As Antwan Cordy peeked into the backfield, a Western Michigan slot receiver cut toward the sideline. By the time Cordy flipped his hips back around in pursuit of the wheel route, it was too late. Jayden Reed ran free down the sideline for a 37-yard Broncos gain on its first offensive play of the second half.

“You got to find out if Cordy is right,” CBS commentator Corey Chavous said on the broadcast. “Right now he’s struggling to stay with Reed.”

The next play, Cordy watched as D’Wayne Eskridge came out of a comeback route and shook off SU’s Scoop Bradshaw along the sideline. Cordy arrived late, and his push did nothing to prevent Eskridge from scoring.

Cordy admitted later he thought the defensive back was going to make the tackle, and he should’ve been there himself.

“That was some Cordy that I never saw before when I saw film,” Cordy said. “I was mad at myself.”

Cordy’s return to the starting lineup after missing the majority of both the 2016 and 2017 seasons due to injuries was littered with defensive mishaps in Western Michigan’s 28-point third quarter.  A week later, in the home opener against Wagner, Cordy recorded a solo tackle, a 34-yard punt return and a pass break up. When Syracuse (2-0) welcomes Florida State (1-1, 0-1 Atlantic Coast) to the Carrier Dome on Saturday, Cordy will play in the third game of a season for the first time since 2015.

“He did a much better job moving through space the second game,” Syracuse head coach Dino Babers said. “You could see that he was a lot more comfortable and a lot more relaxed and that’s good because we need him relaxed. Because when he’s relaxed and he’s comfortable he’s really really talented.”

Cordy said he was “nervous as hell,” entering the first game of 2018. He acknowledged the pressure coming back off the injury and tried to be too perfect, often overthinking assignments. Babers said he met with Cordy following the game, though Babers called the conversation “private” and didn’t elaborate. Babers added that if you watched Cordy through space, he didn’t look comfortable.

That wasn’t the case against Wagner. On the first play of the Seahawks’ third offensive drive, running back Ryan Fulse nearly broke loose. The Wagner offensive line mauled both SU’s front-seven, leaving a wide hole by the left tackle. Cordy, who started the play about 10 yards from the line of scrimmage at the safety position, rocketed toward Fulse. He wrapped up Fulse at the ankles and rolled him over, holding the running back to a 2-yard gain.

“(When he’s relaxed) he goes from being a small guy that shouldn’t be out there to a guy that all the short guys are rooting for because he’s out there playing with the big dogs,” Babers said.

In the season opener against Western Michigan, Cordy started at punt returner but didn’t record a return, nor did he break up a pass. Against Wagner, he did both.

More than five minutes into the second quarter, Cordy lined up across the inside receiver in a two wide receiver set. As his receiver ran vertically down the field, Cordy broke on an outside comeback route. He arrived simultaneously with the ball and ripped it out of the Wagner receiver’s hands. Unlike the week prior, Cordy wasn’t late.

Two plays later, on fourth down, Cordy caught a punt at the SU 23-yard line. He ran two steps to his right before cutting up the field past a diving defender. He then bounced the run outside once more and down the Syracuse sideline, before cutting to the middle of the field for the tail end of a 34-yard return.

The Carrier Dome fans, some standing, roared throughout the return. Teammates ran over and congratulated Cordy.

After the Wagner game, Cordy said: “That was me right there.”

Published on September 12, 2018 at 7:53 am

Contact Josh: jlschafe@syr.edu | @Schafer_44