Cardinals Control Syracuse in Orange ACC Opener

Junior Marcus Coleman and Senior Sean Hickey give a speech to a group of players
late in the fourth quarter against Louisville.

By: Tim Durr

SYRACUSE, N.Y. – The Syracuse University Orange lost its ACC opener against Louisville at the Carrier Dome Friday night 28-6. In the process, the injury report grew larger as quarterback Terrel Hunt exited the game twice; the first time he returned after one play, the second time he needed help off the field and did not return.

While Hunt was in the game, Syracuse (2-3, 0-1 ACC) managed to score two field goals against Louisville’s third-ranked defense in the country. The Cardinals  (5-1, 3-1 ACC) have the best rushing defense in the FBS, and allowed only 59 yards on the ground for the Orange, with most of that total coming on two plays. Hunt had an 18-yard rush, and Adonis Ameen-Moore had a 19-yarder.

The Orange scored first. A six play 41-yard drive resulted in a 3-0 lead for Syracuse on a 21-yard Cole Murphy field goal. Louisville responded with a 10 play, 65-yard drive that ended with a Brandon Radcliff four-yard touchdown run. John Wallace's extra point made it 7-3 Cardinals.

Two possessions later, Syracuse was pinned deep in its own territory after a Ryan Johnson punt was downed at the 1-yard line. Two plays later, Ameen-Moore was tackled in the end zone for a safety.

Louisville added a field goal and headed to halftime up 12-3.

Syracuse responded with a 24-yard Murphy field goal early in the 3rd quarter, but 12-6 was as close as it got in the second half. Radcliff added his second touchdown of the game, freshman quarterback Reggie Bonnafon threw a touchdown pass to Gerald Christian, and another safety was the icing on the cake with 4:17 left in the game when backup QB Austin Wilson's backward pass went out of the end zone.

Head Coach Scott Shafer discusses why he feels fortunate, 

even after a tough loss.

Radcliff Breaks Out

For the second game in a row, Brandon Radcliff thrived when he was given the opportunity to start. 

Last week against Wake Forest, Radcliff had 129 yards rushing and rwo TDs. This week, he put up similar numbers with 23 carries, 110 yards, and 2 touchdowns against the Orange.

The start against Wake Forest was Radcliff’s first of the season and his lack of exposure could be a reason why Syracuse didn’t seem to be ready for him, as he ran through tackles from start to finish Friday night.

Syracuse senior captain linebacker Cam Lynch said Radcliff ran hard all game.

“He’s strong, he’s a strong running back,” Lynch said. “We’ll go to hitting a lot more, wrapping up, and we have a good bunch (Florida State) coming in next week, so we have to make our tackles next week as well.”

Radcliff had his own views on why he broke so many arm tackles.

“I pride myself on [breaking tackles],” Radcliff said. “I just try to stay low, run hard, and break through those arm tackles.”

'Cuse Missed Opportunities

Heading into halftime, Syracuse was presented with an opportunity to get back in the game. It got the ball on its own 49-yard line with 50 seconds left in the half.

Head Coach Scott Shafer takes questions from the media after SU's 28-6 loss.

After gaining a first down on the second play of the drive, Hunt tried to call a timeout but Syracuse had none. Then, after three more seconds ran off the clock, Hunt spiked the ball with nine seconds left.

On the next play, he fumbled the snap, picked the ball up, and completed a pass to Jarrod West inside the Louisville 5-yard line. The only issue, there were only two seconds left on the clock. The offense hustled up and snapped the ball and spiked it before the clock hit zero, but the NCAA rule is that there must be at least three seconds on the clock for a spike to work.

Head coach Scott Shafer said that the blame for the play was his responsibility.

“We came up a second short,” Shafer said. “Shame on me, we didn’t get it done. Poor job by Coach Shafer there.”

The next time Syracuse returned to the red zone, it tried some trickery.

SU had the ball at the Louisville one-yard line after Hunt hit Ben Lewis for a 49-yard catch and run, but Lewis was hauled down just short of the goal line. After losing 3-yards on a plunge on first down, Prince-Tyson Gulley got the ball again and scrambled right on second down.He stopped and threw a halfback pass to the end zone, for what appeared to be an SU touchdown. The only issue, there was a flag on the play. Lineman Omari Palmer was illegally downfield and negated the score.

Then, Syracuse was called for holding and a first and goal from the one, turned into a second and goal from the 19.

Next, Syracuse decided to run another trick play, this time wideout Jarrod West passed the ball to Ben Lewis, who was wide open in the end zone. But Lewis dropped the ball, and Syracuse settled for a field goal.

Along with two interceptions, one coming right after Cam Lynch forced a fumble, and 75 penalty yards, Syracuse missed opportunities to have the final score closer. 

Cardinals Control the Field

While most of the statistics were closer than a 22-point loss would indicate, there were two areas where Louisville dominated. The first was in time of possession. The Cardinals controlled the clock for almost 37 minutes, compared to the Orange’s 23.

The other was in starting field position. The Cardinals started from inside their own 30-yard line three times on 14 possessions. The average starting field position for Louisville was its own 38-yard line. Compare that to Syracuse, who started inside its own 30-yard line on 11 of 14 possessions, and had an average starting field position of its own 24-yard line.

Shafer said even though the defense was clearly tired, the players still worked hard.

“[Total yardage we gave up] wasn’t too bad considering the time of possession and difficulties we put the defense in from the other side of the ball,” Shafer said.

Look Ahead

The Orange has lost three straight and will face No. 1 ranked Florida State next Saturday with a noon kickoff at the Carrier Dome.

Last year, Syracuse lost 59-3 in Tallahassee. Now, the Orange will look to pull an enormous upset when the highest ranked team in the country comes to the Carrier Dome. 

More Coverage

Full game stats, highlights and interviews, from Cuse.com

Louisville's perspective and coverage, from GoCards.com