Justin Pugh recognizes the blueprint of the Syracuse offense. Much like his head coach Doug Marrone talked about with regards to the defensive side of the ball Monday, the SU left tackle Pugh knows where Rutgers will attack the Orange offense.

Stop the pressure and run game. Make Ryan Nassib throw the ball. Make the SU offensive line hold.

‘They’re not a pressure team,’ Pugh said of Rutgers. ‘They don’t blitz as much. But I’m sure after seeing the film from Louisville and Cincinnati, they’re going to pressure. That’s something that we’ve kind of gotten used to.’

Louisville used the blueprint to expose the Syracuse offense last weekend. Heading to Rutgers for its last road contest of the season Saturday, the Orange will hope to adjust enough to avoid falling into its opponent’s blueprint once again. And that means executing, as well as perhaps switching a few things up offensively, despite the limitations from what Marrone called Monday a ‘banged-up’ unit.

It begins by following through in the trenches, where SU’s offensive line gave up three sacks and many more hurries, which led to rushed throws from Nassib. The Cardinals had four tackles for loss, and one of the sacks forced a fumble from Nassib that led Louisville to a touchdown three plays later.

And that led to the Orange’s worst offensive showing in a half this season: 62 yards of offense and three points in the second half, while Louisville marched down the field on two long drives.

‘As a whole, we’re obviously disappointed that we were only able to put up three points in the second half,’ Pugh said. ‘We kept getting behind on mistakes. We kept getting penalties. … Personally I had a penalty that was something I shouldn’t be doing.’

With Louisville stacking the box and holding the SU run offense in the second half, Pugh and SU wide receiver Alec Lemon said Tuesday that the opportunity to open up the pass game was there.

But Marrone said that combined with Louisville’s constant pressure, the Orange didn’t take advantage of those opportunities.

‘The situation last week was that they were always going to bring one more player than you can block,’ Marrone said, ‘so it’s pretty difficult to hold the football to go down field. We were able to lock them up at times and throw it down the field. And then who should we throw it to? I’m just asking.’

Lemon raised his hand to that question Tuesday. Lemon knows there were missed opportunities, such as his two drops Saturday against Louisville that would have been Syracuse touchdowns. With missed chances like those drops and SU’s overall inability to stretch the field on offense Saturday, the Orange only recorded three pass plays of 10 yards or more against Louisville.

But that doesn’t mean SU shouldn’t take chances. A perfect example, Lemon said, was his 51-yard touchdown pass from Nassib that tied the score briefly at 7-7. Lemon was able to expose a one-on-one matchup in the Louisville secondary and get past the Cardinals’ safeties into the end zone.

And with himself and Van Chew there at the receiver position, Lemon said there are plenty of opportunities if Rutgers uses that defensive blueprint against the Orange.

‘Van and I both feel that we can be thrown to and make big plays,’ Lemon said. ‘We just want to go out there and show it to the team and our coaches.’

Added Lemon: ‘When you see one-on-ones, you’re going to try to get it to the receivers and make the receivers make the plays. That’s the challenge that we receivers have to take. They’re saying that they can guard us, and we have to go out and take that personally and play the game we can play.’

And to Marrone, the possibilities are there as well. Rutgers is on the opposite end of the spectrum compared to Louisville’s pressure. Whereas the Cardinals are ranked 24th in the nation in sacks, the Scarlet Knights come in at No. 118 out of 120.

A different scheme. A different defense. But likely, the same blueprint.

Taking advantage of those opportunities comes with the Orange’s execution.

‘I hope so,’ Marrone said when asked if he thinks Rutgers will attack SU’s offense with the same blueprint. ‘Because it gives us a chance to make bigger plays. It really does. … So when people see what we are doing, they know that there are plays out there, and we just have to make them.’

bplogiur@syr.edu

Published on November 9, 2010 at 12:00 pm