Syracuse Football: Breaking Down Offensive Play-Calling vs. Georgia Tech

Last week we dug a bit deeper into the offensive play-calling, just to get a look at the flow of the game and if we could spot any consistencies/inconsistencies with George McDonald's strategy. Obviously, this is a lot more fun when you win a road game 24-10. When you lose a game by a score of 56-0, well... the only only recap you need is as follows:

But we Syracuse fans aren't content with just losing games and walking away. We've got to break down just how poorly things went -- in this contest, they went very poorly. Ready to be frustrated? Venture below and stare at the wonders that are our offensive ineptitude:

First Quarter

DRIVE 1
Time	Down	Ball	Run/Pass	Player	Direction	Result
15:00	1st and 10	SYR 25	Run	Hunt	Dive	9 Yard Gain
14:30	2nd and 6	SYR 29	Run	Smith	Dive	2 Yard Gain
13:53	3rd and 4	SYR 31	Pass	Hunt	Sideline R	Incomplete
DRIVE 2
Time	Down	Ball	Run/Pass	Player	Direction	Result
11:58	1st and 10	SYR 6	Run	Smith	Off-Tackle L	8 Yard Gain
11:29	2nd and 2	SYR 14	Run	Gulley	Off-Tackle R	8 Yard Gain
11:12	1st and 10	SYR 22	Pass	Broyld	Screen L	7 Yard Gain
10:43	2nd and 3	SYR 29	Run	Smith	Dive	5 Yard Gain
10:24	1st and 10	SYR 34	Pass	Broyld	Mid-Range R	16 Yard Gain
10:10	1st and 10	50 Yard Line	Run	Smith	Off-Tackle R	2 Yard Loss
9:50	2nd and 12	SYR 48	Run (fumble)	Hunt	Dive	2 Yard Loss
9:12	3rd and 14	SYR 46	Pass	Gulley	Sideline R	Incomplete
DRIVE 3
Time	Down	Ball	Run/Pass	Player	Direction	Result
7:07	1st and 10	SYR 49	Pass	Kobena	Mid-Range M	14 Yard Gain
6:50	1st and 10	GT 37	Run	Smith	Dive	5 Yard Gain
6:17	2nd and 5	GT 32	Pass	Clark	Screen L	10 Yard Gain
5:55	1st and 15	GT 27	Run	Hunt	Off-Tackle L	3 Yard Loss
4:54	2nd and 28	GT 40	Pass	Hunt	Mid-Range M	Interception
DRIVE 4
Time	Down	Ball	Run/Pass	Player	Direction	Result
0:46	1st and 10	SYR 25	Run	Gulley	Off-Tackle L	1 Yard Gain
0:20	2nd and 9	SYR 26	Pass	Kobena	Mid-Range M	Incomplete
0:15	3rd and 9	SYR 26	Pass	Broyld	Screen R	9 Yard Gain

Play-Call Breakdown: 10 runs, 9 passes

To start the game, we were actually looking good, especially moving the ball on first down. Of course, penalties shot us in the foot several times, negating ball movement inside Georgia Tech territory. Smith and Gulley were running reasonably well, and (holy crap!) Hunt was spending time targeting receivers. The interception was depressing, but beyond that, this quarter gave us something(s) to build on.

***

Second Quarter

Time	Down	Ball	Run/Pass	Player	Direction	Result
15:00	1st and 10	SYR 35	Run	Gulley	End R	0 Yard Gain
14:36	2nd and 10	SYR 35	Pocket Breakdown; Run	Hunt	Dive	4 Yard Gain
14:03	3rd and 6	SYR 39	Pass	Clark	Deep R	Incomplete
DRIVE 5
Time	Down	Ball	Run/Pass	Player	Direction	Result
6:29	1st and 10	SYR 21	Run	Smith	Off-Tackle L	3 Yard Gain
6:04	2nd and 7	SYR 24	Pass	Kobena	Deep M	Incomplete
5:57	3rd and 7	SYR 24	Pocket Breakdown; Run	Hunt	End R	1 Yard Gain
DRIVE 6
Time	Down	Ball	Run/Pass	Player	Direction	Result
3:38	1st and 10	SYR 13	Pass	Wales	Mid-Range R	Incomplete
3:35	2nd and 10	SYR 13	Pass	Wales	Mid-Range R	5 Yard Gain
3:06	3rd and 5	SYR 18	Pass	Wales	Mid-Range R	7 Yard Gain
2:55	1st and 10	SYR 25	Run	Gulley	Dive	4 Yard Gain
2:32	2nd and 6	SYR 29	Sack; Fumble	Hunt	N/A	Turnover
DRIVE 7
Time	Down	Ball	Run/Pass	Player	Direction	Result
0:54	1st and 10	SYR 25	Run	Smith	End L	1 Yard Loss
0:25	2nd and 11	SYR 24	Run	Smith	Counter L	10 Yard Gain

Play-Call Breakdown: 8 passes, 5 runs

The turnover on the sixth drive was a back-breaker that ultimately decided the game right then and there. But before that, Hunt was seemingly getting into a rhythm with Beckett Wales (finally!) running the same play three times in a row (hallmark of McDonald's offense so far). At least while we were still in the game, this team was calling pass plays and rushing to the line. But that's what Tech forces you to do with this offense. Once they're up, they can just grind you down and force you into mistakes by rushing passing plays to try and get back in it, which is what happened to us starting around halfway through the first quarter.

***

Third Quarter

DRIVE 8
Time	Down	Ball	Run/Pass	Player	Direction	Result
13:05	1st and 10	SYR 27	Pass	Broyld	Screen R	Incomplete
12:52	2nd and 10	SYR 27	Run	Smith	Off-Tackle R	4 Yard Gain
12:17	3rd and 6	SYR 31	Pass	Allen	Mid-Range L	Interception
DRIVE 9
Time	Down	Ball	Run/Pass	Player	Direction	Result
10:18	1st and 10	SYR 12	Run	Gulley	End L	6 Yard Gain
9:54	2nd and 4	SYR 18	Pass	West	Mid-Range R	22 Yard Gain
9:33	1st and 10	SYR 40	Run	Gulley	Dive	9 Yard Gain
9:01	2nd and 1	SYR 49	Pass	Clark	Mid-Range L	11 Yard Gain
8:33	1st and 10	GT 40	Pass	Broyld	Mid-Range M	Incomplete
8:27	2nd and 10	GT 40	Pass	Clark	Screen R	9 Yard Gain
8:00	3rd and 15	GT 45	Pass	Gulley	Screen R	Incomplete
DRIVE 10
Time	Down	Ball	Run/Pass	Player	Direction	Result
4:28	1st and 10	SYR 25	Pass	Kobena	Deep L	Incomplete
4:20	2nd and 10	SYR 25	Run	Smith	End L	8 Yard Gain
3:41	3rd and 2	SYR 33	Run	Smith	End R	1 Yard Gain
DRIVE 11
Time	Down	Ball	Run/Pass	Player	Direction	Result
0:32	1st and 10	SYR 19	Run	Gulley	Off-Tackle R	8 Yard Gain
0:03	2nd and 2	SYR 27	Pass	Broyld	Screen L	Incomplete

Play-Call Breakdown: 8 passes, 5 runs

We started moving the ball well, until the inevitable Drew Allen pick. Then we started mixing run and pass well on the second drive of the half, only to stall out once we went to a pass-only attack and started committing more stupid penalties. Despite running the game well and a win being out of reach. we passed a bunch in the third quarter and over the final two drives, never really moved the ball much through the air.

***

Fourth Quarter

15:00	3rd and 2	SYR 27	Pass	Parris	Sideline R	Incomplete
DRIVE 12
Time	Down	Ball	Run/Pass	Player	Direction	Result
9:24	1st and 10	SYR 24	Pass	West	Screen L	9 Yard Gain
8:57	2nd and 1	SYR 33	Pass	Gulley	Screen L	1 Yard Loss
8:14	3rd and 2	SYR 32	Pass	Moore	Mid-Range M	15 Yard Gain
7:48	1st and 10	SYR 47	Run	McFarlane	Counter R	2 Yard Gain
7:20	2nd and 8	SYR 49	Pass	Moore	Screen R	Incomplete
7:15	3rd and 8	SYR 49	Pass	Moore	Mid-Range M	Incomplete
DRIVE 13
Time	Down	Ball	Run/Pass	Player	Direction	Result
0:35	1st and 10	50 Yard Line	Run	Ameen-Moore	Off-Tackle L	0 Yard Gain

Play-Call Breakdown: 6 passes, 2 runs

Ameen-Moore's first carry in a month of course means nothing. Also, this quarter is a soul-sucking microcosm of the entire game. Once the passing game gets going, they over-commit. At least we used wide receivers on Saturday? Unsure if that's because of Allen, or the score. But nonetheless, many of these passing plays were carbon copies of each other (specifically the screens to Broyld, Gulley), which remains an issue.

***

Some trends/numbers to note:

• Overall play-calling breakdown: 31 passes v. 22 runs (we only ran 53 plays!!!)
  
• First downs: 9 total (7 passing, 2 rushing)
• First down play selection: 15 called runs, 8 called passes
• First down play selection on subsequent sets of downs: 6 called runs, 3 called passes
• The Orange only ran three plays beyond the 50-yard line in the second half
• SU only ran six plays beyond the 50-yard line all game, and none beyond Tech's 27
• Second down play selection: 7 called runs, 13 called passes
• Third down play selection: 1 called runs, 11 called passes
• Syracuse went three-and-out five different times (in 11 full drives)

Now take a look at those figures and tell me you don't just shake your head. Look at the second- and third-down play-calling. Early in the game, we were converting on second down with runs. Then we abandoned that for the pass, and proceeded to not pick up the first nearly ever time. I get why we were emphasizing the pass early -- both to kick-start that part of the offense and then try and come back against Tech -- but if the passing game wasn't working (and it largely wasn't), why not stick to the run?

Look, it's tough to infer much from the second half of this game since Drew Allen was at quarterback, we were down by five touchdowns at least, and the team was absolutely demoralized. But how do we explain the offense's absolute ineptitude here? Six plays past the 50-yard line? We also ran 21 (?!?!) plays in the second half. I know it's Georgia Tech. And part of this falls on the defense. But they largely don't control how we move the ball on offense. This game was a sham on so many levels, and outside of the defense being ill-prepared for the triple-option, you can say a ton about play-calling's role in this loss as well.

Anything else jump out at you? Feel free to dive in and bring up any other trends I didn't call out above. The comment section and this data is your oyster...