Missed Opportunities Lead to Disappointing Day for the Orange

SU prepares for a FG attempt against Maryland.

By: Emily Dick

Syracuse, N.Y.-- Turnovers, penalties and missed opportunities plagued the SU Football team Saturday afternoon as the Orange fell to the Maryland Terrapins, 34-20, in the team's first lost this season.

SU started strong with a short and efficient opening drive, but was only able to produce a field goal.

That 3-0 lead only lasted two minutes.

 

Maryland answered with a 25-yard pass from quarterback C.J. Brown to Marcus Leak, taking a 7-3 lead, a lead the Orange was never able to overcome.

“I never felt like we gave ourselves a push in the momentum throughout the course of the game to just get on track,” Coach Scott Shafer said after the game.

The Terps took advantage of the spotty Syracuse coverage in the next drive, scoring after two plays totaling 90 yards, increasing the Maryland lead to 14-3.

Orange rebounds, then stumbles

Syracuse found some energy toward the end of the first quarter after freshman Cole Murphy’s hit his first career field goal from 49 yards out.

It was the start of a 10-0 run for the Orange. The next drive took seven plays and went into the second quarter when Syracuse quarterback Terrel Hunt ran for eight yards and dove into the end zone. SU only trailed by one, 14-13.

The promising start to the second quarter then took a downward turn.

Maryland led 17-13 after another field goal, and forced a short drive and punt from the Orange. That’s when Terrapin Anthony Nixon blocked Riley Dixon’s punt, giving his team great field position at Syracuse’s 28 yard line. The Terps scored a minute and a half later, making the score 24-13 after the extra point.

On the next Syracuse drive, Hunt completed two passes, one for 20 yards to Brisly Estime and the other for 51 yards to Jarrod West to put the Orange on Maryland’s 19 yard line. But he then gave up his first interception of the season to sophomore defensive back William Likely, who ran it 88 yards the other way for a touchdown.

“I turned early from getting the play from the sidelines," " Hunt said. "I didn’t get the whole play because I thought I knew it. It was just a miscommunication between me and the sideline.”

Maryland’s Likely said he was waiting to make a big play.

“Coach called a great play. He told me to make a play on it. Once I saw two go up the field, I had to squeeze one and that’s what I did. I was shocked, but I just saw the green grass,” he said.

To add more frustration, the Orange had a chance to leave the half with another field goal on the board, but Ryan Norton missed the 25-yard attempt. Syracuse went into the locker room down 31-13.

A quiet second half

Neither team scored again until halfway through the fourth quarter.

Syracuse started a drive with the ball on its own 18-yard line but Hunt fumbled. Maryland recovered the ball and scored on a 44-yard field goal with 6:29 left in the game.

The disappointment was palpable as the 40,511 fans started filing out of the stadium while the game continued.

The Orange gave one last push at the end of the game with a nine-play drive for 89 yards. Hunt kept the ball for one yard and scored, but it wasn’t enough to overcome the Terrapins. The game ended as a 34-20 Maryland win.

Shafer: "We did not play smart."

After the game, Shafer was disappointed with the amount of turnovers his team gave up.

“We kept fighting, I thought the kids continued to play hard, but we did not play smart and take care of the almighty football, and when you don’t do that you lose games,” he said.

Statistically, Syracuse had nine more first downs than Maryland and had close to 600 yards of total offense, 200 more than the Terps.  Hunt was pleased with the overall offensive performance, but not the end result.

“I don’t really like moral victories because you lose," he said. "On the bright side you see where we are going as an offense, passing wise, rushing wise, you can see things opening up. We wish we would have won, but we’ll go back to the drawing board.”

Terrapins' take
 

Maryland had to counter Syracuse’s offense by finding holes in the Orange defense.

“We knew they were going to bring pressure," Maryland quarterback C.J. Brown said. "We spotted their blitz and we exploited that in the beginning,”

After the game, Maryland head coach Randy Edsall, a former Syracuse football player and assistant coach, was asked about what it was like to return to his alma mater and come up with a big win.

"I'm just glad we won," Edsall said.  "I'll root for Syracuse every other game, except this one. Coach Shafer is a very good coach. They have a good team and they'll win many more games the rest of the year. I enjoyed my time here and I'm grateful. I'm glad we won."

Irish next for SU

Syracuse (2-1) travels to East Rutherford, N.J. next week to play ninth-ranked Notre Dame (3-0) at Metlife Stadium in what is officially a home game for SU.

Shafer said he wants his team to look back at the mistakes from this game and learn from them on Sunday.

“But after we have dinner, we throw away the last game, for better or worse," Shafer said. "We throw it away and then we focus on our next target, which would be Notre Dame.”