Syracuse Football still couldn’t make a dent in the Steel City Thursday night, falling to Pitt 27-13. It was the Orange’s 12th straight loss in Pittsburgh as they fell to 1-2 (0-2, Atlantic Coast) on the season.
Poor quarterback play, penalties, and kicking miscues plagued SU in its 21-18 loss against Cal last week. The same recipe continued against the Panthers, with more alarming issues coming to the forefront.
However, one positive change from last week was the kicking situation. After two missed field goals last week, Tripp Woody completely flubbed a 29-yard attempt wide left. From that point on, freshman Shay Barker came into the game and hit two field goals and one extra point. With a bye week coming up, here are three main takeaways from Syracuse’s ninth straight ACC loss.
Angeli’s Benching
After making a triumphant return less than a year after tearing his Achilles in SU’s first blowout win over New Hampshire, quarterback Steve Angeli had his worst game in his Syracuse career against California with three interceptions.
Earlier this week, head coach Fran Brown reiterated that Angeli’s performance was based on bad decision-making, rather than his health. Angeli had a solid start in the first half, going 11-for-18 for 155 yards.
As the second half commenced, Angeli’s timing and decision-making took a drastic turn. The red-shirt senior missed a prime opportunity to connect with Umari Hatcher in the end zone midway through the third quarter, as offensive coordinator Jeff Nixon relied more on the ground attack than in the air.
With a strong running game to open the fourth quarter, Angeli squandered the moment with an errant pass over the middle picked off by Raison Strader. On the next offensive drive, Angeli’s deep pass to Daunte Bacheye was picked off again by Brayon Lovelace.
Angeli ended up with only six passing yards in the second half and was replaced by Amari Odom. On his lone drive that ended in a field goal, the Kennesaw State transfer went seven-for-seven for 44 yards. The question is who will remain under center for the Orange, as Angeli has five interceptions over the past two games and just one touchdown.
Undisciplined Penalties Continue
Coming into the game, SU led the nation in total penalties and average penalty yardage. The same issues continued largely in the first half. On the first offensive drive of the game, Noah Meyers 15-yard pass was negated by a facemask penalty on David Clement.
Next, an Antoine Deslauriers personal foul set up Pitt’s first score. On the next Pitt drive, SU appeared to force a three-and-out, but Demetres Samuel Jr. was called for pass interference. After the play, Brown was assessed an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty, leading to Pitt’s second touchdown.
SU had more penalty yards (81 on seven penalties) than total offensive yards (59) early in the second quarter. The Orange were more disciplined in the second half, with no penalties, but took 10 penalties for 94 yards in the first half.
Panthers Rushing Attack
Pitt’s number one running back Ja’Krian Turner was out for the second straight week, but the Panthers bullied the Orange on the ground. The new-look defense under Vince Kehres had allowed only 17 points combined over the first two games with just over sixty rushing yards per game.
Pitt finished the game with 245 rushing yards and found the end zone three times on the ground. The Panthers ran for 114 yards in the first half, with no adjustment made at the break by Syracuse. The Panthers ran the ball on four straight plays for seventy-six yards, capped off by a shifty rush by quarterback Mason Heintschel. Syracuse is back in action on October 3 at UConn.
