WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. — Jordan Fredericks lay on the ground at the 20-yard line with his helmet buried in the turf. Michael Lasker was at the 43 doing the same, his left arm tucked underneath his body and motionless.

Wake Forest cornerback Brad Watson had popped a ball loose from Fredericks as he caught it and took a step. Lasker dove at Demon Deacons safety Cameron Glenn, who scooped up the ball, and whiffed as he swung both arms together.

Lasker didn’t lift his head until Glenn crossed the goal line 57 yards from where he left Lasker on the ground.

Seeing his quarterback get driven to the ground along the sideline on the play, Amba Etta-Tawo retaliated against WFU linebacker Demetrius Kemp, who was on top of quarterback Eric Dungey. Etta-Tawo was called for unsportsmanlike conduct.

“I just let my emotions get the best of me. I saw one of the guys attack Eric so I tried to stick up for my quarterback,” Etta-Tawo said. “I try to keep it under control as much as I can, but I let my emotions get the best of me.”

It was the topping on a disastrous day for the Orange, putting Wake Forest up 28-9 with a minute and a half left in the game. Syracuse was held to nine points, 168 yards passing and couldn’t score off two Wake Forest turnovers.

On a rainy and windy day (gusts of 19 m.p.h.) in Winston-Salem, North Carolina brought on by Hurricane Matthew, Syracuse (2-4, 0-2 Atlantic Coast) lost a sloppy battle against Wake Forest (5-1, 2-1), missing out on a much-needed third win. The two teams combined for two interceptions, six fumbles and seven sacks.

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Formerly the nation’s leading receiver, Etta-Tawo finished with just four catches for 36 yards and five targets. Dungey threw for only 156 yards and no touchdowns.

“I think it was just us stopping ourselves,” Dungey said. “We just really got to execute the things.”

Even Syracuse’s best play to start the game was overshadowed by crucial mistakes and poor execution. The snap on Wake Forest’s first punt attempt sailed over punter Dom Maggio’s head. He picked it up near the goal line and Syracuse linebacker Parris Bennett dove in for the tackle, stripping the ball and knocking it into the end zone.

But Syracuse linebackers Ted Taylor and Zaire Franklin both dove over the ball and missed it, forcing Syracuse to settle for a safety instead of a touchdown.

“That was a bad play by me,” Franklin said. “Really, that’s all I can say. Bad play by me and Ted. I don’t know what was going. I don’t know.”

When Dontae Strickland burst out a 49-yard run down to Wake Forest’s 12 with 11 seconds left in the first half, SU head coach Dino Babers decided not to call a timeout, hoping to save it in case the team didn’t score. Instead, Dungey lofted a pass toward Steve Ishmael that was intercepted in the end zone.

The Orange went into the break trailing 14-9.

Wake Forest’s plan to blitz on first and second down caught Syracuse off guard and shattered the Orange’s offense. There was one pass downfield in the first half, a miscommunication with Dungey and Ishmael that fell incomplete.

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SU had just three drives in the third quarter and went three-and-out each time. In nine plays, the Orange had a net loss of 3 yards on two passes and seven rushes. Dungey was sacked six times in the game.

“We had some costly turnovers and some three-and-outs in some bad situations that really forced us to do some things down the stretch to kind of put it back into their favor,” Babers said.

In the fourth quarter, Kendall Coleman earned a talking to from a referee after shoving a Demon Deacons player after and away from a running play. About three plays later, Coleman launched himself into WFU quarterback John Wolford’s head. Coleman was tagged for targeting and ejected from the game. (He also won’t be allowed to play in the first half against Virginia Tech next week.) Coleman hung his head as he walked off the field.

The play, which was also a 19-yard completion, set up a Wake Forest score to make it 21-9 with less than four minutes left.

After the game, Franklin was asked where Syracuse will shift its focus after this game. He paused for four seconds, sighed, and pondered the question.

“Focus? We just got to win. I mean I don’t really know,” Franklin said. “That’s all I can think about. We just got to win. We’re here. We played good. We played bad. We just got to win. That’s all I can think about.”

Published on October 8, 2016 at 11:58 pm

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