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Syracuse has now lost four straight games and gone eight quarters without a touchdown. Offensively, Florida State was all over the Orange, scoring all 38 of its points within the first three quarters on 420 yards of total offense. The Seminoles simultaneously allowed their fewest yards of the season, holding SU to just 160.

Syracuse had season lows in receiving and passing yards — 65 yards each — and rushed for fewer than 100 yards for the third consecutive game. It fell victim to consistent sacks, incompletions and lost yardage plays, pushing it to the brink of remaining over .500 with two road games remaining.

Here is how Syracuse’s offense fell apart against Florida State:

Back-to-back 3-and-outs on opening drives

Syracuse’s play-calling was almost too predictable on Saturday. Whenever Sean Tucker was on the field, the Orange were going to run the ball in some form.Whenever he wasn’t, Shrader opted to pass. Florida State knew SU would not pass the ball as it had more linemen than SU.

Syracuse picked up six yards on its opening drive and needed just a short gain to break closer to midfield. The play was designed for the Orange offense to allow themselves enough flexibility for a pass while still creating the option to run the ball.

When Shrader faked the handoff on this 3rd-and-4 play, Tucker shifted to the right while the offensive line created a gap for Shrader to run the ball up the middle. Instead, he remains in the pocket and immediately looks left for Oronde Gadsden II, who attempted to cut toward the middle of the field on a slant route but was tightly covered.

With Shrader taking his time, that open gap for him to run through was taken advantage of by Florida State middle linebacker Tatum Bethune, who quickly pressured Shrader. With Tucker outside the pocket and the Orange having no free offensive lineman, Bethune runs behind Shrader untouched.

Shrader scrambled as a result of Bethune’s pressure. Bethune tackled the Orange quarterback from behind at the line of scrimmage, forcing a 3-and-out just 47 seconds into the game.

Tucker was not on the field on this play, so Florida State knew it should expect a pass on 3rd-and-long. The Seminoles matched up four defenders in deep man coverage with Syracuse’s receivers as a result.

Florida State’s linebackers also moved up to the defensive line, freeing up the middle of the field. Devaughn Cooper looked as if he was going to that vacant area, but he cut back outside on the far side of the field.

Syracuse could have easily beat this coverage with a shallow route in the middle, but Shrader waited too long for Cooper to get open. Trebor Pena was also wide open on a hitch route. And Florida State had an advantage at the line with seven players against Syracuse’s six, making for another easy sack.

Seminoles all over Tucker, SU run game

Syracuse began its first drive of the second quarter at Florida State’s 23-yard line after Derek McDonald forced a fumble on Jordan Travis. On the first play, Shrader played a short pass to Tucker behind the line of scrimmage who was tackled for a one yard loss.

On this 2nd-and-11, all Syracuse needed to do was get deeper into the red zone, to at least allow Andre Szmyt to sink his second field goal of the game. It planned to run the ball, having its offensive linemen on the left side pull to give protection for Shrader or Tucker.

Everything that could’ve gone wrong went wrong for SU. Enrique Cruz Jr. was supposed to quickly make contact with Joshua Farmer before working to the second level. But Cruz tripped from Farmer’s outside leverage, allowing Farmer to get upfield.

Tucker was shoved all the way back to the 31-yard line, outside the red zone for a 3rd-and-16. Shrader was sacked for a seven-yard loss on the next play, and Szmyt was forced to kick from 53 yards, which he botched.

No spark to the passing offense

Down by 28 on its first drive of the second half, Syracuse remained at its own 25-yard line on 3rd-and-10 after an illegal formation penalty wiped out a five yard rush from Tucker. This forced Shrader to look deep for his fourth pass completion of the game — his prospective second connection above 10 yards on the day.

Here, Shrader surveyed his options downfield, first looking right toward Gadsden, who was tightly covered along the sideline. Shrader then pivoted left, remaining relatively stable in the pocket. Along the left sideline was Damien Alford, who wasn’t much more open than Gadsden. But Shrader had to choice but to launch the ball downfield. He got run over by Kalen DeLoach.

The pass was eventually overthrown, but the main issue was that Shrader had no other options. No one ran a shallow route. Tucker was covered when he peeled out for a dump off pass. And as a result, Syarcuse had to punt for the sixth time.

Failed Shrader-Tucker connection leads to FSU pick

To put it simply, this play could’ve been easily avoided. Once Tucker got close to Gary Vance Jr., he started jogging as Shrader made the throw. It seemed as if Tucker had no idea the pass was supposed to be intended for him or that he expected Shrader to throw the ball out of bounds.

Shrader didn’t do anything to move the defense away from Tucker if he was the intended receiver. He could’ve looked to his right, where Cooper bolted on a go route, but he gave away the play. Vance just had to sit and wait for the ball to be thrown his direction.

Published on November 16, 2022 at 12:35 am

Contact Alex: ahcirino@syr.edu