It’s not often that a team will rack up 541 yards of total offense and look underwhelming, but that’s exactly what happened in Syracuse’s 42-14 win over Holy Cross.
After offensive miscues plagued the Orange as they suffered their first loss of the season to Stanford last week, those issues were still present, even if the Crusaders couldn’t capitalize on them. Despite throwing for a career-high 385 passing yards, quarterback Kyle McCord threw two interceptions for the second straight game and had a fumble recovered by Syracuse.
The offensive line allowed McCord to be sacked 5 times for a loss of 35 yards, one of which led to the fumble. Their inability to stop the Holy Cross pass rush overshadowed a strong performance from the defensive line, collecting 4 sacks against Crusaders quarterback Joe Pesansky while limiting their opponent to 9 total rushing yards with starter Jordan Fuller out.
The inconsistency continued among Syracuse’s skill players. Wide receiver Jackson Meeks shined against the Holy Cross secondary, going off for a career-high 161 yards on 10 catches and a touchdown, but tight end Oronde Gadsden struggled to connect with McCord after only managing 2 catches for 12 yards in the loss to Stanford.
He was even less of a factor against the Crusaders, with just 1 catch that went for 4 yards, the lowest receiving total on the team. As one of Syracuse’s top threats in the passing game, the production on offense isn’t sustainable if Gadsden isn’t at his best.
Continuing a season-long trend, the Orange also struggled to avoid penalties, ending the day with 6 flags for a loss of 52 yards. For Syracuse to prove that it belongs among the top teams in the ACC, it can’t afford to play as sloppy as it did against Holy Cross. Despite the team’s inconsistency, there were some unquestioned bright spots.
Running back LeQuint Allen Jr. was bottled up against Stanford, rushing 8 times for just 25 yards, but he bounced back against the Crusaders with 81 rushing yards on 16 carries. In addition to his first rushing touchdown of the season, he was involved in the passing game with a season-best 54 receiving yards on 7 catches.
The lopsided score doesn’t tell the full story of how sloppy Syracuse looked, but regardless of how they got there, the Orange improved to 3-1 to get back into the win column. Their inconsistency may haunt them against stronger opponents, but for now, Syracuse will hope to continue with the positives from this game and weed out the negatives.
