RALEIGH, N.C. — Twelve days after a 38-point beating of Holy Cross and 19 days after a 52-point barrage against Western Michigan, Syracuse (3-3, 0-2 Atlantic Coast) reversed roles and fell to North Carolina State (4-2, 1-1), 16-10, on Thursday in Raleigh. 

The Orange struggled to generate offense from the get-go, recording just 27 yards on 14 plays in the opening quarter. It didn’t get much better from there, as SU missed a field goal at the end of the first half and didn’t get on the scoreboard until late in the third quarter. A fourth-quarter turnover on downs in the red zone was the end of a potential comeback for the Orange, who dropped to .500 despite a stellar showing from their defense. 

Here are three fast reactions from SU’s second loss of conference play. 

‘O’ no

With Tommy DeVito nursing an upper-body injury and seemingly hesitant to get hit, SU’s offense suffered and was never able to get the passing game or running game going. It also did a poor job protecting its star quarterback — DeVito was sacked five times in the first half alone. After being held scoreless for the duration of the first half, SU had a chance to put points on the board with a field goal. But reigning Lou Groza Award-winner Andre Szmyt hit the left goal post and missed his first field goal attempt of the season. 

It didn’t improve in the second half. Even after the Orange defense forced a turnover for the 20th-straight game, SU immediately went three-and-out, culminating in the sixth sack of the contest. Syracuse eventually got on the scoreboard late in the third quarter, but its decision to kick a field goal instead of going for it on fourth-and-short from the NC State 14-yard line still came back to haunt the Orange.

Bending but not breaking

In a similar fashion to Syracuse’s game against Clemson last month, the Orange’s defense played well enough throughout the contest to keep its stagnant offense in the game. The Orange did a solid job containing the Wolfpack’s quarterback duo in Bailey Hockman and Devin Leary, holding them to just 114 yards passing through the first two quarters. They were even better against the run, limiting NC State to 104 yards on 34 carries during the game. 

Even when it looked like the Wolfpack had opened up the SU defense, it bent but didn’t break. Twice in the first half, NC State made it into the red zone before the Orange stopped the Wolfpack in their tracks and forced them to kick field goals. The Wolfpack returned to the red zone on the first possession of the second half, but an Andrew Armstrong interception stopped the threat. The lone touchdown scored by the Wolfpack all game came on a trick play, a wide receiver pass in which SU suffered from miscommunication in the secondary. 

Ailing DeVito

While Syracuse’s starting quarterback did end up throwing for 300 yards, DeVito was far from 100% healthy. During pregame warmups, he had extra padding on around his ribs, even more than the usual quarterback jacket he wears during games. He looked even more agitated when the pocket collapsed on him. He’d be forced to run out of it and and avoided contact by sliding or running out of bounds. 

What made matters worse was the fact that too often during the game, and the first half specifically, DeVito was forced to constantly scramble. He was sacked five times in the opening two quarters, as SU’s offensive line struggled to pick up extra blitzers. By the time the second half came around, DeVito was as hesitant and looked unsure about any sort of physical contact. Without much semblance of a passing game, Syracuse did little on the ground, making for a dormant offensive showing.

Published on October 10, 2019 at 11:32 pm

Contact Eric: [email protected] | @esblack34