TAMPA, Fla. — In the swarm of Syracuse defenders who collapsed on South Florida’s punter, Durell Eskridge executed what his head coach called for all week.

Doug Marrone told his special teams unit it needed to block a punt. So Eskridge did just that Saturday night, making a game-changing play when he barreled through the USF protection and knocked Justin Kann-Brockhaus’ kick down in Syracuse’s 37-36 win over South Florida at Raymond James Stadium.

The play helped shift momentum in favor of the Orange and started to send the Bulls to a deflating collapse.

Syracuse trailed 23-10 early in the third quarter when the Orange defense forced a South Florida three-and-out. On the Bulls’ ensuing punt attempt, Eskridge came through with the block and recovered the loose ball to give SU possession.

“We’ve been going over that play all week,” Eskridge said. “Coach Marrone, he knew I could get there. And we’ve just been going over it over and over again.”

Eskridge said he knew he just needed to run straight through the Bulls’ punt protector in the middle, and if he did that, the protector on the outside would slide over to help out. That opened up the outside for Eskridge to get to the punter.

With good field position, Syracuse marched down to the South Florida 4 yard line, setting up a touchdown run by wide receiver Alec Lemon on an end-around that cut the deficit to six.

Eskridge’s block was a big moment for an embattled special teams unit that has struggled since the first game of the season.

“My team, they told me that I changed the whole game around and I knew I had there,” Eskridge said. “I knew we needed a big play at that moment and I came through, and we came together as a team and we pulled this out.”

Red-zone struggles return

Overshadowed in Syracuse’s comeback 37-36 victory were the Orange’s struggles in the red zone.

After Syracuse began running the “Tank” package with Lewellyn Coker at fullback and Adonis Ameen-Moore at running back against Pittsburgh, SU enjoyed more success converting on short-yardage and goal-line situations.

“It’s very frustrating. You know you want to help out the O-line who grind every play,” SU running back Jerome Smith said. “It’s more just wanting to help your team out.”

In a rough first half that sent the Orange into the locker room down 20 at halftime, Syracuse left points on the board on several failed red-zone opportunities. SU went 70 yards on its first drive of the game, moving down to the 5 yard line.

A quarterback keeper for no gain, followed by a Smith run for just 2 yards and an incomplete pass quelled Syracuse’s chances for a touchdown, and the team settled for a field goal.

Then in the second half, the Orange once again marched inside the 5 yard line, this time down to the 4. Smith went 3 yards on two plays to get to the 1. But a false start penalty on Syracuse brought it back 5 yards, and Ross Krautman missed a 22-yard field goal attempt to end the drive empty-handed.

The Orange’s failed attempts to get the ball into the end zone from within 5 yards changed the game. Syracuse went into the break down by 20 in a game that should have been closer.

Though the Bulls defense is last in the Big East in total defense, rushing defense and scoring defense, the unit put up a strong effort on Saturday.

“They did a great job. They slanted, they hit hard,” Smith said. “They did a great job overall, though, especially in the red zone.”

Published on October 28, 2012 at 10:30 pm

Contact Chris: cjiseman@syr.edu | @chris_iseman