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This was supposed to be a tune-up game. This was supposed to be Stanford’s rude welcoming to the Atlantic Coast Conference. This was supposed to be a night where Kyle McCord continued to build his early Heisman resume. Instead, it was the same old Syracuse.

SU’s 26-24 loss to Stanford Friday had it all. Brutal turnovers, miscommunication, a one-dimensional offensive attack, costly penalties — all while giving up a late lead after a questionable defensive alignment choice.

Head coach Fran Brown pinned the blame on himself, but pointed to his team’s lack of physicality as for what led to the defeat. He said each side’s rushing yard totals — Syracuse’s 26 to Stanford’s 173 — told the whole story, adding that even Stevie Wonder could tell the difference between the Orange and the Cardinal.

But Friday’s loss wasn’t just a misstep. It was a blown opportunity to deliver a routine victory. What could have been the result to propel Syracuse to the AP Top 25 Poll became the Brown regime’s first indictment. Not only did the Orange’s down to the wire blunder against Stanford expose some of their most glaring flaws, it tarnished their chance to sustain an immediate statement in the new-look ACC.

Syracuse left this game with more questions than answers, not an ideal outcome for facing a team picked last in the conference’s preseason poll.

The Cardinal seemed destined to debut in the ACC as the conference’s bottomfeeder after a measly 3-9 2023 campaign in the Pacific-12 under then-first year head coach Troy Taylor. Meanwhile, the Orange rode into the matchup high coming off a victory over then-No. 23 Georgia Tech in Week 2.

The most recent AP Top 25 Poll saw Syracuse tally 62 votes, ranking third on the list of teams on the outside looking in. A win as an over a touchdown favorite against Stanford, combined with a few ranked teams stumbling, could’ve slotted SU into the national rankings.

Further, the ACC is as wide-open as it’s ever been in the College Football Playoff era. With Florida State struggling and Clemson’s national prowess dwindling — not to mention each university’s lawsuits attempting to exit the conference — the ACC’s former strongholds are sinking. A new upper echelon is yet to emerge. On paper, Syracuse is more than capable of being a part of it. But to do so, it has to win the games that it should win.

The Orange couldn’t accomplish that Friday. All they could do was watch Stanford kicker Emmet Kenney drill a 39-yard field goal as the clock expired. What should have been an expected Syracuse victory became Taylor’s biggest win as Stanford’s head coach.

It may only be year 1 of the Brown era, yet the concerns to draw from SU’s upset defeat are notable. Starting with Stanford’s second-to-last offensive play.

Cornerback Marcellus Barnes Jr. went out in the first quarter with an injury, leaving Jayden Bellamy, Devin Grant, Clarence Lewis and others to step up. The Cardinal’s star wide receiver, Elic Ayomanor, is quarterback Ashton Daniels’ clear-cut No. 1 target. Yet, that’s not how the Orange played him on fourth-and-9 with 37 seconds left.

Ayomanor, who snagged a one-handed touchdown earlier in the contest, merely received one-on-one coverage on the most consequential play of the night. Lewis even knew it’d go to him. Still, Ayomanor hauled in a 27-yard reception, leading to Kenney’s game-winner.

SU had a flawed strategy for stopping Ayomanor. Stanford doesn’t have any receiving threats who equate to the highly-touted NFL prospect. He needed to be Syracuse’s point of emphasis.

Considering Barnes Jr.’s injury, the Orange could have slid back into a single-high safety look and brought a polished defender in Alijah Clark to mark Ayomanor all over the field, with Duce Chestnut behind for relief. Yet they kept on giving Ayomanor one-on-one opportunities, and he took advantage of it.

McCord’s prior mistakes also reared their ugly head in the end. Though he tallied a gritty 19-yard touchdown run in the third and a crisp 13-yard touchdown pass to Jackson Meeks in the fourth, McCord’s night boiled down to just two plays.

He threw a pick-six to Stanford safety Mitch Leigber halfway through the third quarter, describing the play as a miscommunication between he and Dan Villari. Then, McCord tossed another interception early in the fourth, this time to safety Jay Green. The turnovers resulted in a 10-point swing. But they weren’t the worst quality of SU’s offense.

Stanford kicker Emmet Kenney drilled a game-winning field goal as time expired against Syracuse. Kenney’s kick stunned the JMA Wireless Dome to hand Syracuse its first loss under Fran Brown. Joe Zhao | Video Editor

It was one of Syracuse’s least balanced attacks in recent memory. Friday’s performance served as the opposite of 2023’s late-season wildcat, run-heavy offense while Garrett Shrader was hurt. The Orange could barely gain an inch running the ball against the Cardinal.

LeQuint Allen Jr. earned a measly 25 yards and only totaled eight carries. Freshman backup Yasin Willis had just four attempts for nine yards. A lack of commitment to the run game from SU offensive coordinator Jeff Nixon made it tough to give McCord and the passing operation a chance to find a rhythm early.

“We’ve got to be able to run the football,” Brown said. “(Stanford) eliminated that. They allowed us to pass the ball.”

At the same time, Syracuse’s air attack never developed consistency. McCord’s largest gains against Stanford came via improvisational plays outside of the pocket. He found Umari Hatcher for a 67-yard touchdown after escaping a collapsed pocket. McCord also flashed his ability to throw on the run for a few explosive plays to wide receiver Trebor Peña.

On set plays, however, McCord struggled. SU’s offensive line was weaker than it had been in its first two games, with McCord taking four sacks. The quarterback didn’t have as many reads of variety on given passing sets either. McCord made a living off reading coverages pre-snap and getting the ball out quickly with Nixon scheming low, middle and high receiving targets.

It wasn’t quite the same Friday night. McCord often took too long to make a decision, delivered an inaccurate ball due to pressure or forced a throw into coverage — a risk willing to be taken with Syracuse’s run game doing so poorly.

Despite a chance to establish themselves by taking care of business with two early-season ACC wins, the Orange exited their home venue with a whimper. The errors are certainly fixable. Nonetheless, holes within various coaching choices along with sloppy mistakes are not to be tolerated going forward.

With one ACC loss already under its belt, Syracuse has far less wiggle room in the future. Difficult conference games on the road against NC State and California loom, as well as a regular-season finale test versus No. 8 Miami, which looks like the current class of the ACC. Syracuse can’t come close to replicating Friday’s output again.

“I think that we have to use this as motivation,” McCord said postgame of the loss to Stanford. “Everything we want is still in front of us.”

McCord is right. Doom and gloom over Brown’s first loss isn’t necessary. SU can still accomplish its lofty goals. But it’s clear the honeymoon is over. The path forward is much tougher than before. Brown’s building something special. Until further notice, though, it’s still the same old Syracuse. Friday proved it.

Cooper Andrews is the Managing Editor at The Daily Orange, where his column appears occasionally. He can be reached at ccandrew@syr.edu or on X @cooper_andrews.

Published on September 21, 2024 at 12:20 pm