Fran Brown might have a penalties problem. Well, at some point.
Syracuse football’s head coach has been impressive in a lot of ways through his first few games. He managed the clock masterfully in SU’s win over Ohio, he’s been an inspiring leader in press conferences, and he’s gotten the most out of long-time Orange players like Trebor Pena. However, there have been bumps along the road. Syracuse gave up a first down on a key 4th-and-9 against Stanford, in part because defensive back Clarence Lewis was left on an island against star Cardinal receiver Elic Ayomanor. Still, one of the more consistent issues in the first three games has been penalties.
Penalties isn’t an unusual problem for SU football, unfortunately. Dino Babers led the Orange for eight years, and in that time, his teams were famously undisciplined when it came to penalties.
The numbers were always a problem. Syracuse had the 11th-most penalties per game in the country last year, with over seven per game. In fact, the ‘Cuse was penalized more than the average FBS team in each of the eight years that Babers led the squad.
What was even worse than the numbers was the situations in which the penalties happened in. It’s two years later, but pretty much every Orange fan remembers when defensive lineman Elijah Fuentes-Cundiff picked up a 15-yard penalty for a late hit in a loss to Clemson. SU was 6-0 at the time and went on to lose five straight. It didn’t only stem from that one penalty, but it sticks out as a turning point still. Untimely penalties can do that.
For Fran Brown, the penalty numbers haven’t been too bad so far. Syracuse is averaging six penalties per game, which is middle of the pack nationwide. However, there have been some bad penalties at bad times.
Against Ohio, Syracuse picked up an offensive holding penalty that erased a 44-yard catch by Oronde Gadsden on a third down. SU ended up needing to punt, despite taking over because of an interception. It wasn’t the end of the world because the Orange were up by a lot, but it let the Bobcats hang around longer than they should have.
In SU’s win over Georgia Tech, the ‘Cuse had to get a stop on a huge 3rd-and-9 around midfield. The Orange led by 17 in the middle of the fourth quarter. Fran Brown’s team did get a big stop, but also picked up an unnecessary roughness call that extended GT’s drive. The Yellow Jackets ended up scoring a touchdown, and the Orange only won by three points, in part because of that play.
The Stanford game was the worst, by far. In the first quarter, Oronde Gadsden picked up a late hit flag, which gifted the Cardinal 15 yards. That helped Stanford score its first touchdown of the game, to go up 7-0. Throughout the whole game record season highs of seven penalties for 70 yards.
Syracuse hasn’t lost a game under Fran Brown because of penalties… yet. To be clear, it also isn’t a problem as of now. However, there have been moments of concern. Cleaning up the Orange’s play should be a major focus for Fran Brown in the coming weeks.
