Syracuse fell to No. Florida State 38-20 in front 43,295 in the Carrier Dome on Saturday. Here are some quick observations on that from the game. 

1. Young guns

Ervin Philips was, in flashes, one of Syracuse’s most dangerous running options, Steve Ishmael was the Orange’s best receiving target and with a true freshman in AJ Long and a sophomore in Austin Wilson taking the snaps, youth ruled the day on offense for SU.

Long rolled right and hit Ishmael in the end zone with 6:21 left in the third quarter and gave Orange fans hope for an upset bid against No. Florida State. The hope for the game proved false, but remains for the rest of the season and beyond, due to the freshmen performances.

2. Defense

Syracuse kept Florida State’s offense — relatively — contained, but the Orange defense could’ve kicked it off the field. Instead, timely deep balls from the Seminoles ensured that Florida State controlled the game throughout.

On Florida State’s third drive of the game Durell Eskridge all but had an interception in the middle of the field only for a FSU defender to bat the ball away at the last second. Five plays later, Jameis Winston picked out Mario Pender wide open on the left side of the end zone.

Julian Whigham in particular struggled downfield. When Florida State had the ball on its own 39-yard line with the third quarter ticking away, Rashad Greene beat Whigham for 34 yards down the sideline. The Seminoles went on to score a touchdown on that drive too, giving the top-ranked team in the country a 25-point lead with 14:03 left to paly.

3. Lester is more

The Syracuse offense simply worked better than it has all season in Tim Lester’s first game as offensive coordinator. The quarterbacks coach was promoted with George McDonald’s demotion to strictly being the wide receivers coach.

The Orange offense that previously struggled to gain any momentum on the ground and didn’t regularly convert deep did both on Saturday.

Wilson hit Jarrod West on a 47-yard route at the Florida State 2 late in first half while Ishmael pestered the Seminoles secondary down the right sideline for most of the game, culminating in the third quarter touchdown that brought SU within 18 in the third quarter.

SU also broke 100 yards rushing — with 156 — for the first time since it lost to Maryland three weeks ago.

Published on October 11, 2014 at 4:56 pm