Syracuse’s 31-18 defeat at the hands of SMU last weekend was littered with missed opportunities.
After a lopsided defeat against Duke the week prior, all eyes were focused on the Orange offense, looking to see how they would respond after putting up a mere three points against the Blue Devils.
A golden opportunity was delivered right out of the gate, when the defense provided a three and out and the Mustangs shanked a punt to set ‘Cuse up in SMU territory for their first drive of the game.
The drive
was not perfect, but Rickie Collins got the offense to the one yard line with a third and goal opportunity. The handoff went to Yasin Willis, who was stuffed for no gain setting up fourth down.
Fran Brown wanted to send a message and put up seven early so he dialed up for the offense to go for it on fourth.
The call was a Rickie Collins quarterback sneak, and the result was the same. Stopped for no gain, SMU ball.
This was frustrating for all Syracuse fans, but the frustrations continued shortly thereafter as Syracuse found themselves in similar spots time and time again. With 9:22 in the second quarter Syracuse had a 4th and 1 from their own 40. Yasin Willis got the carry, and was not able to pick up a yard.
Syracuse’s next offensive possession landed them back in the red zone, in desperate need of points, trailing 17 to 0. This time it was 4th and 2 from the SMU 10, Fran Brown now elected to draw up a passing attempt. Willis was open, but Collins was unable to connect with him. The crushing result was a turnover on downs for the third time in the first half.
SMU led 24-3 at the half, and never looked back.
The goal line plays highlight plays highlighted two themes that have been a glaring issue for the Orange offense this season. Red zone efficiency and 3rd/4th down, short-yardage play calling.
The statistics on Syracuse’s performance in the red zone are way down since last season.
The Orange’s team red zone scoring percentage, which is the amount of times a team has come away with a touchdown or a field goal when inside the opposing 20 divided by the amount of times that team has been inside the opposing 20, is 72.73% so far in 2025 which is 105th in the FBS.
Last year, Syracuse was 39th in the FBS with a red zone scoring percentage of 87.72%.
Rickie Collins has been the quarterback three of the six times Syracuse did not score in the red zone, and all three of those instances were turnovers on 4th and short. Even though one of those attempts occurred while being blown out by Duke, it is pivotal that the Orange offense is able to deliver the points whenever similar opportunities present themselves in the future.
Fran Brown cannot be afraid to utilize Tripp Woody, who has connected on six of his seven field goal attempts this season.
With the right opportunity, where the Orange find themselves in a situation where they are needing to go for it on 4th down and cannot settle for a field goal,, Fran Brown needs to open up his playbook, and deliver something creative and unpredictable.
Focusing on spreading the field instead of dialing up a series of plays right up the middle could yield valuable results. Get Dan Villari involved, get Johntay Cook in motion, let Rickie move in the pocket, throw some level of trickery into the mix. The BYE week gives you some time to dial up plays for these moments, because right now, it does not feel like there is a specific play they can go to.
The Orange are going to need to get a new focus on these two areas moving forward, but they have some time, as the next chance they will have to attack this issue is on October 18th against against Pittsburgh, who has been delivering plenty of offense of their own..
