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The first drive of the game had Syracuse in a third down and short, needing just six yards to move the chains against Wake Forest. Quarterback Rex Culpepper found Nykeim Johnson for what seemed like a first down.

He bobbled, caught it and ran out of bounds. But Sharod Johnson’s rub route was flagged for offensive pass interference.

“When he went behind me, I didn’t see what happened,” Nykeim said. 

Sharod’s route had been an obvious pick. The Orange backed up 15 yards, and Nolan Cooney was soon on to punt. 

Underthrown balls, missed blocking assignments and ill-timed penalties such as Sharod’s kept the SU offense lifeless. The Orange finished with 221 yards, including under 100 in the first half, and only 79 total rushing yards. Missed tackles led to 38 points, and the offense never responded in Syracuse’s (1-6, 1-5 Atlantic Coast) 38-14 loss to Wake Forest (4-2, 3-2) that sunk the Orange to their worst record through seven games since 2008.  

Head coach Dino Babers, even before the injuries to star safety Andre Cisco and cornerback Trill Williams — who missed the game due to an illness, Babers said — had labeled his team as young and inexperienced since the start of training camp in August. And the inexperience has shown throughout the year, as the Orange entered Saturday averaging almost 60 penalty yards per game. Mistakes in coverage schemes, false starts and ill-timed offsides have become a theme. That continued on Saturday.

“The younger guys were out there battling, and you expect them to grow, but there needs to be growth,” Babers said. “For some of those guys out there, this is their third or fourth or fifth game, they need to be getting better and not staying the same.”

Syracuse’s lone source of offense was converted wide receiver and fourth-string running back Cooper Lutz, who was forced into action after opt-outs from Abdul Adams and Jarveon Howard and injuries to Jawhar Jordan and Sean Tucker. Babers said Tucker could’ve played against Wake Forest, but he wanted to prevent further injury by saving him for the last four games of the season. 

Lutz was often utilized on outside runs, dashing past linebackers and spinning his way for first downs. Culpepper also found him on swing passes, where he could make use of his wide receiver skills to move the sticks. Lutz finished with 81 yards rushing and 25 receiving.   

“You stood behind him in August and stood behind him in September, you could see he was getting it,” Babers said. “I think he’s got some real natural ability and can help us.”

But the lack of an inside runner made those short third downs more difficult. It also often forced SU into third-down and longs, as second down carries up the middle were often pushed back behind the line-of-scrimmage. The Orange had five third downs of 10-yards plus in the first half and six in the game.   

On one, Syracuse sent Anthony Queeley and Nykeim on fly routes and Taj Harris on a deep crossing route. A five-man blitz wasn’t picked up, and the Demon Deacons sacked Culpepper before he could look for open receivers.   

On another third-down and three, this time to open the second half, Culpepper looked for an out route to Nykeim, but the ball was underthrown and didn’t have the speed necessary to beat the Wake Forest defensive backs. It was batted away before any receiver had an opportunity to catch it.   

After the throw, Sharod and Nykeim stood on the sideline with their arms in the air. They were open, but the ball hadn’t reached them.

“Momentum shift of a football game is everything,” Nykeim said. “Sometimes it swings an opponent’s way.”

Syracuse’s defense allowed a Wake Forest quarterback to throw for 250 and a touchdown while giving up 188 additional yards on the ground. Courtesy of Dennis Nett | Syracuse.com

Nykeim scored the Orange’s first touchdown on a wheel route where Culpepper dropped the ball over his shoulder. But Culpepper resorted to short throws, swing passes and screens too many times. Sometimes they worked, like when Lutz sprinted out of the backfield for a first down on Syracuse’s lone scoring drive of the first half.   

But other times, they did not. When Culpepper tried to fit an out route into a tight window on the second half’s second drive, Wake Forest’s Gavin Holmes stepped in front of the throw and strolled into the end zone to make it a four-score lead.   

Culpepper walked back to the sideline and unstrapped his helmet. Teammates tried to pat him on the chest, but he walked straight to the bench and shook his head. 

“There’s so many young guys out there already,” Babers said of his decision to leave Culpepper in the game until the fourth quarter. “When you (make a switch) at quarterback, it really limits what you can do.”

He trotted out onto the field on the next drive, and true freshman JaCobian Morgan sat on the sideline, his helmet strapped and his hands on his hips. Culpepper had completed one throw longer than 20 yards and two more than 10, but he continued to take snaps.   

The lead grew to 31, and the redshirt senior was still behind center. He wasn’t replaced until seven minutes were left in the fourth quarter, after his second interception. He finished with just 85 yards on 27 attempts — 15 of which were completed — and two interceptions.

With just a minute left and the score still the same, Syracuse offensive lineman Airon Servais picked up his helmet and paced over to the tunnel. Wake Forest had the ball, and a few Justice Ellison runs were the only thing left until the clock hit zero.

Eventually, members of the defense, walk-ons and coaching staff joined Servais’ slow walk. SU locked arms to the alma mater, like they do after every game, and swayed.

“I’m going to try to play for a winning season,” Babers said afterward. 

As Syracuse walked slowly down the tunnel and toward the locker room, it left the field with four games left on the schedule and a record that sits five games under .500. That winning season is now impossible.

Published on October 31, 2020 at 3:45 pm

Contact Adam: adhillma@syr.edu | @_adamhillman