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Following a 2-0 start to the Fran Brown era, Syracuse took a massive step backward Friday against Stanford.

While the Orange trailed most of the game, Kyle McCord and Co. drove down the field late in the fourth quarter, taking their first lead with just over three minutes to play. But Syracuse’s defense couldn’t get the needed stop, allowing Stanford quarterback Ashton Daniels and star wide receiver Elic Ayomanor to convert on a fourth-and-9 to run down the clock for an ensuing game-winning field goal.

Emmet Kenney drilled it from 39 yards out, handing SU its first loss of 2024. The Orange quickly get back to work, going outside the conference for a Week 5 matchup with Holy Cross. The Crusaders have struggled to start the season and give Syracuse a chance to bounce back.

“All those guys are coming off of a tough loss, such as ourselves, so it’ll be a good game,” Brown said.

Here are some takeaways from Brown’s weekly press conference before Syracuse’s (2-1, 1-1 Atlantic Coast Conference) matchup against Holy Cross (1-3, 0-0 Patriot League):

Stanford cleanups

In SU’s matchup with the Cardinal, it played without starting wide receiver Zeed Haynes. Haynes missed the matchup due to a personal matter that Brown didn’t elaborate on postgame or Monday, and he isn’t on Syracuse’s Week 5 depth chart. Starting defensive tackle Dion Wilson Jr. missed the game due to injury, though Brown said Monday he expects him to be back in the mix versus Holy Cross.

One injury sustained in the game was to freshman cornerback Marcellus Barnes Jr., who exited in the first quarter. Barnes Jr. is day-to-day per Brown but is moving far better than Friday night.

Versus Stanford, the Orange failed to establish a running game, totaling just 26 rushing yards. The poor execution was clear to Brown from the sideline and after watching the film over the weekend.

“We just got to run the football better. I thought that was something that was obvious,” Brown said.

To fix the issues in the running game, Brown said the emphasis this week in practice will be largely based on aligning the running backs with McCord and the offensive line. Will Nixon missed the game Friday as well, taking away another element of the running game. With an expected full unit versus the Crusaders, the group will have a better chance of establishing them.

“We just want to make sure that everyone could be involved. You want to get the playmakers the ball, so just whatever it takes to get the W in the win column,” Brown said.

Holy Cross breakdown

Holy Cross is in its first season under head coach Dan Curran after 11 seasons at Merrimack. For the Warriors, Curran helped the team reach the Northeastern Conference championship game in back-to-back seasons in 2022 and 2023.

Though Brown doesn’t have a connection with Curran, he mentioned he’s connected with defensive coordinator Brian Vaganek. Vaganek graduated from Temple in 1993, and his sons were in multiple camps with Brown when he was a defensive coach with the Owls.

Brown mentioned multiple players on the Crusaders roster, but most notably the absence of star running back Jordan Fuller. Holy Cross’s all-time leader in rushing touchdowns went down with a season-ending ankle injury versus Bryant. In his place, sophomore Jayden Clerveaux has stepped up, totaling three rushing touchdowns in Holy Cross’s most recent game against Yale.

After the Orange lost for the first time under Brown and showed signs of significant weakness throughout the contest, the first-year head coach is looking forward to facing the Crusaders, hoping it makes for a bounce-back performance.

“We just really trying to focus on wanting to go play Holy Cross and not trying to dwell on the past,” Brown said.

Brown’s accountability

Following his first loss as Syracuse’s head coach, Brown was adamant about repeatedly taking the blame for miscues. The biggest coaching mistake of the game came on Ayomanor’s fourth-down conversion, where SU left cornerback Clarence Lewis on an island with Ayomanor rather than providing safety help. This one, according to Brown, was solely on the head coach.

“That totally was not Clarence Lewis when it comes to that catch,” Brown said. “That was completely coach Fran. That was bad on myself, not on our defensive staff, not on anybody else. That was myself. That was a bad situation. I put Clarence in a bad situation, and the results went that way.”

The mindset going into the practice week is to focus on dominating day-by-day, rather than looking at the past or looking too far in the future. Brown said he wanted the team to continue to have fun, and again addressed the team, telling them the game was on him.

“Let’s have a lot of fun together, as we usually always do. And you know that because that loss is on Coach Fran,” Brown said. “So I want the guys to understand those guys played some good football. That’s on me. You know, I put y’all in that bad situation. So we’re gonna bust our butt to be able to get out of it.”

Published on September 23, 2024 at 7:05 pm

Contact Aiden at: amstepan@syr.edu | @AidenStepansky