Syracuse Football: Breaking Down Offensive Play-Calling vs. Notre Dame

We all know what happened on Saturday. The same thing that happened the Saturday before. Some big plays managed to gloss over the fact that Syracuse's offense can't really move the ball all that well. Also, the Orange have now defeated themselves for two straight games with a "fun" combination of penalties, overthrows, terrible play-calling and questionable coaching decisions overall. Do we really want to do this again? I'm sorry in advance...

First Quarter

Play-Call Breakdown: 9 passes, 6 runs

This is how you start a game when you're looking to score a big upset. The deep ball could have set the tone for a monumental opening drive for Syracuse, and instead, the screen passes came back and killed it all off rather quickly. We saw play-action return early in this game, though (spoiler alert) it would not last for that long -- nor was it ever really sold all that well by Terrel Hunt. Following an early dedication to the pass, there's a regression back to the run in the first quarter, though not until we're facing a second and long. "Sure!"

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Second Quarter

Play-Call Breakdown: 7 runs, 7 passes (+ 1 kneel down)

Penalties doom the Orange over and over in this second quarter, but at the same time, calling plays (or making reads) that were closer to the first down marker could have also helped combat that issue (you'll notice the screen passes in long yardage situations above). Making matters worse, once Ivan Foy went down, the running game largely stays to the left side of the line (since Michael Lasker couldn't completely fill Foy's shoes on that side), making that part of the offense even more predictable than normal. Any plays designed to run right are stopped immediately, and SU's dedication to the left is firmly entrenched in their mindset (and likely ND's too) for the rest of the game.

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Third Quarter

Play-Call Breakdown: 11 runs, 8 passes

All four quarters of this game were frustrating, but the third may be the most frustrating of all. Three drives get deep into Notre Dame territory, yet the team once again bogs down (or turns the ball over), to kill off the scoring chance. Granted, saying "the team" also seems to put the onus on the players rather than coaches, and that's not really right either. Once it was established that the running game was not working well against the Irish, we should have seen a switch to a pass-centric attack. It was pretty clear Notre Dame could/would not provide adequate coverage deep. And yet, look at the plays above. Also, if Hunt is only going to line up under center once per game, let's avoid it being a hasty 4th and 1... maybe it's a hunch, but that could be a bit obvious to the defense in terms of what's going to happen next.

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Fourth Quarter

Play-Call Breakdown: 17 passes, 1 run

When Syracuse finally got around to throwing the ball and aggressively trying to close the scoring gap, it was already too late. And perhaps no signal of quitting (by the coaching staff) was more clear than the field goal call on 4th and long inside the Notre Dame 20 (the field goal was missed, by the way). The play-calling on the final drive was actually smart, but Hunt overthrows -- partially due to the pain he was in from that big hit he took to the hip -- derailed it after a few quick plays to get into ND territory. Again: SO aggravating.

***

• Overall play-calling breakdown: 41 called passes vs. 26 called runs
• First half play-calling: 16 passes vs. 15 runs (25:11 in second half, inflated by fourth quarter)
• First downs: 17 total (9 passes, 6 running, 2 penalty -- only 5 non-penalty first downs in first half)
  
• First down play selection: 15 called passes, 13 called runs (13:26 last week)
  
• First down play selection on subsequent sets of downs: 9 called runs, 8 called passes (19:7 last week)
  
• First down plays for five or more yards: 8 (just 2 in first half)
  
• Second down play selection: 14 called passes, 6 called runs (14:10 last week)
  
• Third down play selection: 11 called passes, 4 called runs (9:5 last week)
  
• Third down conversion: 3-for-15 (2 passes, 1 run)
  
• 41 of Syracuse's 67 play calls (61 percent) took place in Notre Dame territory (thanks, turnovers!); last week, that number was 47 percent
  
• Eight "screen" passes (not including "short" passes) were attempted, for just 12 total yards
  
• Hunt threw out of play-action just four times (three last week), and never after drive five
  
• Further proving the point that this team's ability for big gains glosses over this offense's ineptitude, 12 of SU's 67 plays went for 10 yards or more; these amounted to 304 of the Orange's 429 yards (so they averaged 2.3 yards per play on all other plays from scrimmage)

Take a look at that last bullet, and that's all you really need to know about this offense. It's capable of making big plays, but not consistently, and rarely in the red zone. This is due to both the play-calling's lack of teeth and Hunt's tendency to overthrow on easy routes (while delivering a very nice deep ball in tough spots). What makes this even more aggravating than normal in this particular game is that they were set up perfectly all game and just couldn't capitalize. When your defense forces five turnovers, your offense MUST score. And yet, SU's O let it all fall apart nearly every time.

There were some good things: Hunt's deep ball, Jarrod West and Ben Lewis appearing to really show their stuff, and a nice dose of Ervin Phillips in the running game. But on the other hand, half of the Orange's deep stable of running backs is buried on the bench, its tight ends are almost non-existent in the passing game as well, and if the team has to go on without its top two targets (Brisly Estime and Ashton Broyld), it's hard to see how this offense improves if it won't throw deep to other wideouts.

I mentioned it above, but it bears repeating: This play-calling has reached critical levels of horrendous, and it's not even (completely) about the bubble screens anymore. We make big plays and then play-calling seems to bog us down thereafter. No one but Hunt can really find the end zone. Our wide receivers don't really know how to block. And beyond just play-calling, the staff's overall decision-making for two straight weeks has been downright defeatist outside of a few moments here and there. You don't punt inside the opponent's 40. You don't try a field goal down double-digits in the fourth. Why are we going over things like this anymore? And can this please just get fixed before we have to watch another week of it?