Thursday’s loss to Virginia Tech was one of the worst for Syracuse football in a long time. The season has been going downhill for the Orange since the start of the month and a new low was hit down in Blacksburg. There is still a month to go in the season and four games left to play. The Orange can turn things around as unlikely as that may seem now.
Rush Offense
The rush offense went from great to non-existent. When Garrett Shrader ran the ball for 195 yards and four touchdowns against Purdue, the question was whether or not Shrader running that many times was sustainable. The answer to that is simple. There isn’t one because Jason Beck hasn’t been running with Shrader since that game. QB1 had 50 rushing yards the week after against Army and hasn’t come close to eclipsing that mark since. The last two weeks, Shrader has been in the negatives in rushing yards.
LeQuint Allen
LeQuint Allen hasn’t done enough to supplement Shrader’s lack of running. Outside of the Florida State game where he had over 100 yards, the sophomore hasn’t even come close to touching the century mark. Allen hasn’t been active in the passing game either. Dino Babers said that Allen could get 100 receiving yards per game back in September. The New Jersey native hasn’t had more than 15 yards through the air or more than three receptions since the Clemson game.
The Defense
The defense just has to be better in general. Against UNC, it was the pass defense that was atrocious, against VT it was the rush defense. Rocky Long has struggled to stop anything every since the Army again. The Orange have given up at least 30 points in every game during this losing streak. That can’t happen if SU wants to win any of the final four games.
