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During the third quarter, it seemed like Syracuse couldn’t catch a break. 

SU’s defense watched as Florida State’s receiver dropped a lateral pass on third-and-goal. The usually reliable unit — one that’s bailed out a sluggish offense frequently this season — was the one who looked sluggish in that moment. It watched as FSU’s Andrew Parchment scooped up the live ball and ran it into the end zone to stretch the Seminoles’ lead to 10.

Later that quarter, Garrett Shrader tried a quarterback keeper on fourth-and-goal inside the 1-yard line that ended with a controversial turnover on downs call. Sean Tucker burst upfield one drive later and reached for the pylon but was called out-of-bounds inside the 1-yard line. 

SU showed versatility down the stretch but lost 33-30 on a game-winning field goal as time expired on Saturday. Here are three takeaways from Syracuse’s second loss of the season as it remains winless in Tallahassee:

Shrader’s legs spark the offense

Syracuse’s offense turned the ball over on fourth-and-short on its second drive of the afternoon. The first three drives all ended with three-and-outs. Shrader had been stuffed repeatedly on those drives, consistently trying to tuck it and run without success. He missed Courtney Jackson high and wide on another of those drives, tried a pump fake that didn’t work and nearly coughed the ball up when he was hit while throwing (it was changed to an incomplete pass after review).

Just when it looked like nothing was working, Shrader took off. In the second quarter, and with the Orange still scoreless, he escaped the outstretched arms of the nation’s leading sack leader, Jermaine Johnson. Then he cut upfield, made a man miss and sprinted through Florida State’s defense for a 55-yard touchdown run.

The remainder of the afternoon, Shrader looked in command of the offense. The following drive, he threw to Damien Alford for 12 yards, then again for 16 more. He ran for 16 yards after pulling it away from Tucker and then bulled through a Seminoles linebacker for his second touchdown run of the afternoon one play later.

Then late in the third quarter, he rolled to his right and followed lead blocker up the gut for a 32-yard rush. Tucker tacked on a 12-yard run to put SU within the 1-yard line, and then Shrader’s aerial quarterback sneak pulled the Orange within three. 

Shrader did get stopped inside the 1-yard line in the third quarter, for what could’ve been a fourth rushing touchdown, but his team-high 137 rushing yards largely fueled SU’s offense.

Without Harris, SU’s other receivers step up

Syracuse’s No. 1 receiver Taj Harris didn’t travel to Tallahassee, a team spokesperson confirmed before the game, but Alford, Jackson and Anthony Queeley stepped up in Harris’ absence. 

Harris missed SU’s game against UAlbany with what appeared to be some sort of left leg injury. He played against Liberty, recording two catches for 20 yards and one carry, but was absent once again on Saturday.

In the fourth quarter, Shrader — who’d clearly established himself as a rushing threat — went play action and fired to Queeley for a beautifully lofted pass and a 24-yard gain. He hit Jackson on a screen pass for a gain of 10 moments later and then capped the drive off with a 26-yard touchdown toss to a wide-open Queeley. 

Queeley came across the field on that play design, cutting through FSU’s zone coverage and allowing Shrader to take advantage of the blown play by the Seminoles corner. The three finished with 136 receiving yards and a touchdown.

Defending Florida State’s checkdowns, screen passes

For the first three quarters, Syracuse’s defense watched Florida State throw screen passes and checkdowns. They watched Treshaun Ward and Jashaun Corbin slip out of the backfield and grab outlet passes from Seminoles quarterback Jordan Travis. 

But in the fourth quarter, trailing by three, true freshman Duce Chestnut jumped the route. A juke move at the line of scrimmage helped him get around the first receiver, and a diving extension put him in between the quarterback and the second receiver.

The highlight play set up the Orange offense with a short field, which led to Andre Szmyt’s eventual game-tying field goal. 

But ultimately, it was those short passes — along with Travis’ 113 yards on the ground — that contributed to Syracuse’s loss. At the start of the fourth quarter, Corbin snuck out of the backfield and grabbed a screen pass before turning upfield. He snuck by Jason Simmons, who pounded the ground in disbelief after knowing that Corbin had picked up the first down and shutdown SU’s chances of forcing a three-and-out and getting the ball back.

The following play, Ward broke loose for a 65-yard rush, and Corbin ran up the gut and into the end zone to stretch FSU’s lead to 10. The Syracuse defense allowed a season-high 247 rushing yards, a season-high 378 total yards and a season-high 33 points.

Published on October 2, 2021 at 7:26 pm

Contact Roshan: [email protected] | @Roshan_f16