Syracuse Football: Breaking Down Offensive Play-Calling vs. Wake Forest

Not even going to bother linking to the Georgia Tech breakdown. We all know what happened (or didn't), so no reason to rehash it.

But this week: Interesting stuff, to say the least (and positive, too). After a first half that mostly appeared mired in the same woes we've seen over and over again this season, something sparked with the Orange late in the first half, and then seemed to continue on into the second en route to the victory. Very stark contrast from quarter-to-quarter. Hopefully we start attacking future opponents the way we did Wake late in this one (and other games we've won), rather than the atrocious starts we've endured since ACC play began.

On to the breakdown:

First Quarter

DRIVE 1
Time	Down	Ball	Run/Pass	Player	Direction	Result
12:47	1st and 10	SYR 24	Run	Gulley	End L	11 Yard Gain
12:22	1st and 10	SYR 35	Run	Gulley	Option R	3 Yard Gain
12:03	2nd and 7	SYR 38	Pass	Estime	Screen L	3 Yard Gain
11:27	3rd and 4	SYR 41	Pass	Hunt	Short M	Incomplete
DRIVE 2
Time	Down	Ball	Run/Pass	Player	Direction	Result
10:28	1st and 10	SYR 22	Wildcat; Run	Gulley	Dive	2 Yard Gain
10:00	2nd and 8	SYR 24	Run	Smith	Off-Tackle R	4 Yard Gain
9:34	3rd and 4	SYR 28	Pass	Hunt	Mid-Range R	Incomplete
DRIVE 3
Time	Down	Ball	Run/Pass	Player	Direction	Result
5:39	1st and 10	SYR 10	Pocket Breakdown; Run	Hunt	Dive	8 Yard Gain
5:15	2nd and 2	SYR 18	Run	Gulley	End R	3 Yard Loss
4:42	3rd and 5	SYR 15	Pass	Hunt	Deep L	Incomplete
DRIVE 4
Time	Down	Ball	Run/Pass	Player	Direction	Result
2:37	1st and 15	SYR 13	Run	Smith	Off-Tackle R	0 Yard Gain
2:13	2nd and 15	SYR 13	Pocket Breakdown; Run	Hunt	Off-Tackle L	8 Yard Gain
1:16	3rd and 7	SYR 21	Pass	Hunt	Mid-Range L	Incomplete

Play-Call Breakdown: 7 passes, 6 runs

Lots of three-and-outs in the first quarter (three of four drives), mostly as a result of penalties (see third drive) and third-down passing. We passed on third down all four times in the first quarter, and all four times, the result was an incomplete pass. This is especially maddening on the two 3rd-and-4 looks we had, when running the ball could've worked just as well (if not more so). Other than the two scrambles to avoid pressure (both for eight yards, respectively), Hunt was not at all effective at the start of this contest.

***

Second Quarter

DRIVE 5
Time	Down	Ball	Run/Pass	Player	Direction	Result
14:53	1st and 10	SYR 33	Run	Gulley	End R	0 Yard Gain
14:25	2nd and 10	SYR 33	Pass	Hunt	Deep M	Incomplete
14:19	3rd and 10	SYR 33	Pass	Hunt	Deep R	Incomplete
DRIVE 6
Time	Down	Ball	Run/Pass	Player	Direction	Result
10:26	1st and 10	SYR 20	Pass	Parris	Mid-Range M	15 Yard Gain
10:09	1st and 10	SYR 35	Pass	Clark	Screen R	5 Yard Gain
9:45	2nd and 5	SYR 40	Pass	Estime	Screen L	5 Yard Gain
9:29	1st and 10	SYR 45	Run	Smith	Off-Tackle L	5 Yard Gain
9:06	2nd and 5	50 Yard Line	Pass	Estime	Screen R	7 Yard Gain
8:45	1st and 10	WAKE 43	Run	Smith	End R	0 Yard Gain
8:22	2nd and 10	WAKE 43	Pass	Hunt	Tipped at Line	Incomplete
8:18	3rd and 10	WAKE 43	Pass; Sack	Hunt	N/A	8 Yard Loss
DRIVE 7
Time	Down	Ball	Run/Pass	Player	Direction	Result
5:04	1st and 10	SYR 20	Pocket Breakdown; Run	Hunt	Off-Tackle L	2 Yard Gain
4:33	2nd and 8	SYR 22	Pass	Hunt	Deep R	Incomplete
4:26	3rd and 8	SYR 22	Pass	Wales	Mid-Range M	8 Yard Gain
4:12	1st and 10	SYR 30	Pass	Estime	Screen L	2 Yard Gain
3:44	2nd and 8	SYR 32	Run	Gulley	End R	5 Yard Loss
3:38	3rd and 13	SYR 27	Pass	West	Deep R	43 Yard Gain
3:06	1st and 10	WAKE 30	Pass	Gulley	Short L	0 Yard Gain
2:38	2nd and 10	WAKE 30	Run	Smith	Dive	4 Yard Gain
1:42	3rd and 19	WAKE 39	Pass	Hunt	Mid-Range M	Incomplete

Play-Call Breakdown: 15 passes, 5 runs

The good: hurry-up offense for portions of the sixth and seventh drives actually seemed to wake up this offense. The bad: a 3:1 pass:rush ratio. For this team, that should never, ever happen. Once again, passing on third down killed off the first two drives, and two costly penalties forced us to pass on the last one. But at the same time, Hunt was actually moving the ball fairly well through the air, and could've done even more if not for the botched pass interference non-calls by the refs.

***

Third Quarter

DRIVE 8
Time	Down	Ball	Run/Pass	Player	Direction	Result
15:00	1st and 10	SYR 25	Run	Smith	Dive	6 Yard Gain
14:37	2nd and 4	SYR 31	Run	Smith	Off-Tackle R	3 Yard Gain
14:15	3rd and 1	SYR 34	Run	Smith	Dive	3 Yard Gain
14:02	1st and 10	SYR 37	Pass	Clark	Screen L	8 Yard Gain
13:22	2nd and 2	SYR 45	Run; Botched Handoff	Hunt	Dive	1 Yard Gain
12:45	3rd and 1	SYR 46	Wildcat; Run	Gulley	Dive	1 Yard Gain
12:25	1st and 10	SYR 47	Run	Smith	Counter L	11 Yard Gain
12:15	1st and 10	WAKE 42	Run	Smith	Counter L	8 Yard Gain
11:31	2nd and 2	WAKE 34	Run	Estime	End R	1 Yard Gain
10:58	3rd and 1	WAKE 33	Run	Gulley	Counter L	2 Yard Gain
10:36	1st and 10	WAKE 31	Pass	Estime	Mid-Range M	13 Yard Gain
10:16	1st and 10	WAKE 18	Run	Smith	Dive	2 Yard Gain
9:37	2nd and 8	WAKE 16	Pass	West	Screen L	15 Yard Gain
9:02	1st and Goal	WAKE 6	Run	Hunt	Off-Tackle L	6 Yard Gain; TD
DRIVE 9
Time	Down	Ball	Run/Pass	Player	Direction	Result
7:58	1st and 10	SYR 27	Pass	Gulley	Screen R	5 Yard Gain
7:44	2nd and 5	SYR 32	Run	Gulley	End R	1 Yard Loss
7:09	3rd and 6	SYR 31	Pass	Hunt	Deep R	Incomplete
DRIVE 10
Time	Down	Ball	Run/Pass	Player	Direction	Result
6:13	1st and 10	WAKE 25	Reverse; Pass	West/Estime	Deep R	25 Yard Gain; TD
DRIVE 11
Time	Down	Ball	Run/Pass	Player	Direction	Result
3:57	1st and 10	SYR 16	Run	Smith	Dive	1 Yard Gain
3:19	2nd and 9	SYR 17	Pass	Hunt	Tipped at Line	Incomplete
3:14	3rd and 9	SYR 17	Run	Hunt	End L	4 Yard Gain
DRIVE 12
Time	Down	Ball	Run/Pass	Player	Direction	Result
0:28	1st and 10	SYR 9	Run	Gulley	Counter L	67 Yard Gain

Play-Call Breakdown: 15 runs, 7 passes

OFFICIALLY COOKING WITH GAS. Look what happens when this team uses the run to set up the pass. The first drive featured 14 plays, and just three of those were passes (all for eight yards or more). By making the defense fear the run, we freed up receivers down the field a lot more, and even got more space on those bubble screens (SOOO many bubble screens), allowing for more yards after the catch. The reverse and West-to-Estime connection on the second score was also gorgeous. Just so well thought-out and it really caught Wake's defense off guard.

***

Fourth Quarter

15:00	1st and 10	WAKE 24	Run	Gulley	Off-Tackle L	7 Yard Gain
14:14	2nd and 3	WAKE 17	Run	Hunt	Dive	7 Yard Gain
13:41	1st and Goal	WAKE 10	Pass	Hunt	Mid-Range M	Incomplete
13:36	2nd and Goal	WAKE 10	Run	Smith	Off-Tackle R	5 Yard Gain
12:54	3rd and Goal	WAKE 5	Pass	Smith	Screen L	2 Yard Gain
12:09	4th and Goal	WAKE 3	Fake FG; Run	Loeb	Off-Tackle L	2 Yard Gain; Turnover
DRIVE 13
Time	Down	Ball	Run/Pass	Player	Direction	Result
10:52	1st and 10	SYR 35	Run	Smith	Off-Tackle L	3 Yard Gain
10:24	2nd and 7	SYR 38	Pass	Clark	Screen L	6 Yard Gain
10:04	3rd and 1	SYR 44	Run	Smith	Dive	3 Yard Gain
9:51	1st and 10	SYR 47	Run	Smith	Counter R	1 Yard Gain
9:12	2nd and 9	SYR 48	Run	Hunt	Off-Tackle L	10 Yard Gain
8:41	1st and 10	WAKE 42	Run	Gulley	Dive	1 Yard Gain
8:07	2nd and 9	WAKE 41	Pass	Estime	Screen L	2 Yard Gain
7:24	3rd and 7	WAKE 39	Pass	Estime	Screen R	3 Yard Gain
DRIVE 14
Time	Down	Ball	Run/Pass	Player	Direction	Result
3:37	1st and 10	SYR 32	Run	Smith	Counter L	3 Yard Gain
3:30	2nd and 7	SYR 35	Run	Gulley	Dive	0 Yard Gain
3:26	3rd and 7	SYR 35	Run	Hunt	End R	2 Yard Loss
DRIVE 15
Time	Down	Ball	Run/Pass	Player	Direction	Result
1:46	1st and 10	WAKE 13	Kneel Down	Hunt	N/A	1 Yard Loss
1:02	2nd and 11	WAKE 14	Kneel Down	Hunt	N/A	1 Yard Loss
0:19	3rd and 12	WAKE 15	Kneel Down	Hunt	N/A	1 Yard Loss

Play-Call Breakdown: 15 runs, 5 passes

Even removing the three kneel downs by Hunt at the end, it's still a big advantage for called runs in the fourth, and rightfully so. As was mentioned by the broadcast team during the game, Smith and Gulley are closers. They're also "starters" though, George McDonald, and we might want to lean on them a bit more early too. As you'll notice with this run-centric play-calling, we appear to move the ball much better overall, and make the passing game more effective as well. Hunt's not a great passer, so running the ball a lot helps him out. This seems obvious...

***

Some trends/numbers to note:

• Overall play-calling breakdown: 41 runs v. 32 passes
• First half play-calling: 22 passes, 11 runs (0 points); Second half: 30 runs, 10 passes (13 points)
• First downs: 16 total (9 rushing, 7 passing)
• First down play selection: 20 called runs, 11 called passes
• First down play selection on subsequent sets of downs: 9 called runs, 6 called passes
• The Orange only ran three plays beyond the 50-yard line in the second half
• SU only called six plays in Wake territory in the first half, but had 20 in the second half
  
• Second down play selection: 13 called runs, 12 called passes
• Third down play selection: 12 called passes, 7 called runs
• Third down conversion: 6-for-19 (4 runs, 2 passes)
• Syracuse went three-and-out seven different times (in 14 full drives)

Most interesting fact here: Ashton Broyld didn't catch a pass in this quarter (or game) on account of being a focal point for opposing defenses. This seemed to free up Brisly Estime to have a bigger impact, along with the tight ends as well. Also,fFor the third time in four games (I've mentioned this as a trend to watch), Syracuse called two trick plays -- one on special teams and one on offense. Georgia Tech was the only ACC game they did not attempt a trick play.

Penalties impacted play-calling on numerous occasions, turning running downs into passing downs. However, it's worth noting that these instances were mainly relegated to the first half, and McDonald has exhibited an unwillingness to run on 3rd-and-4 or more all year. The hurry-up offense also worked like gangbusters (same as it did last year), and if that works out again on Saturday, we have a solid shot at beating Maryland. Would like to note as well that "hurry-up" doesn't imply all passing either, since we appeared to be at our best while running and mixing quick passes in.

Finally, after rewatching the game tape, you'll see that they're trying to incorporate some play-action (thank you!), but it's not fully developed yet. Hunt's motion is not selling the fake enough just yet, but I assume that's something they're working on with his mechanics each week.

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...

More from Troy Nunes Is An Absolute Magician:

• TNIAAM College Football Pick'em: Week 10 Recap & Standings
• What the P-S Won't Tell You About...Maryland
• Syracuse Football Roundtable: Previewing Maryland
• Syracuse Football: How's That 1,000-Yard Rusher Streak Looking?