WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. — Syracuse (2-4, 0-2 Atlantic Coast) lost its second straight game on Saturday. Wake Forest (5-1, 2-1) beat the Orange for the first time since SU joined the ACC, 28-9. SU struggled gaining yards in the air and only broke a few runs. SU scored on a safety from a botched snap on a punt and a Dontae Strickland touchdown in the first half. It failed to score more than 10 points in a second half for the fifth time in six games.

Here are three things we learned from the Orange’s loss

Runnin’, runnin’ and runnin’ runnin’

On certain drives, Syracuse plugged some of Wake Forest’s run gaps well enough to stop the Demon Deacons. But there were a few big plays SU allowed that burned it, which isn’t so new. Wake Forest ran the ball 51 times, but one of those rushes was counted as a team rush for the botched punt in the first quarter. That took 45 yards off its total.

With those 45 yards and one attempt taken out, WFU ran the ball 50 times for 235 yards, good for 4.7 yards per carry. SU has allowed 5.4 yards per carry this season in all its other games. But the Orange also allowed at least three runs of 17 or more yards, including quarterback John Wolford’s long touchdown.

As linebacker Zaire Franklin tried to come up with an answer about the plays SU did stop, he thought up an answer to how SU was able to contain the run for the most part, he reverted back to SU allowing longer runs.

“But they busted (a few),” Franklin said.

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MORE COVERAGE:

• With the loss against Wake Forest, Syracuse’s bowl chances are shattered
• SU has now lost three of its last four
• Breaking down the Orange’s loss to Wake Forest in graphics

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Sterling Hofrichter isn’t as bad as his last few games

The Syracuse punter has had a rough go of it to say the least. He struggled when Syracuse played Notre Dame at MetLife Stadium on Oct. 1, when he averaged just 39.5 yards per punt. Against Wake Forest, his punts traveled an average of 41.5 yards, but he forced three fair catches and dropped two inside the 20-yard line.

It was the third time all season that Hofrichter had more than one of his punts be called for a catch. Two of his punts traveled more than 50 yards, which is also just the second time he’s done that more than once in a game.

Against WFU, Hofrichter took more direct snaps than diagonal snaps while still punting rugby-style at times. Instead of punting higher, he punted more direct line drives that rolled longer. He also had to contend with the conditions in a game that was both windy and rainy for the majority.

Ally Moreo | Asst. Photo Editor

Weather and poor blitz pick-up is the only thing that can hold Amba Etta-Tawo back

Amba Etta-Tawo had his worst game of the season on Saturday with four catches for 36 yards. Despite that, he’ll still likely be leading the country in receiving yards after Week 6 of the college football season is over.

He has 876 yards on the year, just 16 yards better than Louisiana Tech’s Trent Taylor, who had a 100-plus yard receiving day on Saturday. Syracuse has relied on Etta-Tawo all season, but finally weather put a kibosh on deep throws in the first half.

Wake Forest rarely shaded a safety over the top of Etta-Tawo, a strategy that worked for Notre Dame at times last week. Despite the mix of one-on-one coverage and the rain stopping in the second half, Syracuse still didn’t pass deep.

Head coach Dino Babers said Syracuse struggled picking up the blitz on Saturday, which didn’t give quarterback Eric Dungey enough time in the pocket to throw deep. Dungey was sacked six times against the Demon Deacons.

Published on October 9, 2016 at 2:19 am

Contact Chris: cjlibona@syr.edu | @ChrisLibonati