3 Takeaways From Syracuse Football’s 27-13 Loss to Pitt

PITTSBURGH — Syracuse (1-2, 0-2 ACC) lost to Pitt (3-0, 1-0) on Thursday night, 27-13, in their second conference game in as many weeks. Steve Angeli once again struggled, throwing for two interceptions in the fourth quarter.

Here are three takeaways from the second loss of the season for the Orange.

Angeli continues to struggle

After going 3-1 last season in games he started, Angeli continues to struggle and appears to potentially be losing his starting role to Amari Odom.

Angeli threw two interceptions, all in the fourth quarter. His first was during a critical drive that could have brought Syracuse to within one score. The second was in Syracuse’s next possession, after the defense held Pitt to -1 yard and only 2:02 in clock runoff.

Angeli’s second interception set Pitt up for a field goal that would extend the lead to three scores and cause Fran Brown to pull Angeli for Odom.

The signal caller started the game with a consistent, conservative play style. Angeli made the open throws and did not take too many risks. Besides one pass that was under-thrown, which could have led to a sure-thing touchdown, Angeli seemed like the Cal game was behind him.

But then everything collapsed in the fourth quarter. Angeli finished 13-25 with a QBR of 34.5. Angeli did show leadership by taking the podium after the game, but this may be Angeli’s last start.

Odom took over for Angeli and marched the team down the field for a field goal. Syracuse head coach Fran Brown showed his support for Angeli, but also did not rule out Amari Odom overtaking him in the depth chart, saying that there would be a competition for the job.

Penalties continue to be an issue

Syracuse finished the game with 10 penalties for 94 penalty yards. Not ideal for a national televised game with a reported 42,087 in attendance.

Following a pass interference call against the Orange, Brown was called for unsportsmanlike conduct. These two penalties back to back gave Pitt 30 yards immediately, which then led to a touchdown. In the press conference, Fran Brown admitted to using a curse word at the ref out of frustration.

“I shouldn’t have said that, I should’ve held my composure,” Brown said. “But they (the referees) did a good job, they help us stay safe…I respect what they do and how hard they work,”

Syracuse’s pass defense may be better than we expected

Coming into the game, the topic of conversation was how would Syracuse stop Pitt’s star quarterback Mason Heintschel. And for the most part they did. Heintschel went 10-23, for only 123 yards and a QBR of 38.5.

Chris Peal locked down Pitt’s wide receivers including a deflection on what looked like a promising flea-flicker. Demetres Samuel Jr. equally impressed as the boundary corner, and never appeared to flounder without as much help over the top at safety.

Davien Kerr read a running back coming out of the backfield perfectly to record his first interception of the season. The run defense struggled though, letting up 245 yards on 37 carries for 3 TDs. Still, if the pass defense can keep this up, it bodes well for the Orange moving forward.

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