Five Takeaways: Georgia Tech 31 Syracuse 22

Syracuse lost at Georgia Tech 31-22 on Saturday. Here are five takeaways from the performance.

1. The Offense

Syracuse racked up over 200 rushing yards again and averaged nearly five yards per carry. Unfortunately, the lack of any type of downfield passing game stalled multiple drives. As soon as there is a tackle for loss or penalty, it puts the Orange in a real bind since they are unable to throw the ball right now with Garrett Shrader and Carlos Del Rio-Wilson injured. The positive is the offense wore down Georgia Tech's defense and had some momentum going in the second half. Syracuse looked like the better team after halftime. But it was not enough and the limitations of the offensive attack was part of the reason why. Dan Villari did throw a pass about 10 yards down field, so I am curious why that was not an option more often at least to keep the defense a little bit honest. Or why Braden Davis is not an option to throw the ball more often.

But the offense is what it is and will likely stay intact for the regular season finale against Wake Forest. Hopefully they put in a few new wrinkles to take advantage of teams stacking the box for some potential explosive plays.

Note: Dino Babers said after the game that Shrader was more injured this week than he was going into the Pitt game.

2. Missed Opportunities

This game was filled with missed opportunities for Syracuse. Kicking a long field goal on fourth and three that missed instead of going for it or making it. Forcing two turnovers, both in Georgia Tech territory, and not scoring on either. The fourth and one play for Georgia Tech where they did not seem interested in snapping the ball but Anwar Sparrow jumped offsides to give them the first down. That led to a score for the Yellow Jackets. The fourth and one play where LeQuint Allen ran the wrong way, away from his lead blockers, and got stopped. Why was Dan Villari not the back there? The fumble on the opening kick off for the second half by Darrell Gill led to a Georgia Tech score. Syracuse completely dominated the third quarter otherwise, and likely takes a lead into the fourth absent that turnover. Syracuse shot themselves in the foot on several occasions in this game and it cost them a win.

3. Penalties

Twelve penalties for 85 yards on Syracuse. Several of which directly led to drives stalling. With this offense, you cannot get behind the chains with penalties that put you in second or third and long situations. It is much more difficult to get out of those than with the traditional offense. While there were some questionable (at best) calls or non-calls by the officials in this game, many of which went against Syracuse were not. Georgia Tech, in contrast, had just three penalties for 35 yards. Penalties have been an issue most of the season, but are that much more impactful with the current offense.

4. Defense

The defense was really good in the third quarter and the first half of the fourth. In the first half, it struggled to get off the field on third downs and then could not get a stop on what proved to be Georgia Tech's game sealing drive late in the fourth. Definitely an up and down performance, but there were two forced turnovers that should have been big momentum turns for Syracuse. Allowing only 138 passing yards against a good passing team was a positive. The negative was allowing over 200 yards rushing and 5.6 yards per carry. Syracuse will have to be better next week in that area.

5. Everything on the Line Next Week

The final game of the regular season could give the Orange the chance for one more with bowl eligibility. Standing in the way is Wake Forest, who was just eliminated from bowl contention with a 45-7 loss at Notre Dame. A chance to finish the regular season with two wins in the final three games despite the injury issues at quarterback would be a positive. Regardless of what happens with Dino Babers, sending the seniors out with a win and getting back to a bowl that leads to extra practices would be more positives.

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