DURHAM, N.C. — At his weekly press conference on Monday, Syracuse head coach Dino Babers’ stance toward his 3-6 SU team was firm. 

“The biggest thing is that we need to get better,” Babers said, “and we need to be able to find improvement in certain areas, and we’re striving to do that.”

Babers had fired defensive coordinator Brian Ward the previous week after a 58-27 embarrassment of a loss to Boston College, one in which the Eagles rushed for nearly 500 yards and scored 34 points in the second quarter alone. It wasn’t just the defense that needed some sort of spark, though — the sluggishness was team-wide. Tight end Aaron Hackett described the Orange’s locker room as “hurting” following the contest and said he felt the season had been a disappointment to that point. 

For a Syracuse team that had been picked by many to finish second in the Atlantic Coast Conference during the preseason and had won 10 games the previous year, its 3-6 start wasn’t just a surprise, it was nearly a death blow. One more loss over its last three games would eliminate it from bowl contention. But if they could stop their four-game losing streak and somehow string together some wins, the Orange could potentially salvage a .500 season. 

On Saturday in Durham, for at least another week, Syracuse’s (4-6, 1-5 ACC) bowl game hopes were kept alive. As Babers hoped, SU improved in many areas, specifically on defense. The Orange jumped out to an early lead and never looked back in a 49-6 win over Duke (4-6, 2-4) to earn their first win against a Power 5 team this season. 

“There’s a celebration in there (the locker room),” Babers said. “It’s just one game, but how important a football game it was to us, was extremely based off of the things that have gone on the last two weeks, so I’m really excited for them.”

After Syracuse’s loss to Boston College as well as the firing of Ward, the coaching staff told the players what was going on and what they expected of them, Babers said. A plan was put in place, and it was up to the players to accept it and work toward their goal of winning out. Babers and the players agreed that they did so, resulting in a strong couple weeks of practice. 

“We had two weeks to figure out who we wanted to be and how we wanted to end the season,” SU defensive end Kendall Coleman said. “And I think tonight was more of a statement that was made for ourselves as a look in the mirror of, we’re more than capable of being who we want to be, we just gotta go out and act on it.”

Courtesy of Dennis Nett, Syracuse.com

The difference in SU’s mentality was evident from the get-go, when it took the Orange four plays to go 74 yards and score a touchdown on their first possession. Two of the plays were catches by Trishton Jackson, who had lined up in the slot as opposed to his usual outside receiver position. The Michigan State transfer beat his defender on both plays, the first a 50-yard gain and the second an 18-yard touchdown. 

On a later drive, Tommy DeVito handed off to Moe Neal before the running back himself handed the ball off to Taj Harris for a wide receiver reverse. The play went for 15 yards and was followed by another reverse resulting in a pass from Harris to DeVito. The Orange, who had been beaten on trick passes during three consecutive games earlier this season, used deception to their advantage. 

“Just letting loose,” SU running back Neal said. “At this point, the season hasn’t gone the way we wanted it to, we have nothing to lose. I tell the guys all the time, we just gotta act like we’re seven years old again and just go out there and play football, have fun, relax, just do what we do.”

Syracuse hadn’t had a 100-yard rusher since Sept. 21 against Western Michigan but rode Neal’s 115 yards to dictate the pace of the game. He was aided by the physicality of SU’s offensive line, which had one of its best games of the season. It featured another tweak to the Orange’s game plan, swapping usual-center Airon Servais back to left tackle, the position he started the season at prior to Sam Heckel’s injury, and moving Carlos Vettorello in at center.

Vettorello responded positively, anchoring an offensive line that gave up just one sack, tying a season-best. Neal found running lanes that had been missing for two months and was matched with his 115 yards by Jarveon Howard, who did most of his damage during garbage time. True freshman Jawhar Jordan also found success behind the offensive line, rushing for his first career touchdown. 

“The offensive line did a great job of opening holes,” Neal said. “…I feel like he (Carlos) held his own. He did a great job of orchestrating stuff. Center’s a hard position, you’ve gotta call out the fronts, the blitzes and stuff like that, so I feel like he did a great job.” 

The fiery defense that SU featured last season and had been spotty this year even returned, to the tune of three takeaways coming on consecutive drives in the third quarter. 

After the first, an Andre Cisco interception return for a touchdown, the Syracuse sideline erupted. As Cisco ran through the end zone and spread his arms, his teammates poured onto the field to celebrate. Stanard earned a chest bump from a fellow member of the SU coaching staff. Shaq Grosvenor danced on the sideline. 

“We still got a heartbeat,” Babers said on Monday. “It’s not over, but we’ve got to start doing something.”

Against Duke, for the first time in two months, the Orange finally did. It hasn’t been the season they expected, nor will it be, no matter what happens over their last two games. But for now, their heartbeat, and bowl chances, are still alive.  

“We know we control our destiny still,” Neal said. “It’s been a rough year, not what we expected, but when you get knocked down you gotta be able to get back up.” 

Published on November 16, 2019 at 7:25 pm

Contact Eric: erblack@syr.edu | @esblack34