entered the game with the best third-down defense in the country, but Wake Forest converted on 8-for-16 third down tries — including a 77-yard touchdown to extend its lead to 20 with two minutes left — to lengthen drives and tire the Syracuse defense.

“They do a good job of spreading us out,” said redshirt junior safety Rodney Williams. “We had to show things a little bit earlier than we wanted to because of the tempo … With the tempo, it’s really tough to match. On the scout team, we really can’t replicate that.”

After reaching four wins in the season’s first seven games, SU has now dropped three straight. The Orange has not won since upsetting Clemson on Oct. 13. A victory Saturday would have given Syracuse five wins for the first time since 2013. A victory would have put SU just one win away from ensuring bowl eligibility, but now Syracuse must pick up wins next week at Louisville and home versus Boston College on Nov. 25 to ensure it plays in December.

Humbled for the first quarter, the Syracuse defense adjusted to WFU’s no-huddle attack in the second. During his halftime interview aired on the Dome video board, head coach Dino Babers urged fans to stay for the second half. On the team’s defensive improvements, he said, “I think we just got used to the tempo, which is a little embarrassing to say.”

That did not last. Syracuse did mount 24 unanswered points behind backup quarterback Zack Mahoney, who as a former junior college walk-on threw for nearly 300 yards and three touchdowns by halftime. (Junior quarterback Eric Dungey did not play due to a right leg injury. He has yet to play in Week 10 or later in his career.) But the Demon Deacons exploited the SU defense for 40 second-half points.

“The biggest thing was quarterback-run play, probably,” said senior linebacker Zaire Franklin. “They were just taking advantage of us crashing in on the running back. Wolford was very decisive in the things he was doing, whether it was getting yards for himself or making good throws down the field.”

The outcome on Saturday did nothing to vindicate Syracuse’s last win, which came against the defending national champions a month ago. Wake Forest entered Saturday unranked, but coming off a two-possession loss on the road to No. 3 Notre Dame, an 8-1 team in contention for the national title.

Slightly more than an hour before the game, a group of tailgaters, bundled up in orange and blue, took a shot of liquor outside Archbold Gymnasium. They toasted to “a Syracuse win.” For parts of the game, that seemed possible.

But with 3:54 left, Mahoney was picked off for the second time. A few players tapped his helmet to lift him up, while Wake Forest players huddled and celebrated. Syracuse’s offense walked off the field and packs of fans headed for the exits, as it became clear SU would fall to 0-6 during the month of November since Babers was hired.

After the conclusion of the game, the Orange retreated to the locker room, unable to crack the WFU code and hopeful for a different result over the remaining two Saturdays.

“We’re up on the cliff now,” Babers said. “There’s no more room for error.”





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