Not only was Syracuse’s (2-3, 0-1 Atlantic Coast) 28-6 loss to Louisville (5-1, 3-1) on Friday a hard pill to swallow, but there were signs of problems that could persist.

Here are three of them.

1. Ervin Philips 

The freshman running back that has garnered a lot of attention this season showed Friday that he has a long way to go.

In his primary role as Syracuse’s kick returner, Philips brought back three kicks for 39 yards. His longest return was 16, and the Orange never started beyond its own 20 unless he settled for a touchback. As a running back, Philips caught two passes for 2 yards and ran three times for 4 yards.

What Philips’ problem appeared to be — in both the return game and out of the backfield — is that he doesn’t have the quickness to hit holes or beat a defender one-on-one. He’s certainly fast and his bigger frame provides a versatile runner for the Orange, but Terrel Hunt delivered him two swing passes in space and he failed to make anything out of them.

Syracuse puts him in motion whenever he’s on the field with Prince-Tyson Gulley, either to catch a screen or draw attention away from Hunt’s other options. But if he continues to play ineffectively, the diversion will be the same.

2. Terrel Hunt

Hunt was sharper in the short game, and his 17-of-32 line isn’t indicative of a horrible day. But he had two bad turnovers, left the game in the fourth quarter with an injury and wasn’t available for postgame interviews because he was receiving treatment.

His first interception came with Syracuse down 9-3 and in need of some offensive momentum. Hunt had Quinta Funderburk streaking down the left sideline, but he underthrew him by a good margin and James Sample had an easy time picking the pass off.

The second interception really couldn’t have come at a worse time. Cameron Lynch had just stripped Gerald Christian and Wayne Williams pounced on the fumble to give SU a shot at a third-quarter push. But Hunt, on the next play, threw an interception to Gerod Holliman — his nation-leading seventh of the year.

Hunt also did his best Chris Webber impression when he tried calling a timeout the Orange didn’t have with two seconds left in the first half. Then he spiked the ball, despite an NCAA rule that requires three seconds to be on the clock for a spike. Then the Syracuse offense never rebounded, giving up four points on safeties and only scoring six.

3. Tackling

SU linebackers coach Clark Lea had a hard time pinpointing defensive deficiencies after the loss, until tackling popped into his head. Lea said that SU’s defenders were all going in too low and not trying to wrap up the Cardinals skill players.

That turned into a big day on the ground for running back Brandon Radcliff, who amassed 110 yards on 23 carries. It also allowed Louisville to keep the ball out of true freshman quarterback Reggie Bonnafon’s hands and turn him into a game manager that facilitated 48 runs and threw just 22 passes.

Had the Orange tackled well, it would have forced Louisville to go to the air, where SU’s secondary was finding success. But more often than not, Cardinals rushers bypassed the line of scrimmage and moved into the second level despite facing contact up front.

Published on October 4, 2014 at 8:41 pm

Contact Jesse: jcdoug01@syr.edu | @dougherty_jesse