Syracuse Football Comes Up Empty vs. Pitt

The Orange continue to go through some serious growing pains in preparation for visiting three ranked opponents in their next four games of the season.

SYRACUSE, NY – The Loud House lived up to its name early this homecoming game as Syracuse Football returned to its home turf from the bye to take on the Pittsburgh Panthers, October 18 at 7:30 p.m.

Thunderous cheers reverberated off the roof of the JMA Wireless Dome. Frustration would soon kick in from the Orange faithful. Those cheers turned into resounding boos, as ‘Cuse would drop its third straight game in a 30-13 loss.

Tensions are destined to rise when an opponent like Pitt comes to town. A foe dating back to 1916. They say you never forget your first, and it was rivalry at first sight for these two football teams. Saturday marked their 81st meeting—the most times Syracuse has faced the same opponent.

Mistakes were already written on this one for ‘Cuse, and they would make plenty of them. On quarterback Rickie Collins’ first drop-back of the game, he threw an interception, which set the Panthers up for a 36-yard quarterback rushing touchdown on third and nine. He would throw another before the end of the half, trying to connect with Johntay Cook on a deep crossing route, and then a third in the fourth quarter. This marks back-to-back three-interception games for Collins.

“It’s like he’s training on the job right now,” head coach Fran Brown said. “He’s in a development point right now, so we just have to keep getting him better.”

Brown also was not perfect as a coach, and he was quick to admit it. Syracuse forced a stop late in the first half and regained possession with 30 seconds left on the clock. They elected to pass on three consecutive plays but were unable to cross the first down marker. They punted with 12 seconds left, in which Pitt would return for 68 yards and a touchdown. The Orange entered the locker room trailing 17-7.

“That was probably one of the worst I’ve done as a football coach here and one of the worst decisions I’ve made,” Brown said as he reflected on the decision.

Coming back out onto the field after halftime, Brown elected to give true freshman from Texas, Luke Carney, a chance under center.

“Just wanted a spark,” Brown said.

Carney completed two of three passes for 10 yards and rushed for nine on a limited number of snaps before being swapped back out for Collins on a crucial third down. Collins got tripped up well behind the line of scrimmage trying to evade the Panthers’ pass rush, leading to more booing from the home crowd.

“I didn’t even hear it,” Collins said. “It’s very hard to win…there’s going to be times like this where we get punched in the mouth.”

Collins finished the game, completing 16 of his 32 throws for 126 yards and two touchdowns, and was much more efficient in the red zone than he was against SMU two weekends ago. The issue was that the Orange couldn’t find ways to get down the field.

On the other side of the ball, the Syracuse defense held its own, despite what the score shows. The pass rush brought down Pitt’s Mason Heintschel seven times. Lineman Kevin Jobity Jr. led the charge with three sacks – his first career multi-sack performance.

“We’re going to go after quarterback,” Brown said. “We are trying to create an identity on defense of, that’s who we are and that’s how we play.”

Defensive back Devin Grant felt that they could’ve done a better job carrying out Brown’s vision of the defensive identity.

“We should’ve let up no touchdowns,” Grant said. “There’s always more that you can do; you can’t get complacent. Yes, we had a decent game, but it wasn’t our best game, and it didn’t show the true defense that we are.”

Looking ahead, the Orange will tread rough waters as they face three nationally ranked opponents in the span of four games. Brown said he wants to put the team in the best position to compete in those games and believes that Collins currently gives them the best odds.

He urges the fans to remain patient as he continues to work out some of the trouble spots in Syracuse’s game.

“The crowd gon’ be the crowd. That’s the game,” Brown said. “Understand that we are building a program…I’m going to do what’s best for the ‘S’, for Syracuse.”

While the path ahead is a challenging one, the Orange will look to learn from these setbacks and refine their game as they head to Atlanta, Georgia, on Saturday, October 25, to take on the No. 12 Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets at 12:00 p.m., aiming to remain competitive and prove their growth.