Three takeaways (and a little more) from Syracuse's loss to SMU

The bye week gives the Syracuse coaching staff the opportunity to face an extremely difficult decision. After two full games with Rickie Collins taking snaps for the Orange, the question is should the staff continue with the offense it has used in a season-and-a-half that is reliant on accurate, timing-based short-to-intermediate passing or should they attempt to switch on the fly to a scheme more in line with Collins’ current skillset?

What we have seen from Collins this season is that he is an athletic player who can move well enough to damage an opponent in space, but his strong arm is not consistently accurate, even in the short passing game. Collins actually bears several similarities to former SU quarterback Garrett Shrader prior to his late career shoulder injury.

And Shrader would also be a poor fit for the offense that Syracuse fans have quickly grown to enjoy under coordinator Jeff Nixon.

So, Fran Brown and his staff, including Nixon, have to figure out if they want to continue trying to push a square peg into a round hole for future benefits, at least in the sense of knowing what Collins can be, or if they should chase a bowl game this season and overhaul the scheme to see if that can change their fortunes.

The defense is getting better, but still needs help

The Orange defense is starting to show some ability at making impact plays, but still needs to do more. The unit set a season high of tackles for loss against SMU, tallying eight in the game, including a safety notched by David Omopariola, and Davien Kerr grabbed his second interception of the season.

The problem is that these plays that end or at least jeopardize opponent drives do not happen often enough. Even more concerning is the question of is this an issue of talent, scheme, or both.

Jamie Tremble had the lone sack for SU in the game, tying Braheem Long Jr. for the team lead on the season with two. Tremble is a converted tight end and Long is a defensive back. This suggests the talent is an issue.

The entire defense has just eight sacks. David Reese, who had 11 sacks over the last two seasons at California, has just half a sack, but has been credited with seven of the Syracuse defense’s 15 quarterback hits. Opponents have essentially a reversed ratio with 16 sacks and six quarterback hits. Does that mean that the SU defense has pretty equal talent at rushing the quarterback compared to their opponents, but just needs a little more help in scheme to finish the deal?

Demetres Samuel Jr. had two pass breakups against the Mustangs, giving him eight on the season. No other Syracuse defender has more than two and the team averages just over four breakups per game. Orange opponents have averaged seven pass breakups per game. Is this difference due to talent and scheme?

Going behind the stats

The SU run defense had their best effort of the season against SMU, giving up 93 yards on 27 attempts, an average of 3.4 yards per carry. Almost half of those yards came on three carries, as three rushes turned into 46 of those yards.

The Syracuse rushing offense, however, seems stuck in the mud now. Collins had six scrambles of at least six yards that generated 69 yards, including three of at least 13 yards. Yasin Willis, however, started the game with 20 yards on his first three carries, then added only 21 yards on his last dozen attempts, including a nine-yard run midway through the fourth quarter against a Mustang defense looking to stop the pass. Will Nixon was a non-factor on the ground, turning seven rushes into ten yards.

The SMU offense generated 11.4 yards per play in the second quarter. In the other three quarters, the Orange defense held them to 4.2 yards per snap.

The SU defense has to figure something out to slow down opponents’ short passing game. The last two Syracuse opponents have completed 52-of-64 passes, an 81.3 percent completion rate.

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