Grading JaCobian Morgan's First Career Start
Syracuse, NY -- True freshman quarterback JaCobian Morgan made his first career start for the Orange on Saturday in a 16-13 defeat to Boston College. Morgan completed 19 of his 30 passing attempts (63.3%), threw for one touchdown and one interception. The first-year player flashed at times and played his age at others, but ultimately had his team an onside kick away from potentially tying things up in the game's final seconds.
Orange fans had to sit through a painfully dull fifty-nine minutes and thirty-three seconds of low-scoring football before getting their first glimpse of Morgan magic. Turnovers on back-to-back Orange possessions, including Morgan's first career interception, should have put game away for Boston College.
Syracuse head coach Dino Babers shared what he saw on the giveaway during his postgame press conference.
"Our quarterback tried to make a play, which is very, very difficult," Babers said. "It's one of those defenses that's not supposed to be attacked in the area that he was attacking. But there was Taj [Harris] and he was open. So he tried to make the throw and the ball got away from him a little bit and the DB caught it."
Morgan's ball was under-thrown and in traffic, but it was aggressive. It showed how much confidence the young gun-slinger already has in his ability. Judging by the conservative play calling throughout most of the game, it appeared to be more confidence than Babers and offensive coordinator Sterlin Gilbert were prepared for him to have. Even so, Morgan wasn't going to stop pushing his limits.
The Eagles were only able to cash-in three points off a Sean Tucker fourth quarter fumble. Despite two consecutive cough-ups, the Orange were within ten points with two minutes left to play. Boston College was flagged twice on defense, putting Morgan in striking distance.
Faced with a third and ten with the game clock winding down, Morgan scrambled out of trouble like he had all game long and started sprinting for the corner of the end zone. The lanky, 6'4" signal-caller scampered 14-yards and then stretched the ball toward the goal line before heading out-of-bounds. Officials ruled the ball had not crossed the plain, a ruling later confirmed following review. Forced to try again, Morgan connected with TE Aaron Hackett one play later for his first scoring pass of the game. It was another fearless hurl made across his body, but with much better results. Babers' takeaway from the scoring sequence: poise under pressure.
"It didn't look like he was too rattled, Babers said. "I thought he made some plays, escaped some things, and he took a shot, you know? So check the box. He's got another box checked."
A box that has yet to be checked all season by the Syracuse offense, regardless of who's behind center, is a successful third down conversion rate. The Orange were just 3 of 11 on money downs compared to BC's impressive 10 of 19 outing. That lopsided stat led to another as the Eagles dominated time of possession 38:49 to 21:11.
As I referenced earlier, less than liberal play calling had a hand in third down dysfunction. But Syracuse's total lack of a running game may have been the biggest barrier blocking a winning debut for JaCobian Morgan. Babers acknowledged how the one-dimensional offense affected his freshman QB.
"It's hard to throw the ball every snap and win in college football," Babers said. "You just got to be so doggone efficient. It's a lot easier to win a game if you can find a way to run the football."
Freshman RB Sean Tucker made his return to action after a lower-body injury suffered against Clemson kept him sidelined for the Wake Forest game. Tucker averaged a decent 4.7 yards per carry, but his 11 attempts yielded only 52 yards. That lead all Syracuse rushers on Saturday and served as the Orange's rushing total altogether. Morgan's 14-yard dash was certainly Syracuse's most impressive offensive play, but his four sacks netted him -12 yards rushing for the afternoon.
With the run game being a non-factor and armed with a lead, Boston College was able to turn-up the pressure a few notches and take Morgan to the turf on a handful of occasions. Morgan never went down easy, though. That's something Babers didn't expect to see so early in the freshman's career.
"It's interesting to see that he has some elusiveness to him as far as making people fall off of him," Babers said. "It was interesting to see that he took some shots and he got back up. Freshman bodies are not where they're supposed to be to be taking shots from guys."
Morgan did a lot of things players making their first career start aren't supposed to be able to do. He also made the mistakes you tend to expect. When you put it all together, you walk away from this one feeling pretty confident about his future.
Grade: B
