It was sloppy, but Syracuse is 4-0. These 4 areas must be fixed before the schedule heats up

Syracuse coach Dino Babers leads the Orange onto the field for its game against Virginia on Friday. SU won 22-20 to extend its undefeated streak to four games. Dennis Nett | dnett@syracuse.com
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Syracuse, N.Y. — Syracuse football is on the precipice of a potentially historic season.

After another narrow win, the Orange is 4-0 for the first time since 2018, when the team went 10-3. A win next week would move SU to 5-0, a record it hasn’t had since the undefeated 1987 season.

Syracuse beat Virginia 22-20 with a game-winning drive and final defensive stand, but it should have closed out the game much earlier than the fourth quarter.

“The play was not perfect, that’s for sure, but the record is,” Syracuse coach Dino Babers said after the win.

As Syracuse looks down the tunnel at the rest of its season, any potential light is blocked by three ranked opponents and a number of other talented ACC programs. The Orange can certainly John Henry their way through those obstacles, but there are things the program needs to address before it can do so.

Here are the four most important things Syracuse needs to fix heading into the tough back stretch of its schedule.

Score more touchdowns inside the red zone

On four separate drives in Friday’s game, SU quarterback Garrett Shrader led Syracuse 50-plus yards down the field and inside the Virginia 20-yard line.

On a fifth, the Orange was given the ball just 8 yards outside the red zone after recovering a fumble. Syracuse picked up 14 yards on a pass interference penalty on its first snap but then stalled within striking distance of the end zone.

Sean Tucker had a 2-yard rush. Shrader’s pass to Devaughn Cooper fell incomplete, and Shrader was then sacked for a loss of two.

So, the Orange sent on kicker Andrew Szmyt for the field goal, as it did on the four other drives, too.

“Those touchdowns early might’ve made the game extremely different, but we couldn’t get ‘em in,” Babers said.

While SU has put points on the board all 16 times it has been in the red zone this season, only nine of those scores have been touchdowns. That’s 36 points left off the board if you take the 72 points SU would’ve had in touchdowns minus the 36 it did get in field goals.

Granted, Szmyt is looking like his 2018 Lou Groza Award winning self again this season. It still could have relieved some late-game pressure for Syracuse, especially in the past two games, if it had been able to add seven points instead of three.

“The biggest thing is just learning not to panic in (close games), but offensively, we absolutely have to get that cleaned up,” Shrader said. “We cannot do that against your N.C. States, Clemsons. You can’t do it against those teams.”

Find a way to get Sean Tucker doing Sean Tucker things again

It’s been two weeks since Tucker put up more than 100 yards on the ground. Two weeks since he scored a touchdown. Two weeks since he’s had more than 25 carries.

Through the first four weeks of the season, Tucker just hasn’t looked like the Heisman Trophy candidate he was expected to be following his record-breaking 2021 campaign.

At least not consistently.

That’s not entirely his fault. There are a lot of factors that go into it. Defenses being more prepared for him with a year of film to watch and Robert Anae’s offense favoring quarterbacks are two of them. But Tucker has also just looked different running the ball.

There’s been glimpses of the Tucker of yore in every game. Against Louisville, it was a 55-yard touchdown logged as a reception but taken most the way by Tucker’s feet. At Connecticut, it was a 13-yard rush that remains his season high. He was responsible for four of the team’s 17 non-penalty first downs against Purdue.

And on Friday night against Virginia, he finally seemed to be finding a rhythm just as the game was coming to a close. On the final drive, he had four rushes for 20 yards — one third of his rushing total for the game.

Syracuse Orange wide receiver Courtney Jackson (9) blocks for Syracuse Orange running back Sean Tucker (34) Syracuse vs Virginia. The Orange takes on the Virginia Cavaliers at the JMA Wireless Dome, Sept 23, 2022. Dennis Nett | dnett@syracuse.com

But if Syracuse wants to beat the tougher ACC opponents that are ahead, it needs more than glimpses of Tucker’s talent.

Notre Dame, Wake Forest and Boston College all have top-50 passing defenses in the country to this point in terms of yards allowed. N.C. State’s defense has already grabbed seven interceptions. Teams are going to start finding ways to shut Shrader down, or at least be better prepared for him as the season goes on.

The Syracuse offense needs to balance the scales and get Tucker moving again so he and Shrader can truly be a two-headed threat to opposing defenses.

Heal a banged-up defense

By game’s end, Syracuse’s defense was missing six players from its two-deep, with three lost in-game to injuries.

Safety Alijah Clark, safety Ja’Had Carter and defensive lineman Terry Lockett all suffered injuries during the game, with the latter two spending most of the second half in street clothes on the sideline.

Babers did not have any updates about their statuses immediately after the game.

The team was also without linebacker Derek McDonald, who did not suit up for the game, and Stefon Thompson is out for the remainder of the season after a Week 1 injury. There’s likely even more players not at 100% because of bumps and bruises suffered through four games.

As well as Syracuse’s offense has been performing, it still had to be bailed out more times than a program would want by the defense on Friday night. Shrader has said as much. The defense can’t keep doing that when needed if it’s beaten down physically.

“The bye is coming at a perfect time,” Babers said.

He and everyone knows it: A week off after the Wagner game will give Syracuse a necessary break to heal up before heading into a tough back stretch of the season.

Syracuse linebacker Mikel Jones (3) carries a white board with the word MOB written on it after SU's 22-20 win over UVA. The Syracuse defense has adopted the nickname "The Mob" thanks to a trio of players from the Washington D.C. area. Dennis Nett | dnett@syracuse.com

Minimize penalties

Syracuse played a relatively clean game against Purdue in Week 3, but it was back to having its dirty laundry thrown all over the field against Virginia.

The Orange had 12 penalties accepted against it, six on each side of the ball. The calls ranged in intensity, from some holding and false start penalties on offense to targeting, pass interference and personal foul flags on defense.

SU is averaging 10.5 penalties per game, one of the worst averages in the country. It could have used the 40 yards it gave up in offensive penalties against Virginia and the 39 it gave up against Purdue.

Simply put, Syracuse can’t lose yards against stout defenses that are already equipped to limit its offensive production.

It can’t give some of the top-ranked offenses in the country coming up on its schedule free yards, either.

Contact Emily Leiker anytime: Email | Twitter

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