It looked like the start of a really bad trend for Syracuse.

Maryland’s first drive of the game lasted five plays and ended in a 25-yard touchdown pass from C.J. Brown to Marcus Leak. Then Brown threw a bubble screen to Brandon Ross on the second play of the next drive and Ross ran 90 yards into the end zone.

Two drives, two big plays, two scores. Naturally, Syracuse made a defensive shift.

“That 3-3-5 allows the blitz to do a lot more,” senior linebacker Cameron Lynch said.

On the Terrapins’ third possession, SU switched to a 3-3-5 — its “Okie” package — to put more speed on the field and pressure Brown in the backfield. It only used the Okie on two possessions, Maryland’s third and fourth, in an eventual 34-20 loss on Saturday afternoon, one resulting in a three-and-out and the other in a UMD field goal.

Save a late field goal, Syracuse nearly blanked the Terrapins in the second half and didn’t need the Okie package to do so. But the two possessions showed benefits and pitfalls of the alternative set.

“They’re a vertical team,” safety Darius Kelly said of the Terrapins. “We want to have more (defensive backs) on the field to stop the pass. That was one of the emphases with Okie.”

The Okie package puts three defensive linemen on the line of scrimmage, three linebackers in the box and five defensive backs on the field.

The Syracuse defense began Maryland’s third possession in a base set. After Stefon Diggs beat Durell Eskridge downfield and Brown just barely overthrew him, the Orange subbed safety Darius Kelly into the game for nose tackle Eric Crume to add speed in the secondary.

Kelly became the third safety with Ritchy Desir and Durell Eskridge. Ron Thompson, Micah Robinson and Robert Welsh were on the line, Lynch, Marqez Hodge and Josh Kirkland were the linebackers and Brandon Reddish and Julian Whigham were at cornerback.

In the next two plays, Ross rushed for 2 yards and then Lynch sacked Brown for a 5-yard loss. It was one of three times that the Terrapins went three-and-out in the game.

On Maryland’s next possession, the Terrapins counteracted the Okie by allowing a blitz from the left side and throwing behind it. Syracuse overloaded that side of the ball and it appeared that linebackers Lynch and Luke Arciniega had a free run at Brown while Maryland guard Andrew Zeller moved into the second level.

But Brown got rid of the ball just in time and hit Deon Long for a screen pass. Zeller blocked Desir, allowing Long to collect 13 yards.

This wrinkle from the Terrapins exposed a weakness in the fast and pressuring package. But the two possessions showed that the Orange has an option if it can’t slow an offense down, even if it’s only usable in certain situations. Syracuse has sporadically used the Okie in third-and-long, but used it as a primary package to hedge the Terrapins’ athleticism. 

“You’ve got to win first and second down to get in those positions,” defensive line coach Tim Daoust said. “We start to win first and second downs, we can get in those positions. If we don’t do that, then that personnel can’t get on the field.”

Published on September 22, 2014 at 12:10 am

Contact Jesse: jcdoug01@syr.edu | @dougherty_jesse