PITTSBURGH — It was almost as if Syracuse would have been better off at any other spot on the field.

First down from the Pittsburgh 1-yard line quickly turned into third down after running back Prince-Tyson Gulley was stuffed at the line and quarterback AJ Long threw wide of tight end Josh Parris in the left flat.

And had the Orange not handed off to defensive lineman Ron Thompson on the next play, it would have been held touchdown-less for the third time this season.

Playing the lead back in Syracuse’s jumbo package — which also includes defensive ends Micah Robinson and Robert Welsh — Thompson took Long’s handoff, raised the ball above his head and fought through the Panthers’ defensive front for a score. The Orange (3-8, 1-6 Atlantic Coast) fell to Pittsburgh (5-6, 3-4), 30-7, at Heinz Field on Saturday evening, and Thompson’s touchdown plunge said more about SU’s running game than it did about wrinkles in offensive coordinator Tim Lester’s playbook.

The 1-yard run was Syracuse’s third rushing touchdown by a non-quarterback this season, and the first since Gulley and Adonis Ameen-Moore ran for their only scores of the year in the Orange’s opener against Villanova on Aug. 29.

“I know that was a good call, I thought, and also a good play by (Thompson), who showed some athleticism,” SU head coach Scott Shafer said. “And he evened up the ante with the D-ends all having touchdowns this year.”

Coming into the season, Syracuse’s five-pronged rushing attack was a perceived strength of an offense that then-offensive coordinator George McDonald was in the process of reshaping.

But as Shafer alluded to, the team’s defensive line has more touchdowns — including an interception return by Welsh and Robinson’s fumble return against Wake Forest, and Thompson’s rush on Saturday — than the running backs through 11 games.

Thompson was recruited as a four-star tight end, according to Scout.com, and then moved to defensive end before shifting to defensive tackle at the onset of this season.

He showed his athleticism on defense in the early going against the Panthers, blowing through the line on the fourth play of the game to drop running back James Conner for a 2-yard loss and throughout the first half he ended up in quarterback Chad Voytik’s face. Thompson finished with four total tackles, more than anyone else on the Orange’s front.

Yet Syracuse’s offense couldn’t capitalize on a myriad of chances and the Pitt rushing attack helped it thrive on first down and finish the game with 38:42 of possession.

Thompson, who wasn’t made available for interviews after the game, could only influence the scoreboard in an improbable way.

“A lot of it is to put bigger, more athletic bodies on the field,” Long said of SU’s jumbo package, “and be able to run the ball and throw the ball effectively. Having those guys in, having (Thompson) and (Robinson), they’re both very athletic and could very well play tight end.

“It makes our offense a little bit heavier and a little bit more dynamic.”

On the second play of Syracuse’s only successful red-zone possession, Thompson peeled off the line, found a hole in the Panthers defense and waved his arms for Long’s attention. But Long thought Thompson had never started his route and threw the ball away in Parris’ direction.

But Thompson didn’t have to wait much longer to get a touch and his first career touchdown.

It was a career milestone for a player who once expected to catch scores as a tight end. But it was also an unwelcome statistical anomaly for a Syracuse team that thought those touchdowns would instead be scored by its running backs.

Said Shafer: “I and Coach Lester thought that a belly play to the second man through or the lead man through rather than the third man through could catch him off guard, and it did.”

Published on November 22, 2014 at 8:35 pm

Contact Jesse: jcdoug01@syr.edu | @dougherty_jesse