It may have taken three weeks, but Syracuse finally put together a respectable performance on national television.  The Orange lost the game 38-20, but gave fans hope for the future with an inspiring fight against the defending national champions.
Chunks of Yardage
The Syracuse offense still had trouble completing drives in the red zone, but the other 80 yards of the field looked great.  The Orange gained 412 yards of total offense, just 70 less than Florida State had.  The team managed 20 first downs between two quarterbacks and converted half of the third downs (7-for-14).  The Seminoles only allowed 354 yards per game on the season before today, and the Orange easily surpassed the average.  AJ Long impressed in his debut and Prince-Tyson Gulley fought hard for yards.  Inside of the Carrier Dome, there was a different feel.  Homecoming week brought a huge crowd for the early start time, and fans had a sense that the team could actually pull off the upset.  That was a much different vibe than last week’s debacle against Louisville.
Tim Lester Can Call Plays
After the off-field drama from the week prior, Quarterbacks Coach Tim Lester proved he could call plays.  Unlike former Offensive Coordinator George McDonald, Lester mixed up his play calls and allowed his quarterbacks to throw the ball downfield.  While screen passes were still called, they were used effectively (when PTG wasn’t dropping the ball).  Long and Wilson combined for 21 completions on 36 attempts for 6.9 yards per throw.  In addition, Lester also called a variety of plays that allowed the Syracuse receivers to separate themselves from the secondary.  Steve Ishmael caught two touchdowns from Long, the team’s first receiving touchdown since the Orange’s win at Central Michigan.  Lester helped spread the ball on the field.  Eight different players had at least one reception.  Sure, Lester has to work on the red zone offense this week, but in his first game as offensive coordinator, he impressed.
The Quarterback Debate Has Ended
As described in the Fizz’s post-game recap, AJ Long won today’s battle with Austin Wilson.  In his first game this season, Long created plays with his feet and threw for two touchdowns.  While he needs to work on his decision making (two interceptions) and arm strength, the raw freshman made plays with his arms and legs all day long.  His versatility makes him a much more well-rounded quarterback than Austin Wilson. While Wilson completed balls downfield with arm strength, Long’s legs compensated for his small stature (only six feet tall).  In addition to his 167 yards through the air, he ran for another 20 and avoided the rush in his 2+ quarters of work.  With either Wilson or Long under center, Syracuse has two competent quarterbacks who can run the offense just as well as Terrel Hunt did, if not better.
Posted:  Jason Weingold 
13 responses to “Positive Takeaways From Syracuse’s Loss to Florida State”
Jason,
Why the multiple references to a lack of arm strength for Long? He appeared to be able to make all the throws and with accuracy. His arm may not be as strong as Wilson’s but the passes he made looked good to me and were completed on a very good defense. Do you think this lack of arm strength will hurt him going forward?
Interested in Jason’s view that Lester called a good game? One of you guys that knows football…do you agree? That would make a big difference in our chances to win a few games. MCD called an awful game. Using the talent we have and playing to AJ’s strengths would help the kid and the program.
I don’t know if I know football but 400 + yards of offense against #2 in the country isn’t shabby..20 pts is a veritable outburst from what we’ve ben accustomed to. We left points on the field with 2 interceptions-1 each by long and Wilson. With all the changes(new qb/OC) and 1 week to get ready I was kind of expecting a trainwreck!!
I just hope we can keep the offensive momentum going and not have a letdown vs Wake Forest.
Cuse17, playing to any of the players’ talents would be the best option for any coach. I don’t think McD really did that consistently. We will see if Lester does. I said it after theOC switch, Lester has worked closely with these qbs and knows what they are best at doing and what they can’t do. So I expected to see any of the qbs that got the shot perform better. No one will agree because its been ordained by everyone that Hunt can’t play, but I believe that T Hunt would have looked better than he did in the previous games if he were healthy and had Lester calling the plays.
AJ’s arm is good enough to make throws. He had sufficient zip when firing the ball into receivers. He had enough strength to get the ball downfield. Its not a super strong arm, but it is good enough to make the throws he needs to make.I like how he has the ability to throw on the run. Thats a big asset. He can buy time with his legs while still having the chance to make plays downfield. When all else fails he can still squirt through and get positive yards.
With all the talk of Long, special shout outs to Ervin Phillips and Ish. Give credit where its due, Terry and Ron were major proponents of playing the freshmen by hook or by crook. By far they were the most vocal about it, though I don’t think anyone objected to playing them if they were ready. Phillips has a nice burst and agility. I can definitely see him being a major factor in the coming seasons. Would like to see how good he can be catching out of the backfield. I am still waiting for Morris to break out. I thought that this would be his year. Nice building blocks for the future
Brooklyn SU Football fan
Thanks for reminding me about Ervin Phillips playing in Saturday’s game. It looks like we had between 6-9 freshmen playing. That’s great!!!!!! I don’t know what the problem is with either George Morris II or Devantae McFarland not getting any playing time. It can’t be because of injuries,I don’t know what’s wrong.
I know the next statement I make here is going to open a can of worms,but here it goes. All of those 3* and 2* N/R players that played against the defending national champions FSU on Saturday loaded with all of that 4 & 5* talent “LOOKED PRETTY DAMN GOOD TO ME”. Of course this is coming out of the mouth of probably one of the biggest fan’s considered to be a blue collar “HOMIE” that frequents this web site.
I’m not trying to make/start an argument here,just telling you what I thought.
Ron,
Devantae McFarland has been out with an injury but may be back soon. Also, I thought the team played very well and that Lester called a very good game in using the run to open the pass and the pass to compliment the run.
Brooklyn
You said what I’ve beenlooking for… “Play to the players talents”…. MCD never did…no longer living in Cuse it’s hard to really know what’s going on if you don’t see the game. The responses have been positive..Ron can be a Homie but he separates fiction from reality! He called the Hunt issue very early.
Playing to the kids talents and play the freshmen..I’m all in!
To the Fizz Membership
I’m not here to receive accolades from anyone. I’m just an ordinary person who loves the game of football and loves Syracuse University Athletics. I try very hard to see both sides of any given situation and ask questions and make statements that no one else is willing to make. In doing so I might make people unhappy and knowing the fact that I succeeded at times made me happy.
Last week “Cuse17” and “Dr Bill” participated in a spirited debate and the one thing I noticed was the fact that neither called each other a name or used vulgar language of any kind to make their different points of view. The way I looked at that debate was I automatically thought about the age old argument of “acadamia vs athletics”. What made it even more special was the fact that both members graduated from Syracuse University.
Look I know at times that I’ve made statements here that were wrong and other members of this sight have corrected me. I thanked them for the correction and moved on. Isn’t that what we’re suppose to do?
I’ve said it before and I’m going to say it again,I feel the membership of this website is on the cutting edge and lead all other websites because we’re civil to each other during our debates. I feel we discuss just about everything and cover Syracuse Football in debth pretty damn good. We’re not afraid to challenge the reporter that writes the articles for the FIZZ. I just want to say to everyone that I love talking football with you guys. I’m proud to wear a badge with my name “HOMIE” on it every day of the week. What can I say fella’s other than thank you all for your input and TERRY that goes for you too.
GO CUSE,let’s beat Wake Forest on Saturday.
Frank
Thanks for the input,much appreciated. I talked with Myles Davis earlier and he said Lester was changing things up even more for the game against Wake forest on Saturday. Now if that’s true,we have an OC that’s changing things again. WOW,it’s refreshing to see that he doesn’t believe in running the same old stuff week in and week out and becoming stagnet and predictable. Refreshing indeed.
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