TAMPA, Fla. — An aggressive Syracuse (3-2, 1-0 Atlantic Coast) was cut short by the South Florida (2-3, 0-1 American Athletic), which ran all over the Orange in a 45-24 win at Raymond James Stadium on Saturday.

Here are three quick thoughts on the game.

1. Out of their hands 

The SU offense led a comeback effort in the second half, but the Orange defense — outside of a Chris Slayton sack-fumble that set up an Eric Dungey touchdown run — never showed up.

Syracuse scored three second-half touchdowns by the first play of the fourth quarter, but USF countered with five second-half touchdowns that provided the ultimate punch. With SU down a touchdown in the fourth quarter, a South Florida first down was called back by a holding penalty to set up third-and-long. Bulls quarterback Quinton Flowers then floated a pass out of bounds on the right sideline, but freshman safety Kielan Whitner bumped the intended receiver after the play and was called for a late hit.

The penalty moved South Florida up 15 yards and the Bulls scored two plays later to push their lead to 38-24. To that point, USF stiff-armed the Orange’s best comeback effort with an offensive onslaught that included too many big plays and 179 yards from running back Marlon Mack.

SU’s freshman quarterback Dungey threw the first interception of his college career to Jamie Byrd later in the fourth, and it looked like the play that did the Orange in. But USF marched up and down the field at will, and that’s what ultimately broke Syracuse’s back.

2. You got screened

Syracuse’s inability to defend South Florida’s screens bolstered the Bulls’ attack throughout the game and kept the chains moving in the fourth quarter. The biggest culprits were the Orange’s defensive backs and outside linebackers who, when they weren’t caught in perimeter blocks, were spotty in their open-field tackling.

On the last play of the first quarter, Flowers hit Tyre McCants with a wide receiver screen on second-and-15. SU cornerback Julian Whigham was sealed by a block and McCants sprinted 56 yards to the Syracuse 2-yard line. USF then scored on the second play of the second quarter to grab a 7-0 lead.

With the Orange down 31-24 in the fourth, the same mistakes let the Bulls use screens to set up their back-breaking score. Flowers threw a screen to Ryeshene Bronson on third-and-14, and Bronson broke a Parris Bennett tackle before running 18 yards for the first down. Four plays later USF picked up another first down on a screen.

And after those screens pushed USF into Syracuse territory, Whitner’s penalty extended the biggest drive of the game and sealed the Orange’s fate.

3. Getting tricky 

Already up 17-3 in the third quarter, South Florida called a nifty play to push Syracuse into an even deeper hole.

Flowers handed off a jet sweep going left, then the ball carrier flipped a reverse to a crossing wide receiver and then the ball was tossed back to Flowers who was hanging by the left sideline. The Orange defense bit on the reverse and that left Bronson alone in the end zone. Flowers lofted a pass that SU cornerback Corey Winfield couldn’t catch up to and an electric celebration ensued in front of the Bulls bench.

SU had mixed luck with trick plays — a reverse to walk-on running back Jacob Hill set the Orange back 7 yards in the red zone in the first half, while another fake-field-goal run by Riley Dixon extended its last scoring drive — but USF’s trickery came at the perfect time and was the early exclamation point on an dynamic offensive performance.

Published on October 10, 2015 at 7:12 pm