When Ian Book slipped and lofted the ball into the hands of a looming Andre Cisco, Syracuse was gifted an opportunity. Instead of trailing by as many as 20 points with slightly under seven minutes remaining in the half, Syracuse had the ball on its 20-yard line. A touchdown drive would’ve brought the No. 12 Orange (8-3, 6-2 Atlantic Coast) within one score of No. 3 Notre Dame (11-0).

In four plays, Syracuse traveled 33 yards. On the fifth, the ball hit an open Taj Harris’ hands and the gap between Syracuse and a top-tier opponent like Notre Dame showed.

With help from an Irish defensive back, the ball deflected away from Harris and into the air. Safety Alohi Gilman snagged the floating ball before chugging 54 yards down the sideline. On Notre Dame’s next play, a toss counter fooled nearly the entire defense and Notre Dame running back Jafar Armstrong jogged to the end zone unscathed in the eventual 36-3 Notre Dame win.

“We were able to do some things offensively that put us in a really good position,” Notre Dame head coach Brian Kelly said.  “And never really felt like the game was threatened at any time.”

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MORE COVERAGE: 

• Babers unsure of Dungey’s status
• No. 12 Syracuse crumbles in season’s biggest test
• The Orange defense had no answer for Ian Book

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Entering Saturday’s game, Syracuse hadn’t lost since Oct. 6 against Pittsburgh. The Orange’s offense ranked sixth in the country in scoring. On average, SU’s turnover margin (1.3) was fourth best nationally. Walk-on kicker Andre Szmyt was the fourth most accurate kicker in the country and redshirt freshman Tommy DeVito’s double overtime heroics proved him a worthy successor to Eric Dungey.

Those were the things that vaulted Syracuse into the rankings for the first time since 2001. The things that brought Syracuse into a New Year’s Six bowl projections. The things that seemed too be good to be true. And when the things that set the stage for Syracuse’s first top 15 matchup in 21 years collapsed below them, the Orange laid exposed.

“For the most part our veterans played extremely well on three sides of the ball, offense defense, special teams,” head coach Dino Babers said. “But if you start going back to our young people, and it was not good. They did not handle the surroundings well. It was disappointing.”

Throughout the season the area of the team Babers refers to as the “underbelly,” the rotational players and second stringers, propelled the Orange into situations it nearly always missed in the past.

It started in Week 1, when the Orange survived a 28-point third quarter run at Western Michigan. Two weeks later, SU beat Florida State for the first time in 52 years. And starting there, Syracuse became a benefactor of circumstance. FSU, at 5-6, isn’t the national power it once was. Clemson played more than half of the matchup with a third string quarterback. North Carolina was a first down away from a field goal attempt to end the game in regulation.

The week leading up to Syracuse’s matchup with Louisville, Babers was asked about his team’s favorable schedule and catching teams on a down year.

“I don’t think it’s so much of being lucky,” Babers said before crediting preparation and injury prevention for SU’s success in 2018.

The answer lies somewhere in the middle. It’s undeniable that things have fallen Syracuse’s way. But in years’ past, the Orange wouldn’t have capitalized. For that, Syracuse has earned credit.

Syracuse walks off the field after its loss on Saturday. Alexandra Moreo | Senior Staff Photographer

On Saturday, things didn’t fall the Orange’s way and they collapsed. DeVito’s first pass of the game, a deep ball to Nykeim Johnson, missed long. On the next play, defenders faced DeVito nearly off the snap and he threw long again, that time to Jamal Custis. It set a trend for the game.

DeVito finished 14-of-31 and was sacked six times. Kelly said his team stressed playing with five guys in in the box, sometimes adding a sixth late. Babers said Notre Dame didn’t play chess, but checkers. Beating Syracuse didn’t require complexity.

“I don’t think they did anything we didn’t see,” Babers said. “They’ve got really good players.”

For Notre Dame, the game was easy. And that was largely due to Syracuse handing away opportunities. Syracuse threw three interceptions while Szmyt missed just his third field goal of the year.

Though Syracuse wasn’t expected to win on Saturday, it learned what the next level of competition feels like. After spotting Notre Dame 13 points less than five minutes into the game, Syracuse had already dug itself an irreversible hole. Then came more interceptions, failed third downs and a missed field goal to top it off.

Against a team that is one win from the College Football Playoff, Syracuse showed why it’s miles away.

Josh Schafer is the sports editor for The Daily Orange where his column appears occasionally. He can be reached at jlschafer@syr.edu or @Schafer_44. 

Published on November 18, 2018 at 6:00 pm