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Syracuse used its offseason to revamp its defense. A season ago, SU’s unit ranked seventh out of 14 teams in the Atlantic Coast Conference in rushing yards allowed per game, giving up 148.2 on average.

On Dec. 3, 2023, Syracuse hired former Texas A&M defensive coordinator Elijah Robinson. With Robinson sporting a 4-2-5 defense, he also brought Fadil Diggs on the edge and New Mexico State transfer Dion “Tank” Wilson Jr. on the interior.

While these changes were made to enhance a middling rushing defense, SU’s season-opener against the Bobcats showed it was a potential glaring weakness. Syracuse (1-0, 0-0 ACC) took down Ohio (0-1, 0-0 Mid-American Conference) 38-22 through a sharp passing game from Kyle McCord, Trebor Peña and Co. But SU’s defense allowed 255 rushing yards on the ground in the process, highlighted by Anthony Tyus III’s 203 yards and two touchdowns.

According to Pro Football Focus, SU’s rushing defense graded at 52.5 while its tackling currently ranks fourth-worst in the country at 38.0.

“We weren’t hitting and that’s what we do,” Syracuse head coach Fran Brown said postgame. “That’s what we’re buying into. That’s supposed to be our DNA. And we weren’t hitting them. We were diving instead of using our pads.”

Ohio’s rushing total would’ve been the second-highest against SU in 2023, falling behind only a 318-yard showing for Virginia Tech on Oct. 26. Tyus’ final line is the most rushing yards SU’s allowed to an individual opponent since Louisville’s Javian Hawkins had 233 in 2019.

The Bobcats’ offense didn’t enter the season-opener as rushing savants. In 2023, Ohio ranked seventh out of 12 teams in the MAC in rushing yards per game, totaling 144.4. Additionally, the Bobcats lost their top-three rushers.

But with fresh faces in Parker Navarro at quarterback and the running back tandem of Rickey Hunt Jr. and Tyus, Ohio quickly solidified its ground game. On the opening drive, the Bobcats ran the ball eight times, bulldozing down to the Syracuse 20-yard line before a field goal opened the scoring.

On the next drive, Ohio did more of the same, with Tyus carrying the load. The Northwestern transfer rushed for 57 yards on his first drive and helped push the Bobcats down for another field goal. At the end of the first quarter, McCord had yet to complete a pass and Ohio held the ball for 13:58 out of 15 minutes.

Ayush Sawant | Design Editor

Brown says that throughout the game, he was “snapping on the d-line.” He felt they were a lot better than they were playing and weren’t doing what they practiced, limiting the rest of the team.

The defensive line is a unit that has been remade to wreak havoc, putting four down linemen as opposed to three in the previous formation. With Diggs coming in from the SEC, he paired with returner Denis Jaquez Jr. on the edge. Inside, SU lost Braylen Ingraham in the fall camp to an Achilles tear and used a rotation of Isaiah Hastings, Rashard Perry, Kevin Jobity Jr. and freshman Maraad Watson.

The staple of the interior is Wilson Jr., who came to the Orange after three years at Arizona and one with New Mexico State. The defensive tackle has always graded out strongly in tackling on PFF’s scale, but has been below average in rushing defense. In 2020, he graded at just 40.6, but had a steady improvement since then. In his first game with SU, he graded at 67.9.

Wilson Jr. said there were no nerves in his first game with the Orange. He did see ways for the unit to improve, however.

“Just change the line of scrimmage,” Wilson Jr. said. “Run to the ball, be aggressive every single play. That’s a mindset every single week for the season, (it) has been a mindset since I got here.”

On one of Tyus’ biggest runs of the game, the issues went beyond Syracuse’s defensive line. After the two-minute warning, Ohio had the ball on its own 25. Navarro stood with Tyus on his right, who received the handoff. The running back cut to the right and quickly turned upfield.

At the first level, Wilson Jr. and Hastings were pancaked into the ground by the Ohio interior. On the edge, Diggs was picked up by the right tackle and linebacker Marlowe Wax was late to the rush.

As Tyus passed the line of scrimmage, Ohio tight end Mason Williams moved SU linebacker Derek McDonald easily out of the way and safety Alijah Clark was late to the ball after being chipped by center Parker Titsworth.

Safety Duce Chestnut attempted to come up and make a big hit on Tyus, but the running back evaded him. Justin Barron was blocked by wide receiver Coleman Owen and freshman cornerback Marcellus Barnes Jr. dove at and missed Tyus’ legs.

Ohio’s new running back broke free for 44 yards. A frustrated Barron shoved Tyus late out of bounds, adding on 15 more yards. Across the board, it was a system failure.

Anthony Tyus III rumbles down the left sideline for a touchdown in Syracuse’s season opener against Ohio. The Bobcats running back totaled 203 yards versus the Orange, the most against SU’s defense from an individual since 2019. Jacob Halsema | Staff Photographer

“We got to get off blocks,” Diggs said. “We just got to be more violent up front. We just can’t worry about defending the gap … Make sure the guy in front of us doesn’t want to block us. And I feel like we didn’t do that today.”

After allowing 128 rushing yards in the first half, SU’s defense allowed Tyus to start off the third quarter similarly. On the Bobcats’ first offensive play of the half, Tyus cut to the middle and then quickly back to the left, easily breaking past Chestnut for 21 yards. He ended the drive with a 13-yard score, making defensive back Devin Grant miss and getting to the pylon.

Syracuse’s defense then settled in the rest of the third quarter and allowed no more rushing yards.

Though in the fourth, Tyus had one more big run in him. Navarro kept the ball on a read option and then pitched back to Tyus before passing the line of scrimmage. SU’s defense was out of sorts and Tyus breezed down the left sideline for a 46-yard touchdown, bringing his total to 191 yards. The graduate student added on 12 more to bring his final total to 203, averaging 12.7 yards per carry.

While SU’s rushing defense struggled, Wax had the highest PFF grade with 83.1. Though the Orange lost Wax to a right-leg injury sustained in the third quarter. Postgame, Brown said that Wax could miss a few games.

The poor performance in the season opener plus the almost certain absence of Wax makes Syracuse’s ACC opener versus Georgia Tech Saturday an even greater challenge. The Yellow Jackets rushed for 415 yards across their first two games, including a 190-yard total against Florida State in their season-opener.

What faltered in his first game as head coach is the first key Brown pointed out in defeating his next opponent.

“We better stop their run,” Brown said with a smile.

Published on September 1, 2024 at 11:00 pm

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