As the Syracuse Orange prepare to take on the NC State Wolfpack, one area the Orange have excelled at in 2024 is 3rd down.
The Syracuse offense is 44 for 80 on 3rd down opportunities. That 55% success rate is 5th in the nation behind Miami, Army, Boise State and Nevada and it’s been primarily done through the air.
Kyle McCord is 42-66 throwing on 3rd downs. He’s 19-36 passing when the Orange face 3rd down and 7 or more yards to go. 15 of the completions have resulted in a Syracuse first down and 9 of them have gained 15 or more yards.
Syracuse hasn’t been as effective running the ball on 3rd down as they are 6-14 trying to convert on the ground, all successful attempts coming when they needed 3 yards or less to move the chains. As the season progresses, Syracuse would love to be able to face more short yardage situations where they can use either the run or pass to keep drives alive.
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On defense, the Orange have held their opponents to 19 conversions on 59 attempts (32.2%). This ranks 6th in the ACC and 29th in the nation so far in 2024.
Syracuse’s pass rush and secondary have faced scrutiny this season, but on 3rd down attempts, opponents have completed 17-37 passes for 10 first downs. On 3rd and 7 or more, Orange opponents have completed 10 of 22 attempts for four conversions. When teams attempt to run on the Orange, they are run 22 times and only converted 9 into first downs.
Keeping their own drives going and shutting down the opposition is going to be critical the rest of the way so we’ll be watching to see how the Orange handle this key down.