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In Syracuse’s season opener versus Ohio, its rushing defense emerged as the team’s key weakness. The Orange allowed 255 rushing yards, led by Anthony Tyus III’s 203. Two days later, in his weekly press conference ahead of SU’s matchup with Georgia Tech, head coach Fran Brown had a simple message for his team.

“(Brent Key) is going to try to come in here and see if they’re tougher than us,” Brown said of GT’s head coach. “So (Key) is going to run the ball. Stop the run, or they’ll keep running it over and over again.”

The running game had been the Yellow Jackets’ offensive identity through their 2-0 start, using dual-threat quarterback Haynes King and fleet-footed running back Jamal Haynes to average 207.5 yards on the ground. On paper, it was a matchup nightmare for SU’s defense.

But just as Brown said five days before his first ranked matchup as a head coach, Syracuse’s defensive line limited the damage. Against GT’s dynamic rushing attack, SU held its ground, allowing just 112 rushing yards — 143 fewer than a week ago — as Syracuse (2-0, 1-0 Atlantic Coast Conference) took down No. 23 Georgia Tech (2-1, 1-1 ACC) 31-28.

In SU’s first ranked and conference win under Brown, the Orange limited Haynes to just 35 yards on 3.2 yards per carry and held GT’s rushing attack to less than 100 yards under its season per-game average.

“Nobody’s going to dominate us on the line of scrimmage,” SU edge rusher Fadil Diggs said postgame. “And we got the opportunity to come back and show it cause what happened the first week, we didn’t like that.”

According to Brown, the defensive unit overall looked vastly different than the week prior. Along with increased intensity in practice, Brown said the defensive staff, led by defensive coordinator Elijah Robinson, was working for hours on end through the end of the week. He even joked that the room started to stink, and he didn’t want to enter it anymore.

With starting linebacker Marlowe Wax out due to injury, Diggs often dropped back into coverage, standing alongside Derek McDonald.

On the opening play of GT’s first offensive drive, the Orange had three down linemen with Kevin Jobity Jr. and Maraad Watson on the outside, while Dion Wilson Jr. was in the middle. Diggs brought pressure from the second level, instantly meeting Haynes in the backfield. He was blocked to the left but forced Haynes inside, directly into the waiting hands of Jobity Jr., who wrapped Haynes up with the help of Watson.

Throughout the Yellow Jackets’ opening drive, SU’s defense met GT at the first level with constant physicality as safeties Duce Chestnut, Alijah Clark and Berry Buxton III came up to make a few big tackles. While Haynes was limited, King caused trouble for Syracuse.

GT’s first score came with a quarterback draw that McDonald was in position to blow up in the back field. On the tackle, King’s right knee just missed the JMA Wireless Dome turf and he scooted through a hole along the left side. Even though King scored, the play was there to be made.

On the Yellow Jackets’ penultimate drive of the first half, King slung a 45-yard pass to put GT inside the Orange’s 30 yard-line. Georgia Tech attempted to get its run game going, but Diggs had a quick answer.

Denis Jaquez Jr. and Watson were set up on the outsides, with Wilson Jr. manning the middle. Diggs lined up even with the linebackers but slowly creeped up pre snap, eventually bursting through the gap from left to right, blowing up a run in the backfield for a two-yard loss.

Though on the following play, King used a fake shovel to his right to break through the left side untouched for a touchdown. Syracuse’s offense faltered out and a blocked punt gave the Yellow Jackets the ball again before the end of the half.

With 25 seconds left, King attempted to inch closer to field goal range with a run-pass-option keeper. He pushed the back of his tight end as a lead blocker then sprinted out right, where he was quickly met by three Syracuse defenders. Justin Barron wrapped him to turn away the attempt. The Yellow Jackets went on to miss a 46-yard field goal attempt to end the half.

GT’s offense could only muster 71 rushing yards in the first half, and 51 came from its quarterback. The third quarter wasn’t much better, as the Orange dominated time of possession and Georgia Tech had one rushing attempt for one yard.

“It was definitely an emphasis,” McDonald said of the rushing defense. “But when it comes down to it, we just got to go out every day and be physical and play like we always do. So, I think today we did a much better job of that and we want to continue to improve on that.”

Down by 10 with under 13 minutes to go, the Yellow Jackets attempted a fourth-and-1 from their own 35-yard line. SU’s front set up with Jobity Jr. and Watson on the outsides and Rashard Perry in the middle. Barron brought pressure from the left while linebacker Anwar Sparrow brought it from the right.

From the second level, Diggs came through the middle like a wrecking ball, using a bull rush to plow over 6-foot-6, 330-pound left guard Joe Fusile. Diggs met Georgia Tech third-string running back Anthony Carrie in the backfield directly after he received the handoff from King, blowing up the play.

Capitalized by his signature moment with SU, Diggs finished with seven total tackles and two for loss.

Georgia Tech clawed back into the game late in the fourth quarter and Haynes found the end zone on a 15-yard score. But Haynes and his three fellow running backs combined for only 45 rushing yards all day, as the Orange’s defense stood tall throughout the afternoon.

“They said they were going to try to out physical us, and the d-line wasn’t having that,” Diggs said. “That was the big thing for us this whole week. Nobody’s going to out physical us.”

Published on September 7, 2024 at 9:11 pm

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