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CHAPEL HILL, N.C. — As Syracuse’s first conference game ended in a double-digit defeat, so too did its first game against a ranked opponent. To SU’s 40-7 loss to No. 14 North Carolina, a disaster isn’t doing the word justice. A controversial ball placement after a blocked punt in the first quarter gave the Tar Heels life and they never looked back.

Tar Heel quarterback Drake Maye, a projected top 3 pick in next year’s NFL draft, threw 35 times for 280 yards and two touchdowns in the first half. Meanwhile, SU ran just 21 plays in the first 30 minutes. The Tar Heels finished with 644 yards. It was the most yards Syracuse had given up since Oct. 10, 2020, against Duke when the defense allowed 645.

During player availability on Tuesday, Garrett Shrader talked about how Syracuse couldn’t “just screw around in the first half and then go out and win.” But in the loss to UNC, there was plenty of screwing around. Even with LeQuint Allen Jr. scoring a touchdown on their opening drive of the second half, the Orange sputtered and the Tar Heels thrived.

Here are some observations from Syracuse’s (4-2, 0-2 Atlantic Coast) blowout loss to North Carolina (5-0, 2-0 ACC):

Syracuse blocks a punt. Touchdown UNC?

The Orange had seemingly stopped Maye and his offense on their second drive of the game on a 3rd-and-11 and now had a chance to get the ball back. But returner D’Marcus Adams never even got a chance to see a return because linebacker Denis Jaquez Jr. got a hand on Ben Kiernan’s punt.

Instead of Syracuse getting favorable position, chaos ensued. Kiernan collected the ricocheted punt and took off to his right. As he reached the marker, Kiernan got knocked hard out-of-bounds by Anwar Sparrow. The officials gave the Tar Heels the first down and the ruling was a 17-yard run by Kiernan.

On the replay, though, it looked like Kiernan’s body was ahead of the line, but not the ball. As North Carolina tried to run another play, SU head coach Dino Babers was standing near the middle of the field. There was no indication that the officials would review the call, so Babers was forced to waste a timeout. But the review stood. SU fans and former players made their anger known on X, formerly known as Twitter.

I used to think it was just an ongoing gag that the refs are always against us but after that evidence I am CONVINCED now!!

— Joshua Black (@jnblack85) October 7, 2023

Soon after, Maye and the Tar Heels went back to tearing Syracuse’s defense apart. Maye threw to Bryson Nesbit and picked up 13 yards on an in route. After formerly suspended receiver Tez Walker caught his first pass, Maye scrambled for a first down. A play later, Maye found receiver Nate McCollum on a bubble route before Justin Barron knocked him out-of-bounds to set up 1st-and-goal. While Omarion Hampton couldn’t break the plane, Maye did a tush push on 2nd-and-goal.

What once was a blocked punt turned into North Carolina’s first touchdown to make the score 10-0 early. From there, Maye dominated.

Drake Maye shows why scouts like him

Seeing NFL scouts in the press boxes of college football games is commonplace. But with a quarterback that is a projected top 3 draft pick in 2024, there’s bound to be a little more interest. Babers admitted that Maye would be the best quarterback the Orange face this year. And throughout the first half, Maye showed why Babers’ assessment was true.

After the Tar Heels settled for a field goal on the first drive and then scored a touchdown on the second, Maye drove down the field again with ease. He found backup running back British Brooks on some short passes before relying on his backup tight ends. Two and a half minutes into the second quarter, Maye found Nesbit again on a 23-yard drop in the bucket in the right corner of the end zone. Nesbit beat SU’s Aman Greenwood on the score.

Maye and his offense ran their plays almost entirely out of the shotgun. The Tar Heels also mostly ran a quick, no-huddle offense. After the Orange’s offense sputtered again, their defense looked to have controlled Maye again after a Leon Lowery sack. But with Maye deep in the end zone, he nailed J.J. Jones on the left sidelines to pick up a first down. He then found Kobe Paysour over the middle for another chunk gain, and Paysour on the next play for a combined total of 23 yards. Two plays later, McCollum was wide open for 49 yards and got tackled a yard of the end zone. Maye then flicked the ball to tight end John Copenhaver, weaving through the SU’s goal line defensive front. The score was now 24-0.

Maye would have another touchdown pass to Paysour in the third quarter on a 77-yard catch-and-run. Backup Conner Harrell came in for Maye in the fourth quarter. Maye finished the day with 442 passing yards, three touchdowns and a passer rating of 170. He was a completion and six yards short of his career best.

Poor tackling

Through four games, Syracuse had one of the nation’s top scoring defenses in the country. But both Clemson and now North Carolina have put on dominating offensive performances against Rocky Long’s defense. A key issue for the Orange throughout the afternoon was poor tackling. While they finished with 84 tackles, which isn’t the lowest total of the year, the missed tackles killed SU in the second half.

Even when the Tar Heels had drives that only ended in field goals, there were short-yardage situations where the Orange could not make a stop. On UNC’s first drive of the game, Caleb Okechukwu, Kevon Darton and Jacquez Jr. couldn’t stop Hampton on a key 3rd-and-short. The Tar Heels then drove down the field and kicked their first of four field goals.

On the 77-yard score to Paysour, the poor tackling was on full display. Syracuse safety Alijah Clark was Paysour’s man, and had an open shot to tackle him before he took off for the end zone. As Paysour tipped the ball up into the air, he caught it and broke away from Clark’s grasp. With three Orange defensive backs in his vicinity, Paysour sprinted easily past all of them, with Jason Simmons Jr. making a desperation tackle. Paysour was tripped up, but he was already in the end zone.

Umari Hatcher and his circus catch

Last week, quarterback-turned-tight-end Dan Villari was the only lone bright spot in another lethargic performance from the receiving core. But in the loss to Clemson, Villari only had two catches that just so happened to go for big gains.

Hatcher had a little more of a consistent game, finishing with six catches and 85 yards. The Orange looked to score on their opening drive of the second half. On a 2nd-and-14, Shrader rolled to his right and then threw back to his left. As Hatcher was falling down and with a defender all over him, he made the catch on an under-thrown ball. And after Shrader scrambled for 18 yards, Allen Jr. gave the Orange their only touchdown.

Hatcher may not even have gotten a start today if it weren’t for Isaiah Jones. Jones was seen before the game suited up and practicing with Shrader in warmups. But he didn’t catch a single pass. Instead, the Orange relied on Hatcher on numerous run-pass option plays. On back-to-back plays midway through the third quarter, Shrader went to Hatcher on the outside.

But Hatcher’s performance highlighted another mediocre passing performance with Syracuse’s receivers totaling 129 yards for the whole game.

Published on October 7, 2023 at 7:14 pm

Contact Henry: [email protected]