Syracuse clinched bowl eligibility with a 35-31 win over Wake Forest on Saturday. Here are the key takeaways from the win.
Shrader shows ability to throw
Garrett Shrader’s 35-yard touchdown pass was a short throw and whole lot of running by Damien Alford. While the senior quarterback showed that his arm was still operating with a limited range, Dan Villari finally was given a chance to throw downfield in the third quarter and delivered a perfect pass to Alford for a 47-yard touchdown.
Shrader did connect with Alford later on a 29-yard pass with a pass that showed some wobble and had another downfield throw to Umari Hatcher, although that pass was also short.
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Allen's workhorse afternoon
LeQuint Allen left no doubt about his workhorse capabilities despite his relatively small stature. Allen had 32 carries, bringing his total over the last three weeks to 87. Allen finished strong with four straight 100-yard rushing efforts and 662 yards over the final six games.
The 87 carries over a three-game span by Allen are the most by an Orange running back this century. Sean Tucker had is second on that list with 82 carries over a three-game span in 2021 and Curtis Brinkley had 81 rushes over three games during the 2008 season.
Penalties hurt SU again
A frequent complaint about the Orange under Dino Babers had been the team’s propensity to commit penalties.
The Orange’s second offensive snap of the Wake Forest game was thwarted by a false start and a facemask infraction moved Wake Forest into the red zone in the second quarter.
The Deacons helped out by committing a pair of false starts to end that drive with a field goal.
And clock management too
Another oft-cited issue under Babers was clock management.
That was also not completely cleaned up with the changing of the guard, as the Orange ran out of time with the ball on the Wake Forest 1 to end the first half.
Denaburg struggles from distance
Brady Denaburg dropped to 3-of-9 on field goal attempts of 38 yards or longer this season after missing a 53-yard attempt shortly before halftime.
While a penalty on the attempt gave SU new life on the drive, the Orange had to use their last time out and eventually were stopped just shy of the goal line when time elapsed.
Perhaps what Denaburg has is contagious. Wake’s Tyler Black missed a 38-yard try with four minutes left in the third quarter.
Syracuse excels in third, and fourth, down
SU converted 12-of-17 third down chances in the game and both of the fourth down attempts they tried. Both marks were season bests and the third down mark cleared a 40 percent success rate for the first time since the Clemson game.
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