If you were at the Dome last week for Syracuse’s win over Colgate and took your eyes off the action, you might’ve missed a couple of plays. The Orange’s new high-octane, up-tempo offense under the tutelage of Dino Babers averaged 22.5 seconds between snaps in the 33-7 victory.
But if you didn’t learn your lesson and made that same mistake in the ACC opener on Friday night, you might’ve missed a barrage of Louisville touchdowns (three of which came in the first 4:43 of the game). Sophomore quarterback Lamar Jackson led the charge, as the No. 13 ranked Cardinals defeated the Orange 62-28 to improve to 2-0.
“When you put a good football team with an outstanding player, you’re going to see some of the things you saw,” Babers told reporters following the game.
And we saw that vaunted Cardinals offense live up to every bit of the hype, as Jackson eluded the Syracuse defense for most of the night and tore it to shreds. He finished 20-of-39 with 411 passing yards, 199 rushing yards and five touchdowns (four rushing).
Though Jackson spearheaded the attack, his teammates doled out a great deal of help. Players not named Jackson combined to rush for 214 yards and three touchdowns. Syracuse just had no answer for the Cards’ inexorable offense that set an ACC record with 826 total yards.
It’s tough to get into a rhythm when you’re in a three-touchdown hole in the blink of an eye. Syracuse tried its best to stay in the game and actually seized some of the momentum right before the end of the half.
A key defensive stop sandwiched by two touchdown passes from Eric Dungey to Amba Etta-Tawo made it a 14-point game. But in the end, Louisville just had way too much firepower and just seemed to answer every Orange surge with one of its own.
And much of the struggles for ‘Cuse came on the defensive side of the ball, but Babers was highly critical of the offense.
“I thought we should have played a lot better offensively,” he said.
SU has now lost its past 12 meetings against ranked opponents dating back to 2012. In fact, the last victory came against an undefeated Louisville team that was ranked 9th in the country at the time. In that game, it was Teddy Bridgewater who sliced the Orange into pieces, going 36-for-49 with 424 yards and a touchdown.
This time around, Lamar Jackson was the best player on the field and he used his athleticism to do whatever it was his heart desired. With back-to-back phenomenal performances, he’s now thrust himself into the Heisman conversation. Of course, he’ll need to prove he can maintain this level of production against more competitive teams, which is an opportunity that presents itself next week against Florida St.
For the Orange, it’s back to the drawing board but not necessarily back to square one. This was the first legitimate test of the Dino Babers era and sure, it didn’t end with Orange players storming the field after an upset. But we continue to see signs that this program has a positive trajectory.
Ideally, you at least want to be competitive against the ranked opponents on the schedule. But it’s only the second game of the season, so there’s still time for improvement.
Click here to read Ty’s previous reports