Syracuse was defeated by Pitt on Saturday, 19-9. Here are some quick hits from the game:
- There was a lot of outcry on social media about the lack of carries for Sean Tucker during and immediately after the game. Here are Sean Tucker’s stats in the three times he has played against Pitt at SU: 4 carries for 23 yards, 13 carries for 29 yards, and 10 carries for 19 yards. That is a total of 27 carries for 71 yards and Tucker has seven carries of five yards or more in those three games.
- On the other side of the coin, while Pitt was missing their leading rusher, Israel Abanikanda, they had success running the ball on their two long touchdown drives. The Panthers picked up 37 yards on six carries on the first scoring drive and 42 yards on nine rushes on the second. Aside from those two possessions, they had 94 yards on 32 rushes.
- Harkening back to last week’s tackle for loss percentage note in the quick hits following the Notre Dame loss, the Orange had three tackles for loss on 72 offensive plays for Pittsburgh, good for a 4.2 percent rate, the third-lowest mark on the season. None of those tackles for loss came until the fourth quarter and SU was in 17-6 hole.
- Ja’Had Carter snagged an interception for the third straight game, this one stopping the first Panther drive, to go with ten tackles. Isaiah Johnson also had an interception for SU. Marlowe Wax had a career day, finishing with 13 tackles, three quarterback hits, and a tackle for loss. Caleb Okechukwu notched the team’s only sack.
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- After getting replaced late in the Notre Dame game, Max von Marburg had a rough start for the Orange. His first punt went off the outside of his foot for just 23 yards, setting Pitt up with a short field, but rebounded after that, averaging over 43 yards on six other punts, three of them inside the Pitt 20.
- Syracuse’s second quarter offense was woeful. The lone first down came on a spectacular catch by Damien Alford for 31 yards. The third quarter was even less productive. Only a personal foul penalty on Pitt kept it from being a trio of three-and-outs as SU managed ten yards in the period.
WHAT’S NEXT
#20 Syracuse (6-3, 3-2 ACC) will close the home portion of their schedule next Saturday when they welcome Florida State to the Dome. After starting the season hot, the Seminoles (6-3, 4-3) lost three in a row to ranked teams, but have bounced back by beating Georgia Tech and manhandling Miami on Saturday night, 45-3.
Jordan Travis has driven the FSU offense by amassing 2,259 passing yards along with 17 touchdowns and just four interceptions on the season. Florida State entered the game against Miami allowing just under 178 passing yards per game, good for 14th in the country, then allowed the Hurricanes 62 passing yards in their game.
Kickoff is set for 8:00pm Eastern with the ACC Network handling television duties.
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