Missed Opportunities Haunt Syracuse at Florida State
Syracuse fell 33-30 at Florida State on Saturday in what was a gut wrenching loss for the Orange. The opportunity for the program's first ever win in Tallahassee was right there for the taking, but Syracuse did not take advantage of enough opportunities to pull out the win. That combined with some puzzling missed calls doomed Syracuse on this night.
FSU's Opening Drive
The Syracuse defense allowed Florida State to convert on two four down plays on the drive. That includes a fourth and two at SU 45 and a 4th and 1 at the SU 21. Stopping either would have prevented points. Instead, the Seminoles ended the drive with a field goal.
Fourth and Two in First Quarter
On Syracuse's drive immediately following Florida State's field goal, the Orange responded by moving the ball well. Garrett Shrader completed a couple of passes, Sean Tucker had a few solid runs. Ultimately, Syracuse faced a fourth and two on the FSU 26 yard line. Rather than relying on Andre Szmyt for a 43 yard attempt, Syracuse elected to go for it. Tucker was stopped for a two yard loss and the Syracuse drive ended without points. The decision to go for it was questionable as was the play call on fourth down. Either way, it was a missed chance for points.
FSU's Last Drive of First Half
On Florida State's last drive of the first half, the Orange appeared to have an interception. However, defensive holding was called on Duce Chestnut. The ball was thrown well long of the intended receiver, so the hold was not necessary. Instead of a turnover, Florida State's drive continued. A turnover, right after taking the lead, would have been huge for momentum.
Just a couple of plays later, Marlowe Wax was called for a bad roughing the passer penalty. Wax hit Seminoles quarterback Jordan Travis as he was throwing the ball and did not make contact with Travis' head. Yet instead of an incompletion and a second and 10, Florida State had the ball inside Syracuse's 30. Florida State would score a touchdown on the drive.
Syracuse's Last Drive of First Half
On the first play of the drive, Shrader connected with Courtney Jackson for 26 yards to the Florida State 40 yard line. Instead of calling timeout, Syracuse hurried and called a quick play. That resulted in the ball snapping with 15 seconds left instead of 21.
To make matters worse, on second and 10, Shrader targeted Anthony Queeley and the pass was ruled incomplete. On replay, it looked very close and like he may have gotten his hand/arm underneath the ball. Babers was questioning why the play was not reviewed. The play clock then was winding down. With just a couple of ticks on the play clock, Babers had to call timeout to avoid a penalty. At the same time, one official was signaling to reset the play clock. That should have resulted in Syracuse not being charged a timeout. Instead of a review that perhaps puts Syracuse in field goal range, or allowing the Orange to keep a timeout, Syracuse had third and long with no timeouts. The Orange would not score on the possession.
Early Third Quarter
On Florida State's early third quarter drive that put the Seminoles up two scores, the Syracuse defense had FSU in third and nine at the SU 15 yard line with about 10 minutes left in the quarter. The Orange allowed a 12 yard completion. Instead of a short field goal attempt, Florida State would score a touchdown on the drive. Failure to get a stop cost Syracuse four points.
On top of that, the play that Florida State (a third and goal no less) would score on should have been a turnover. Travis threw a backwards pass that was dropped. That is a live ball. As it bounced on the turf, Jason Simmons and Duce Chestnut both ran towards the ball. The ball wound up at the feet of Andrew Parchment as Chestnut dove for it. Duce could not grab it, and Parchment picked it up before running into the end zone.
A stop in either spot takes four points off the board. Recovering the fumble would have taken seven off the board.
Syracuse Drive Late Third Quarter
After a muffed punt gave Syracuse the ball in FSU territory, the Orange moved the ball inside the 10 yard line. On second and goal, Syracuse faked a quarterback draw and Shrader attempted a jump pass to Maximilian Mang. Mang was open, but Shrader's pass was overthrown. Two plays later, Syracuse had fourth and goal at the one yard line. The Orange elected to go for it, and was ruled short of the goal line on a Shrader keeper. Replay showed it appeared he got in, but you could not see his legs on the replay making it difficult for the officials to overturn the original call. The question then becomes, with officials on the goal line staring down the line, how was the ball crossing the plane missed in the first place? Either way, that sequence cost Syracuse points.
Fourth Quarter: 15:00 left
Early in the fourth quarter, with Syracuse trailing 23-20, a false start pushed Florida State back to a second and 15. On that play, Travis dropped back and had no one open. Syracuse rushed four and the pocket was collapsing. However, he stepped up, got by a defender at the line of scrimmage and picked up 11 yards. Instead of third and 15, Florida State had third and four. Not only would the Seminoles pick up a first down on the next play, but the drive resulted in a touchdown.
After Chestnut Interception
Trailing 30-27 midway through the fourth quarter, Duce Chestnut dove in front of a wide receiver screen and picked off a Travis pass. It was a tremendous play that gave the Orange the ball in FSU territory. Syracuse drove inside the 10 yard line but was held to a field goal, which tied the game. While scoring was obviously good, this was a missed chance to score a touchdown, take a late lead, and put a ton of late game pressure on a Seminoles team that likely would have had the "here we go again" thoughts in their collective minds. To make matter worse, on second and goal, Shrader ran on a designed quarterback run. He went up the middle for a yard, but replay shows he had a lot of running room to his right. He may have even had a chance to score had he bounced it outside.
Fourth Quarter: Last SU Drive
After Syracuse tied the game, the Orange defense forced a three and out to give the ball right back to its offense. Syracuse moved the ball near midfield, but stalled there and punted back to Florida State. Another missed opportunity for a late score.
FSU's Game Winning Drive
On second and five at FSU's own 26 yard line with just 38 seconds left, Travis scrambled for 33 yards. The run should have been stopped for just 10 yards, but as Marlowe Wax approached Travis on the sideline, he pulled up to avoid a personal foul penalty. Travis stayed in bounds and picked up 23 more yards to get into Syracuse territory. Replay shows that FSU tight end Camren McDonald got away with a hold on Duce Chestnut just past the point where Wax held up.
Despite that, Syracuse held Florida State to just three yards on the next two plays, setting up a third and seven with 19 seconds remaining. On that third down play, Travis was pressured and scrambled to the outside. Marlowe Wax had outside contain. As he got by his blocker, he tried to turn and run outside with Travis, but the offensive tackle grabbed a fist full of jersey and pulled Wax backwards. In addition, Cody Roscoe had also beaten his man and was grabbed from behind in a second blatant hold. Those two holds allowed Travis to get outside and run for 25 yards down to the SU 13 to set up the game winning field goal. Instead of third and 17 at midfield with nine seconds left, Florida State was at the SU 13 with a first down.
The Wax miscue along with missed holding calls prevented overtime and gave the Seminoles the win.
