The Orange struggled to get in ahead of the chains
The Syracuse Orange offense wasn’t as explosive on early downs last Friday night against the UNLV Rebels, but thankfully the Orange delivered on third and fourth downs to secure the road win.
Syracuse was very pass-heavy in the first half and the results were solid. Anytime you’re gaining over 5 yards on first downs, then you set up the offense to continue to keep both the run and pass options. McCord was 11-16 on his 1st down attempts and the Orange avoided any negative plays in the first 30 minutes.
OC Jeff Nixon flipped the script in the second half and went run-heavy. Yasin Willis got a lot of work with LeQuint Allen dealing with an injury and Willis had this impressive run following Duce Chestnut’s interception.
Taking away Willis’ run and a 37-yard completion to Oronde Gadsden, the Orange really struggled to get going on first downs. It didn’t cost them in Vegas, but we’ll see how the offense responds in their first outdoor game of the season against NC State.