Syracuse football picked up their first loss of the season last weekend on the road against the fifth-ranked Clemson Tigers. It was a hard-fought matchup, but the Orange simply couldn’t get it done down the stretch.
Here are five key takeaways from the loss:
1. Syracuse is a good football team.
There has been some doubt about the legitimacy of the talent on the roster, but based on their performance in South Carolina, the doubters don’t have much to go on.
Clemson is an elite football program with seemingly limitless resources and talent, and Syracuse, a team that was picked to finish last in the Coastal Division of the ACC, played them toe-to-toe for 60 minutes. A bad football team wouldn’t have been able to do that, especially in Death Valley.
Yes, mistakes were made, but even the legendary programs make mistakes here and there. It wasn’t just the players making mistakes; there were coaching and officiating mistakes that contributed to the loss.
Given the fact that the game came down to the wire, something no one, including odds makers, were expecting, the Orange proved they are a talented football team.
2. Sean Tucker needs more touches.
When you have an All-American running back, you need to use him. The Orange didn’t do that on Saturday, and it may have contributed to the heartbreaking loss.
Garrett Shrader rushed for 71 yards on 21 carries, while Sean Tucker rushed for 54 yards on just five carries. He also racked up 18 receiving yards on just five receptions.
Shrader is notoriously good on the run, but he shouldn’t be used as the primary back when there is an All-American on the roster. Clemson has a tremendous run defense, one that a true running back may have been more successful against.
Despite his lack of usage, Tucker was “pleased with his performance”, according to his weekly post-game tweet. To be fair, he did well with what he was given. He has a right to be pleased.
3. Play calling was a factor.
The combination of the overuse of Garrett Shrader, the underutilization of Sean Tucker and the dramatic lack of passing plays was baffling to some. There were also several moments when the play didn’t quite fit the situation.
Perhaps the most questionable play call came with just under nine minutes left in the fourth quarter when Syracuse was facing a 3rd & 6 down 24-21. The play was a designed QB keep.
The play went awry and Shrader was sacked. Syracuse was forced to punt the ball away in a situation where scoring would have dramatically shifted the momentum in their favor.
With an All-American running back and a reliable 6-foot-5 wide receiver, Oronde Gadsden II, it’s difficult to find logic to back up the play call. Clemson had already made it clear that Shrader wouldn’t have much success on the ground, a pass play made much more sense to most.
Sean Tucker was incredibly underutilized. When he did get the ball in his hands, he was successful. According to head coach Dino Babers, Clemson had a “good scheme” in place to stop Sean Tucker on the ground, but to most, it appears that he had a much better chance to pick up yardage on the ground than Shrader ever did.
There were several other situations that raised some eyebrows, but going over all of them would be egregious; they were mostly situations where passing made more sense, but the Orange tried to run instead.
4. Officiating hurt, but not whole problem.
Everyone who watched the game saw the often questionable penalties called against Syracuse. Anyone who pays attention to Syracuse sports on Twitter has seen the side-by-side of the late hits.
Despite both being the same play, Syracuse was hit with a penalty and Clemson was not. It was in a key situation, but it was not the difference between a win and a loss.
The Orange deserved many of the 10 penalties, for 88 penalty yards, they received. The late hit call on the Orange was fair, and it showed a lack of discipline, as did the several false starts.
However, home cooking is almost always present in college football, and Saturday was no different.
It’s understandable that in an environment as electric as Death Valley officials may be influenced by the masses, but it doesn’t make it any less frustrating. Orange fans, players and coaches should be upset about missed calls, but it’s not fair to blame officials for a loss that is, frankly, much more on the team and coaches.
5. Syracuse’s season is not over.
It’s absolutely disappointing to tarnish that perfect record, but losing to Clemson is nothing to be ashamed of, especially when the game was as close as it was.
As it is, Syracuse will be in a bowl game this year. It’s not even out of the question that Syracuse can weasel their way into the top 10. If Clemson loses one of their remaining ACC games and Syracuse can win the rest of theirs, they’ll be even in the ACC.
Plus, Clemson has an easier ACC schedule remaining; any loss they pick up will look a lot worse than any loss that SU could pick up.
With that being said, Syracuse doesn’t have an easy path to the end of the season. Wake Forest is a top 10 team and Florida State is receiving top 25 votes. No win is guaranteed in college football, but it’s crucial that Syracuse wins the remainder of their games if they want to find their way into a New Year’s Six bowl game.
This is the best team Syracuse football has had in years. It’s finally coming together, and a loss to Clemson isn’t the end of the world. Syracuse played them close, but they simply got outplayed down the stretch.