LYNCHBURG, Va. — Moe Neal took the handoff from Tommy DeVito and saw the exact hole he was looking for. 

On 4th-and-2 from the Liberty 42-yard line early in the fourth quarter, Dino Babers opted to keep his offense on the field while leading 17-0, trying to get a first down and eventually a score to put the game fully out of reach. Neal went untouched down the middle of the field, straight into the end zone.

“Neal’s run was a thing of beauty,” Babers said.

That touchdown, which put No. 22 Syracuse (1-0) up by its final margin of 24-0 against Liberty (0-1) in its season-opening win at Williams Stadium, was one of three scored by an SU running back. The Orange’s trio of Neal, Oklahoma transfer Abdul Adams and sophomore Jarveon Howard combined to produce nearly 70 percent of Syracuse’s total yardage and all three touchdowns. On a night when the offensive line and DeVito struggled early and took most of the game to steadily adjust, SU’s running backs became the Orange’s de facto offense.

“Just trying to wear those guys down,” Neal said. “Impact our will on them and we did that.”

But the Orange’s backs weren’t always tearing through the Liberty defense. In the first quarter, Syracuse’s running backs combined with seven carries for 19 yards. Syracuse’s offense sputtered as the offensive line struggled to open holes and DeVito and his receivers were out of sync — the quarterback ended the frame 3-for-8 with an interception and 21 yards. The Liberty defense keyed on the SU backfield and through scheme and numbers bottled up SU’s rushing attack.

Rather than repeatedly getting stymied, Babers adjusted to exploit a spot in the defense he’d discovered on film. Liberty’s defense played a deep defensive backfield that paid heavy attention to the middle of the field, so Babers started calling swing and screen passes to his running backs, freeing them up along the outside either alone in space or with a fleet of blockers. 

SU first went to this look early in the second quarter, facing 3rd-and-10 from the Liberty 18-yard line when DeVito flipped a pass to Neal, who scampered up the boundary for 14 yards and a first down. Syracuse leaned on this look well into the second half, forcing Liberty to adjust by the time the Flames defensive line had already been worn down. All told, SU’s running backs caught six passes for 86 yards, or two yards shy of half of SU’s passing yards. 

“We knew that we’d have some options out of the backfield,” Neal said. 

 

FINAL: No. 22 Syracuse 24, Liberty 0.

Dino Babers walks off the sideline and points up to LU head coach Hugh Freeze in the opposite box. pic.twitter.com/UIl4x05aYl

— Andrew Graham (@A_E_Graham) September 1, 2019

The Orange also turned to two-back sets in the second half in the hopes that by featuring more than one running back in the same formation, they’d create more looks to get them the ball. Babers likened it to having a skilled 3-point shooter and dunker in basketball — one would make sure their shooter was getting looks and the dunker was in the paint. He wants to do the same thing with his backs.

Babers doesn’t have a system or a method for which back he plays when, choosing instead to pick the running back he sends out based on a number of factors like which runner is fresh, what the down and distance is, and what play he wants to call. 

“It’s not scientific,” Babers said. All told, they carried the football 37 times (14 each for Neal and Adams, nine for Howard) and all got touches in goal line situations, early downs and short yardage plays.

Howard scored his touchdown with a strong individual effort, falling forward and reaching the ball over the goal line after bouncing a goal line run outside. Adams scored SU’s first touchdown of the 2019 season, following guard Evan Adams and tackle Carlos Vettorello on a well blocked trap play from the Liberty 2-yard line. 

The same offensive line that struggled out of the gate improved and adjusted to Liberty’s schemes as the game wore on. By Adams’ touchdown, they were holding their own up front. By the time Neal torched the defense for his 42-yard score, they were beginning to operate as a unit.

As Neal took the ball from DeVito on the play, the offensive line blocked a trap scheme, similar to Adams’ earlier score. This time, graduate transfer tackle Ryan Alexander moved from the right side of the formation across to his left, sealing the left side of the play. As he did that, fullback Chris Elmore sealed the right edge as Adams pulled from left to right, lead blocking for Neal and creating the hole. A final block on the safety by tight end Aaron Hackett left Neal untouched. 

Neal saw the cut back lane, planted his foot in the ground and scooted untouched to the end zone.

Published on August 31, 2019 at 11:30 pm

Contact Andrew: aegraham@syr.edu | @A_E_Graham