Syracuse Football: Breaking Down Offensive Play-Calling vs. Minnesota

We'll touch on it more below, but George McDonald certainly stayed the course in this one, replicating many of the same things we started to see work against Pitt and then work to perfection against Boston College. Sure, it took most of the season for Syracuse to finally figure out an offensive identity. But we did when it mattered most. And for that, I'm very thankful.

Curious to see how this compares to the BC game? Go check that out here as well.

First Quarter

DRIVE 1
Time	Down	Ball	Run/Pass	Player	Direction	Result
13:25	1st and 10	SYR 12	Pass	Smith	Screen L	18 Yard Gain
13:10	1st and 10	SYR 30	Pass	Clark	Screen L	5 Yard Gain
12:54	2nd and 5	SYR 35	Run	Hunt	Off-Tackle L	4 Yard Gain
12:15	3rd and 1	SYR 39	PENALTY (False Start)	Parris	N/A	5 Yard Loss
11:57	3rd and 6	SYR 34	Pass	Clark	Mid-Range R	11 Yard Gain
11:41	1st and 10	SYR 45	Pass (fumble, recovered)	Broyld	Screen L	10 Yard Loss
11:15	1st and 10	MIN 45	Run	Smith	Counter L	4 Yard Gain
10:50	2nd and 6	MIN 41	Run (fumble, lost)	Estime	Reverse L	9 Yard Gain; Turnover
DRIVE 2
Time	Down	Ball	Run/Pass	Player	Direction	Result
8:12	1st and 10	SYR 49	Run	Smith	Off-Tackle R	2 Yard Gain
7:48	2nd and 8	MIN 49	Pocket Breakdown; Run	Hunt	Dive	0 Yard Gain
7:18	3rd and 8	MIN 49	Pass	Broyld	Deep R	22 Yard Gain
7:07	1st and 10	MIN 27	Run	Smith	Dive	2 Yard Gain
6:34	2nd and 8	MIN 25	Pass	Hunt	Deep L	Incomplete
6:26	3rd and 8	MIN 25	Pass	West	Screen L	1 Yard Gain
5:49	4th and 7	MIN 24	Fake FG; Run	Loeb	End L	5 Yard Gain

Play-Call Breakdown: 8 passes, 6 runs

Syracuse was able to move the ball extremely well early, with a nice mix of run and pass. Issues arose, however, when it came to executing in Minnesota territory. Between the early fumbles from Ashton Broyld and then Brisly Estime, to the sudden wall the offense hit on the second drive, SU had an aggravating zero points after one. But we saw what worked, and for that, the first quarter was much better than most other scoreless starts to games for the Orange.

***

Second Quarter

DRIVE 3
Time	Down	Ball	Run/Pass	Player	Direction	Result
14:49	1st and 10	SYR 20	PENALTY (Def. Offsides)	Amaefula	N/A	5 Yard Gain
14:30	1st and 5	SYR 25	Run	Gulley	Off-Tackle L	4 Yard Gain
13:59	2nd and 1	SYR 29	Run	Hunt	Off-Tackle L	6 Yard Gain
13:37	1st and 10	SYR 35	Run	Smith	Dive	9 Yard Gain
13:14	2nd and 1	SYR 44	Pass	Estime	Screen R	8 Yard Gain
12:44	1st and 10	MIN 48	Run	Hunt	Dive	6 Yard Gain
12:17	2nd and 4	MIN 42	Run	Smith	Counter L	6 Yard Gain
11:50	1st and 10	MIN 36	Run	Hunt	Dive	1 Yard Gain
11:17	2nd and 9	MIN 35	Pass	Clark	Sideline R	20 Yard Gain
11:04	1st and 10	MIN 15	Pass	Broyld	Screen L	4 Yard Gain
10:31	2nd and 6	MIN 11	Run	Hunt	Off-Tackle R	10 Yard Gain
10:10	1st and Goal	MIN 1	Run	Smith	Off-Tackle L	1 Yard Gain; TD
DRIVE 4
Time	Down	Ball	Run/Pass	Player	Direction	Result
6:39	1st and 10	SYR 4	Run	Smith	Dive	3 Yard Gain
6:04	2nd and 7	SYR 7	Pass	Hunt	Mid-Range R	Incomplete
5:57	3rd and 7	SYR 7	Pass	West	Mid-Range R	8 Yard Gain
5:44	1st and 10	SYR 15	Run	Smith	Off-Tackle L	2 Yard Loss
5:22	2nd and 12	SYR 13	Pass	Hunt	Deep R	Incomplete
5:16	3rd and 12	SYR 13	Run	Hunt	End R	3 Yard Gain

Play-Call Breakdown: 11 runs, 6 passes

And here's exactly what I was talking about after the first quarter. Despite being pinned back at their own 20, Syracuse uses a nice mix of screens and runs to move down the field and also set up that big 20-yard gain to Christopher Clark (who will be missed more than we might realize next year). As the announcers pointed out during the game, the Orange were able to pick up big chunks of yardage on the drive and looked great doing it. Unfortunately, they couldn't replicate it on drive No. 4, as some of Terrel Hunt's deep ball troubles crept back into view.

***

Third Quarter

DRIVE 5
Time	Down	Ball	Run/Pass	Player	Direction	Result
14:54	1st and 10	SYR 21	Run	Smith	Dive	1 Yard Gain
14:26	2nd and 9	SYR 22	Run	Smith	Off-Tackle L	9 Yard Gain
14:10	1st and 10	SYR 31	Pass	Estime	Screen R	5 Yard Gain
13:34	2nd and 5	SYR 36	Pass	Hunt	Mid-Range M	Incomplete
13:29	3rd and 5	SYR 36	Pass	West	Sideline L	25 Yard Gain
13:20	1st and 10	MIN 39	Run	Hunt	End L	2 Yard Gain
12:52	2nd and 8	MIN 37	Run	McFarlane	End R	3 Yard Loss
12:09	3rd and 11	MIN 40	Pass	Hunt	Mid-Range R	Incomplete
DRIVE 6
Time	Down	Ball	Run/Pass	Player	Direction	Result
8:46	1st and 10	SYR 14	Pass	West	Screen R	0 Yard Gain
8:21	2nd and 10	SYR 14	Run	Smith	Off-Tackle L	19 Yard Gain
7:58	1st and 10	SYR 33	Pass	West	Screen L	4 Yard Gain
7:36	2nd and 6	SYR 37	Pass	Broyld	Screen R	5 Yard Gain
7:09	3rd and 1	SYR 42	Run	Hunt	Dive	3 Yard Gain
6:49	1st and 10	SYR 45	Run	Morris	Off-Tackle R	17 Yard Gain
6:30	1st and 10	MIN 38	Run	Morris	Dive	4 Yard Gain
6:01	2nd and 6	MIN 34	Pass	Estime	Screen L	6 Yard Gain
5:39	1st and 10	MIN 28	Run	Morris	End L	1 Yard Loss
5:12	2nd and 11	MIN 29	Run	Morris	Off-Tackle R	3 Yard Gain
4:43	3rd and 9	MIN 26	Pass	Hunt	Deep L	Incomplete
4:37	4th and 8	MIN 26	Pocket Breakdown; Run	Hunt	Dive	9 Yard Gain
4:10	1st and 10	MIN 17	Run	Smith	End R	6 Yard Gain
3:29	2nd and 4	MIN 11	Run	Smith	End L	6 Yard Gain
3:02	1st and Goal	MIN 5	Run	Hunt	Dive	5 Yard Gain; TD

Play-Call Breakdown: 13 runs, 10 passes

A lot of great things at play in the third quarter: using the run to set up the pass (amazing we weren't doing this for the first 10 games of the year), Hunt's mobility keeping defenses honest and running the ball inside for the most part. Hunt's deep ball has gotten better and will continue to improve as his career progresses, but the only way it works is by using other elements of this offense to set it up. It does hurt a bit to see him miss on throws in single coverage. But I'm much happier with it if it gives him the space to reel off a nine-yard run on the very next play.

***

Fourth Quarter

DRIVE 7
Time	Down	Ball	Run/Pass	Player	Direction	Result
14:48	1st and 10	SYR 28	Pass	Gulley	Screen L	8 Yard Gain
14:33	2nd and 2	SYR 36	PENALTY (False Start)	Hickey	N/A	5 Yard Loss
14:20	2nd and 7	SYR 31	Pass	Hunt	Tipped	Incomplete
14:16	3rd and 7	SYR 31	Pass	Hunt	Sideline R	Incomplete
DRIVE 8
Time	Down	Ball	Run/Pass	Player	Direction	Result
12:28	1st and 10	SYR 28	Run	Smith	Dive	6 Yard Gain
12:05	2nd and 4	SYR 34	Run	Hunt	End R	22 Yard Gain
11:43	1st and 10	MIN 44	Run	Morris	Off-Tackle R	4 Yard Gain
11:13	2nd and 6	MIN 40	Run	Hunt	Off-Tackle R	6 Yard Gain
10:53	1st and 10	MIN 34	Run	Morris	Off-Tackle R	3 Yard Gain
10:18	2nd and 7	MIN 31	Pass	Estime	Screen L	7 Yard Gain
9:51	1st and 10	MIN 24	Run	Smith	Off-Tackle R	4 Yard Gain
9:22	2nd and 6	MIN 20	Run	Morris	End L	0 Yard Gain
8:41	3rd and 6	MIN 20	PENALTY (False Start)	Hickey	N/A	5 Yard Loss
8:21	3rd and 11	MIN 25	Pass (sack)	Hunt	N/A	14 Yard Loss
8:14	3rd and 11	MIN 25	Penalty (Grounding)	Hunt	N/A	0 Yard Gain
DRIVE 9
Time	Down	Ball	Run/Pass	Player	Direction	Result
5:45	1st and 10	SYR 46	Run	Smith	Dive	2 Yard Loss
5:23	2nd and 12	SYR 44	Pass	Hunt	Sideline R	Incomplete
5:18	3rd and 12	SYR 44	Pass	Estime	Deep M	21 Yard Gain
5:06	1st and 10	MIN 35	Pass	Hunt	Screen L	Incomplete
5:02	2nd and 10	MIN 35	Run	Morris	Off-Tackle R	3 Yard Gain
4:22	3rd and 7	MIN 32	Run	Gulley	Off-Tackle R	5 Yard Gain
3:37	4th and 2	MIN 27	Field Goal	Norton	N/A	FG is No Good
DRIVE 10
Time	Down	Ball	Run/Pass	Player	Direction	Result
1:44	1st and 10	MIN 14	Run	Gulley	End L	7 Yard Gain
1:37	2nd and 3	MIN 7	Run	Gulley	Off-Tackle R	0 Yard Gain
1:20	3rd and 3	MIN 7	PENALTY (False Start)	Estime	N/A	5 Yard Loss
1:20	3rd and 8	MIN 12	Pocket Breakdown; Run	Hunt	Dive	12 Yard Gain; TD

Play-Call Breakdown: 12 runs, 9 passes

This might be the most interesting and frustrating offensive quarter of Syracuse football we saw all season. In the fourth, they were either throwing too much (drive No. 7), running too much (drive No. 8) or committing enough penalties to take themselves out of the game completely. And yet, it all worked out. Hunt made the right decisions in spite of the self-sabotage, and in the end, that's all that mattered. I'm still a bit concerned about how heavily this offense relied on him in the fourth, but I'll get over it (and you probably will too).

***

Some trends/numbers to note:

• Overall play-calling breakdown: 42 runs v. 33 passes
• First half play-calling: 17 runs, 14 passes (29 first-half runs last week)
  
• First downs: 23 total (14 running, 9 passing)
  
• First down play selection: 23 called runs, 9 called passes (20:20 last week)
  
• First down play selection on subsequent sets of downs: 15 called runs, 6 called passes (16:12 last week)
• Second down play selection: 15 called runs, 12 called passes
  
• Third down play selection: 11 called passes, 3 called runs (converted on quite a few second downs, it ends up)
  
• Third down conversion: 7-for-14 (2 runs, 5 passes)
• 40 of Syracuse's 75 plays took place in Minnesota territory (8 of 10 drives also got to Gopher territory)
  
• SU converted first downs on first or second down 16 times
  
• Over the last two games, Syracuse was 19-for-32 (60%) on third down. They were 39% on the year.

So obviously the third down conversions have been huge, and in my opinion, are a direct result of the better play-calling. They're also a direct result of Hunt's growth as a passer over the course of the year. Like I've said (and pointed out again above), the run and pass can set one another up very well in this read-option offense. Here, that seems most apparent, with the extra fold of Hunt's mobility and physical toughness forcing teams to try and stop three different things all at once. That's how single coverage happens, and Hunt's game-winning scramble happens too.

The penalties are probably getting their own article this offseason, so I won't even get into them here. Instead, more good things: I was sold on Jarrod West being a big factor prior to this game, and it ended up he was. Whether he was catching deep passes or functioning as a decoy, his impact was felt from start to finish. I'll miss Christopher Clark next year, and I hope Alvin Cornelius can take his place in a similar role going forward. One more bad thing, and then a good thing: You all noticed Broyld pretty much praying at the end of the game, right? That timeout could have cost us the game. Love what he brings to the table, but it's going to be a struggle reigning him in too.

The great (since Hunt's been covered plenty already): Brisly Estime. And not just for the punt return (and yes, we're ignoring the false start). He's going to be a star for this team and don't be surprised to see a ton of plays drawn up for him next season. We've seen what he can do well on screen passes, now I want to see him catch more balls down the field. With his growth, so grows Hunt, and vice versa.

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...