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There’s only so much a defense can do when the offense isn’t holding up its end of the bargain. Syracuse knows this all too well.

In its third game of 2024 against Stanford Friday, SU’s defense allowed just one touchdown, forced two interceptions and quelled the Cardinal to a 5-for-14 third-down clip. The Orange weren’t perfect defensively. They gave up 173 rushing yards and surrendered points on all four Stanford red zone trips. But the Cardinal did enough to win.

Instead, the story of the game became Syracuse allowing Stanford to embark on a game-winning drive — ending in a 39-yard field goal from Emmet Kenney as time expired. The Orange were stunned by the Cardinal 26-24, their first loss under head coach Fran Brown. While SU’s unbalanced offense was the primary reason for its upset result, defensive lapses were still prevalent. Though, the good outweighed the bad.

Here is a breakdown of some key plays from Syracuse’s (2-1, 1-1 ACC) defense in its defeat to Stanford (2-1, 1-0 ACC):

2nd quarter, 11:08 — Grant reads Daniels like a book

With cornerback Marcellus Barnes Jr. exiting in the first quarter due to injury, SU’s secondary stared down a notable void. Barnes Jr. was supposed to be covering star Cardinal receiver Elic Ayomanor. Others needed to step up and make plays. Buffalo transfer Devin Grant did just that.

On this play, Syracuse sported a cover 2 look. Grant, who lined up as a nickel cornerback for most of the game, matched up with Ismael Cisse as Stanford faced a second-and-14 from its 22-yard line. Grant locked his eyes on Cardinal quarterback Ashton Daniels from the get-go, which he credited the play to postgame.

“Watching film all week, and just knowing my job (to keep) my eyes on the quarterback and be a ballplayer,” Grant said of his mindset on the play.

Cisse ran a streak from the slot. But Grant barely flinched, reading Daniels’ eyes as the signal-caller locked onto outside receiver Tiger Bachmeier. Grant slid to his right once Daniels threw it, briefly accelerating as the ball approached before diving horizontally.

Grant jumped the route, hauled in the interception and set SU up with a first-and-10 just outside the red zone — a drive which resulted in a Brady Denaburg field goal.

2nd quarter, 2:35 — There goes Davis

The game’s rushing yards discrepancy of 147 defined Syracuse’s loss. Here, Stanford back Chris Davis Jr. dashes for a 47-yard gain, 21 more yards than the Orange’s rushing offense accumulated overall.

Syracuse’s 4-2-5 defense gets fooled by the Cardinal’s split-back formation. As Daniels, flanked by Davis Jr. on his right and Micah Ford on the left, handed it to Davis Jr. on an outside zone, SU inside linebacker Derek McDonald shot the B gap. McDonald’s misplay took him out of position, allowing Davis Jr. to instantly find a massive hole past the left tackle.

Meanwhile, Stanford’s blockers dominated Syracuse at the line of scrimmage. Brown said postgame that the Cardinal “out-physicaled” the Orange. Grant echoed it too. There weren’t many better examples than this play — where eight SU defenders were either sealed off by blockers, or lagging behind the ball, as Davis Jr. crossed the line of scrimmage.

The free safety, Duce Chestnut, was also late to react to Davis Jr., who easily flew past five trailing SU defenders near the left sideline. Chestnut gets near Davis Jr. at Stanford’s 40-yard line, but doesn’t bring him down until Syracuse’s 33. A poor read by McDonald, lack of battles won near the line of scrimmage and Chestnut taking a bad angle resulted in a Cardinal field-goal drive, which made it 13-3 Stanford.

4th quarter, 7:49 — Linebacker Barron barrels downhill

Justin Barron moved down from his typical safety position to play linebacker against the Cardinal. It allowed Syracuse to play with an extra defensive back on the field in Grant, Brown said, rather than linebackers Anwar Sparrow or James Heard Jr.

Though for Brown, Barron simply made him feel more confident in his linebacking corps — which has been without star senior Marlowe Wax since Week 1. But the 6-foot-4, 225-pound Barron is plenty built to play on the second level.

“Especially since you don’t have Marlowe Wax right now, we tried to go and be a little more athletic when it came to the linebacker position,” Brown said.

Here, Barron and McDonald manned the middle of SU’s 4-2-5 set. Stanford displayed another split-back formation, but this time, the Orange played it correctly. Daniels handed off to Davis Jr. on an outside zone to the weak side. Syracuse’s entire defensive line created no push. Barron and McDonald, however, glided toward the ball untouched.

Ford dished a block on McDonald while Stanford right guard Simione Pale, who pulled to the left side after the snap, looked to fend off Barron. But Pale wasn’t fast enough, and Barron ran downhill to collide with Davis Jr. before he hit the line of scrimmage. Davis Jr. drove Barron forward slightly, though he and McDonald combined to swing him back in the opposite direction for no gain.

4th quarter, 0:37 — Ayomanor’s game-deciding play

This was the play that all but lost the game for Syracuse. Stanford faced a fourth-and-9 at the SU 45-yard line, its final chance at getting into field-goal range for a chance to upset the Orange. Syracuse originally lined up Jayden Bellamy one-on-one with the visitors’ top threat, Ayomanor, who had already tormented SU with a one-handed touchdown grab in the first half.

After a timeout by Brown, Ayomanor was on an island again. This time, with Clarence Lewis. It’s a spot Brown wishes Lewis was never in to begin with.

“That totally was not Clarence Lewis when it comes to that catch. That was completely (on) coach Fran,” Brown said Monday. “That was bad on myself, not on our defensive staff, not on anybody else … I put Clarence in a bad situation, and the results went that way.”

Stanford ran another split-back set with three wide receivers. Ayomanor was alone on the left side as its X receiver. Lewis guarded him one-on-one but had no safety help. Ayomanor ran a go route, and Daniels looked for him the whole way.

Daniels threw the ball just before Ayomanor, who beat Lewis from the jump, reached the 30-yard line. Ayomanor turned his head around — Lewis never did — and pivoted his body right to adjust. Ayomanor corralled the 27-yard reception without much of a contest from Lewis. It gave the Cardinal a fresh set of downs, and set them up for the game-winner.

Published on September 24, 2024 at 10:41 pm

Contact Cooper at: ccandrew@syr.edu | @cooper_andrews