Ifeatu Melifonwu kept glancing at the sidelines during his first defensive drive against North Carolina, looking to see if Chris Fredrick was ready to check back in. Fredrick sprained his ankle defending a fly route down the sidelines in the first quarter. Play after play, Melifonwu looked at the injury tent waiting for Fredrick to emerge. He didn’t.

After North Carolina’s drive ended in the beginning of the second quarter, Melifonwu jogged back over to the sidelines, where Fredrick found him and informed the redshirt freshman that he couldn’t go back in the game.

“He kinda told me to just do my job, win my one-on-one,” Melifonwu said. “That calmed me down.”

In Fredrick’s absence, Melifonwu produced one of the best games of the season by an SU defensive back and helped lead Syracuse (5-2, 2-2 Atlantic Coast) to a 40-37 overtime win against North Carolina on Saturday in the Carrier Dome. In just three quarters of play, Melifonwu broke up four passes, which now leads all Orange players. Melifonwu was particularly effective in the fourth quarter when he posted three break ups to lead SU defensively in a comeback victory, which moved the Orange within one win of a bowl game.

Melifonwu was nervous when he first entered the contest, he said, especially on the first snap. And early on in the second quarter, those nerves showed. On UNC’s second drive in the second quarter, Antoine Green beat Melifonwu down the sidelines for a 23-yard reception.

“I wasn’t afraid of anything in particular,” Melifonwu said. “I just wasn’t settled in.”

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At 6-foot-3 and 200 pounds, Melifonwu is one of the biggest defensive backs on the team. During fall camp he constantly matched up with Jamal Custis, who at 6-foot-5 is the tallest wideout on SU. It was against Custis that he refined his press, throwing wide receivers back at the line of scrimmage, and halting them from getting out in open space.

“That battle was always competitive,” Custis said. “He’s a bigger guy. Sometimes he’d win. Sometimes I’d win. He’s a tough player.”

In the second half against UNC, Melifonwu played more aggressively. On his first break up, a pass intended for Green late in the third quarter, the receiver attempted a slant-and-go. Green failed to bait Melifonwu on the slant, Melifonwu said, so he stayed on top of Green and broke up the pass.

Heading into the final frame, the SU coaches spoke to the defense. They reinforced to the players to “do their 1/11th,” focus on their assignment and do their job. Fredrick found Melifonwu and reiterated his message from before.

“He just told me to focus on my call and win my one-on-one,” Melifonwu said.

After UNC quarterback Nathan Elliott completed a nine-yard pass to Anthony Ratliff-Williams three minutes into the fourth, Melifonwu locked him down. Minutes later, Elliott aimed another pass for Ratliff-Williams, but Melifonwu read the three-step drop and jumped ahead, breaking up the pass.

For most of the remainder of the quarter, Elliott didn’t throw the ball in Melifonwu’s direction often, but after Tommy DeVito threw a late-game interception to give UNC the ball on the SU 39-yard line, Melifonwu stepped up.

With 54 seconds to go, Elliott threw Melifonwu’s way. While Melifonwu played most of the game keeping his distance and then attacking late, he said, on this play he “pressed big” and stuttered Ratliff-Williams. When the ball came their way, Melifonwu stepped in and knocked it down.

Three plays later, with Syracuse in a Cover 2 set, Melifonwu forced his man down the sidelines and broke up another intended pass to keep North Carolina stationary at the 39-yard-line. That kept UNC out of field goal range, forcing overtime, and allowing the SU offense another possession.

The coaches told Melifonwu he had a good game, he said, and to follow it up next time out.

“We got some guys banged up and he’s gotten an opportunity,” Syracuse head coach Dino Babers said, “and like some of the other freshmen around here, he’s really taken advantage of his opportunity.”

Published on October 25, 2018 at 12:22 am

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