Syracuse traveled to Louisville with a chance to claim bowl eligibility and well, that just didn’t happen. SU looked as bad as it has all year and the UL offense just rolled. Malik Cunningham exploded with a Lamar Jackson-esque performance. The dual-threat talent totaled FIVE touchdowns himself.
This game was over by the time the first quarter ended. It was 14-3 Cardinals after the first frame and they picked that up with a 21-0 spot in the second. Scott Satterfield’s pistol offense have Tony White’s 3-3-5 defensive scheme fits for the second year in a row. The Syracuse defense just had no answers all afternoon. It also didn’t help that the leader of the defense, Mikel Jones, was tossed out of the game on a targeting infraction early in the second quarter. 
So the defense was, in a word, horrid. The offense wasn’t much better in fact, it was abysmal.
Garrett Shrader was his usual self in the passing game. Just 10 completions on 18 attempts for a grand total of…. 46 yards. The more surprising stat was the fact that Sean Tucker was held under 100 yards for the first time since week two of the season. Obviously it’s a tall task to be a game changer when opposing defenses stack 7-8 guys in the box with no threat of a passing game.
Even the special teams sucked. James Williams averaged under 30 yards PER PUNT. Many of you reading right now might be able to throw a ball further than that.
Syracuse still has a chance to make a bowl game but if today’s performance was any indication of what we’ll see down the stretch, it’s not happening. NC State and Pittsburgh await.
