Three takeaways from Syracuse’s 24-17 win over NC State

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The Syracuse Orange seemed in control of their first ACC road game this season at the NC State Wolfpack. However, execution and mental mistakes made the game seem closer than the final score indicated. While Syracuse walked out of Carter-Finley Stadium as 24-17 winners, there were a multitude of reasons as to why the Orange could’ve enjoyed a more comfortable victory.

At the very least, Syracuse is 5-1 and one win away from reaching bowl eligibility under Fran Brown in his first season at the helm of the Orange. Here are our three takeaways from his first road win in CNY:

If at first you don’t succeed, try and try again

Syracuse only held a 10-7 lead at halftime. However, it felt like the Orange should have been leading by a lot more. A large reason for that was a lack of success in the red zone. Syracuse made three trips to the red zone in the first half. None of those visits resulted in a touchdown. The first one ended in a chip shot field goal. The second trip ended on a turnover on downs after Brown decided to go for a 4th-and-5 from the NC State 19 yard line. The third trip saw Syracuse make it to the 8-yard-line before a false start from Savion Washington and a sack took the Orange out of the red zone. Jadyn Oh missed the ensuing field goal.

The game marked one of the first times that Syracuse saw continued struggles converting red zone possessions into touchdowns. Fortunately for Orange fans, the Syracuse coaching staff made adjustments and found more success in the second half. One red zone touchdown came courtesy of LeQuint Allen churning his legs at the goal line, like he did last week against UNLV, along with some help from his offensive line. The second touchdown came on another 4th down. This time, the Orange were successful as Kyle McCord found Jackson Meeks right on the goal line for the score.

It was certainly worrisome to see Syracuse’s performance in the red zone during the first half. Syracuse dominated the game early with multiple third-down conversions, which gave the Orange a big advantage in time of possession. The massive advantages that Syracuse had in the first half should’ve resulted in a more comfortable lead at halftime. Crucially, the Orange took advantage of the limited possessions they had in the second half to pull away and put pressure on NC State. It was important to see that the Orange coaching staff could make the adjustments necessary to get the ball across the goal line.

I receive: the ball. You get: drive-killing turnover

NC State will be kicking themselves as well because the Wolfpack had plenty of promising drives. NC State seemed to take advantage at times with outside runs and moved the chains into Syracuse territory. However, the Orange defense buckled down and forced three crucial takeaways. Derek McDonald and Devin Grant each forced a fumble which were recovered by the Orange. Finally, a pass for NC State running back Kendrick Raphael tipped off his fingers. Justin Barron was in the right spot and picked off the tipped ball.

One of the crucial parts of each turnover was that each one occurred in Syracuse territory after NC State built up good offensive momentums with multiple first downs. The Wolfpack did have 18 first downs and looked to move the ball with ease at times against the Orange defense. However, Syracuse’s defense stepped up when it mattered with some plays of individual brilliance that lifted up the entire team.

What does Boeheim’s schedule look like?

As I mentioned, there were times that Syracuse’s defense looked easily exposed against NC State. With injuries to Dion Wilson and Kevin Jobity, two defensive tackles with a large percentage of the snaps at that position for the Orange, Syracuse sent three on the pass rush for the majority of the game. Personally, I would like to see an extra body or two join in on Syracuse’s pass rush with more frequency. Many fans echoed those sentiments in our game thread and social media. But, given the personnel circumstances and the game plan, I don’t have much of a problem about the three pass rushers.

What I do have a problem with is the amount of easy and open receivers that NC State seemed to have with frequency against eight-man zone coverage. The zone defense is what allowed NC State to march down the field during its long drives. It seemed too easy at times to pick up first downs and one of NC State’s touchdowns against the Syracuse zone. If the Orange can tighten up the zone assignments and adjustments, the three pass rushers won’t seem as bad.