Monday, October 13, 2014
Syracuse Battles No. 1 Florida State in 38-20 Loss
reshmen AJ Long and Steve Ishmaelconnected for a pair of second-half touchdown passes in Syracuse's 38-20 loss to No. 1 Florida State on Saturday at the Carrier Dome. Ishmael had the big day for SU's receiving corps, catching touchdown passes of 22 and 35 yards for his first career scores while finishing with career-bests in three receptions and 93 yards. Running back Prince-Tyson Gulley caught a career-best seven passes out of the backfield for 25 yards to go with 80 yards rushing on 16 carries.
Led by reigning Heisman Trophy winner Jameis Winston, the Seminoles rushed out to a 24-6 halftime lead, but the Orange, in its first game without injured quarterbackTerrel Hunt, used two different signal callers and battled the nation's top-ranked team tough in the second half, scoring a pair of touchdowns.
Orange starting quarterback Austin Wilson was 5-of-9 passing for 89 yards and one interception. He left the game in the second half with an upper body injury. Long was 16-of-27 passing for 167 yards, two scores and two interceptions.
Winston threw for 317 yards, going 30-of-36 with three touchdowns. Tight end Nick O'Leary was his top target with eight receptions for 97 yards and score, while Rashad Greene (TD) and Travis Rudolph caught six passes each. Dalvin Cook amassed 122 yards on 23 rushes and scored once.
The Seminoles opened up the game with an eight-play, 70-drive that resulted in a touchdown. Once FSU settled for a field goal on its next drive, Long came out for the Orange to lead the offense, just the ninth true freshman to see action under center in Syracuse history. He led SU to a Cole Murphy field goal from 21 yards out, bringing the score to 10-3.
On the ensuing possession, Winston found Rashad Green on a crossing route for 44 yards to the Syracuse 5-yard line. The two big gains set up another pass play complete to Pender on a crossing pattern for a four-yard score.
After Robert Welsh forced a Pender fumble that was recovered by John Raymon, Syracuse got a 32-yard field goal by Murphy, cutting the Seminole lead to 11 with a 17-6 score.
The following possession, Winston was perfect with his arm, connecting on all five pass attempts with his one incompletion erased by a pass interference call on the Orange. The drive was capped off with a Nick O'Leary reception down the seam for a 21-yard score to give FSU the 24-6 lead.
After a Winston to Jesus Wilson touchdown pass opened the scoring for FSU in the second half, the Syracuse offense quickly came back with a score of its own as Long found Ishmael on a 22-yard reception for SU's first touchdown of the game, making it 31-13. Long's touchdown pass made him the first Syracuse true freshman in program history to throw for a TD.
After a 92-yard scoring drive in which Winston completed all five of his attempts for 66 yards, Wilson was knocked out of the game on a hit by Demarcus Walker and Long returned to connect on four consecutive passes for 32 yards. The first three were to Prince-Tyson Gulley for 15 yards with the fourth finding the hands of Adrian Flemming for 17. After a nine-yard rush by Ameen-Moore, Long completed his second touchdown pass of the game as he found Ishmael on a crossing route for a 35-yard score, closing the scoring at 38-20.
Orange Ready for Florida State
GAME OVERVIEW
• The Syracuse-Florida State game is the centerpiece of Orange Central Weekend, which serves as the University's Homecoming.
• The game will be televised on ESPN. Bob Wischusen (pxp), Matt Millen (analyst) and Quint Kessenich (sidelines) have the call.
• No. 1/1 Florida State brings the nation's longest winning streak (21 games). The Orange is trying to snap a three-game skid after starting the year 2-0.
PROMOTIONS CENTRAL
• It's homecoming weekend at Syracuse! Be sure to check out the Orange Central webpage for all the activities surrounding the event.
• It's also Salvation Army Day, with all fans encouraged to bring non-perishable food items for dropoff at carts outside of the Carrier Dome entrances.
ORANGE VERSUS AP NO. 1
• Since the start of the Associated Press poll in 1936, the Orange has faced the AP's top-ranked team nine times before and is 1-8 in those games.
• On Sept. 29, 1984 Syracuse upset No. 1 Nebraska, 17-9, at the Carrier Dome for its only win against the nation's top team. The victory ended Nebraska's 23-game, regular-season winning streak. SU Assistant AD for Player Development Bob Brotzkistarted on the offensive line.
• Saturday's contest marks the second time the Orange will play Florida State when they have been No. 1. In 1991, Syracuse traveled to Tallahassee and lost to the top-ranked Seminoles, 46-14.
• Florida State is the fourth AP No. 1 to come to the Carrier Dome. In addition to previously mentioned Nebraska, the Orange hosted #1 Miami (Fla.) in the Loud House in 1992 and 2002.
WINSTON FIRST REIGNING HEISMAN WINNER TO FACE ORANGE
• When FSU signal caller Jameis Winston comes to the Dome it will mark the first time the Orange has gone up against the reigning Heisman Trophy winner.
• It should be noted that only 24 underclassmen have won the award since it started being presented in 1935, so it's not often that a team has the opportunity to face the previous season's winner. However, it did almost happen to the Orange once before. Michigan's Charles Woodson won the award as a junior in 1997, but turned pro after the season so he was not the Wolverines' roster in 1998 when Syracuse defeated Michigan at the Big House.
A WIN AGAINST FLORIDA STATE WOULD …
• Be SU's 708th all-time victory, the 16th-most among FBS schools and second-most of any ACC program.
• Snap FSU's six-game series winning streak and be SU's first victory over the Seminoles since 1966.
• End Florida State's ACC-record, 21-game winning streak which is currently the longest in the nation.
• Mark the second time SU has beaten a team ranked No. 1 in the AP poll (Nebraska, 1984).
• Represent the third time Syracuse has topped the defending national champion (1987 vs. Penn State and 1998 vs. Michigan).
THE FLORIDA STATE SERIES
• Saturday's game marks the fifth time SU has hosted Florida State and the third trip to the Carrier Dome for the Seminoles.
• FSU has won the last six meetings and owns a 6-1 lead in the overall series.
• The Orange won the first pairing between the two teams, 37-21, at Archbold Stadium in 1966. Hall-of-Famers Floyd Little and Larry Csonka combined for four of SU's five touchdowns, with Little scoring three times and Csonka once. Little carried 20 times for a game-high 193 yards. Csonka added 65 yards on 17 attempts.
LAST TIME VS. FLORIDA STATE
• Florida State built a 59-0 lead before a Ryan Norton field goal midway through the fourth quarter produced the 59-3 final score on Nov. 16, 2013.
• Devante McFarlane led the Orange with 81 yards rushing.
• FSU quarterback Jameis Winston was 19-for-21 passing for 277 yards and two touchdowns.
• All eight of the Seminoles' offensive scoring drives lasted less than three minutes. In addition, Chris Casher ran back an SU fumble 31 yards for a touchdown to cap FSU's scoring.
SYRACUSE-FLORIDA STATE CONNECTIONS
•Syracuse features 14 players from the state of Florida – Adly Enoicy (Delray Beach),Brisly Estime (Delray Beach), Antwan Cordy (Homestead), Cordell Hudson (Largo), PJ Batten (Miami), Durell Eskridge (Miami), Oliver Vigille (Miami), Marqez Hodge (Miami),Steve Ishmael (Miami), Sean Avant (Miramar), Ritchy Desir (North Miami Beach), Juwan Dowels (Sunrise), Tyler Provo (West Palm Beach) and Julian Whigham (West Palm Beach).
• FSU has one player from New York on its roster – Kareem Are (Floral Park).
• 'Cuse receivers Adly Enoicy, Brisly Estime and FSU DT Keith Bryant all attended Atlantic Community High School.
• SU receiver Sean Avant and FSU WR Rashad Gholston played scholastically at Miramar High.
• A host of players on both teams attended Miami Central High School, including Orange S Durell Eskridge, LB Oliver Vigille, LB Marqez Hodge and Florida State RB Dalvin Cook and DT Fredrick Jones.
• FSU tight end Nick O'Leary and Orange CB Julian Whigham played together at Dwyer High School.
• George McDonald, SU's wide receivers coach, was the receivers coach at Minnesota under Florida State tight ends coach Tim Brewster who was the Golden Gophers' head coach at the time.
• SU D-line coach Tim Daoust was a member of FSU linebackers coach Bill Miller's staff when Miller coordinated the Western Michigan defense in 2007. Daoust mentored WMU's defensive backs.
• The Syracuse-Florida State game is the centerpiece of Orange Central Weekend, which serves as the University's Homecoming.
• The game will be televised on ESPN. Bob Wischusen (pxp), Matt Millen (analyst) and Quint Kessenich (sidelines) have the call.
• No. 1/1 Florida State brings the nation's longest winning streak (21 games). The Orange is trying to snap a three-game skid after starting the year 2-0.
PROMOTIONS CENTRAL
• It's homecoming weekend at Syracuse! Be sure to check out the Orange Central webpage for all the activities surrounding the event.
• It's also Salvation Army Day, with all fans encouraged to bring non-perishable food items for dropoff at carts outside of the Carrier Dome entrances.
ORANGE VERSUS AP NO. 1
• Since the start of the Associated Press poll in 1936, the Orange has faced the AP's top-ranked team nine times before and is 1-8 in those games.
• On Sept. 29, 1984 Syracuse upset No. 1 Nebraska, 17-9, at the Carrier Dome for its only win against the nation's top team. The victory ended Nebraska's 23-game, regular-season winning streak. SU Assistant AD for Player Development Bob Brotzkistarted on the offensive line.
• Saturday's contest marks the second time the Orange will play Florida State when they have been No. 1. In 1991, Syracuse traveled to Tallahassee and lost to the top-ranked Seminoles, 46-14.
• Florida State is the fourth AP No. 1 to come to the Carrier Dome. In addition to previously mentioned Nebraska, the Orange hosted #1 Miami (Fla.) in the Loud House in 1992 and 2002.
WINSTON FIRST REIGNING HEISMAN WINNER TO FACE ORANGE
• When FSU signal caller Jameis Winston comes to the Dome it will mark the first time the Orange has gone up against the reigning Heisman Trophy winner.
• It should be noted that only 24 underclassmen have won the award since it started being presented in 1935, so it's not often that a team has the opportunity to face the previous season's winner. However, it did almost happen to the Orange once before. Michigan's Charles Woodson won the award as a junior in 1997, but turned pro after the season so he was not the Wolverines' roster in 1998 when Syracuse defeated Michigan at the Big House.
A WIN AGAINST FLORIDA STATE WOULD …
• Be SU's 708th all-time victory, the 16th-most among FBS schools and second-most of any ACC program.
• Snap FSU's six-game series winning streak and be SU's first victory over the Seminoles since 1966.
• End Florida State's ACC-record, 21-game winning streak which is currently the longest in the nation.
• Mark the second time SU has beaten a team ranked No. 1 in the AP poll (Nebraska, 1984).
• Represent the third time Syracuse has topped the defending national champion (1987 vs. Penn State and 1998 vs. Michigan).
THE FLORIDA STATE SERIES
• Saturday's game marks the fifth time SU has hosted Florida State and the third trip to the Carrier Dome for the Seminoles.
• FSU has won the last six meetings and owns a 6-1 lead in the overall series.
• The Orange won the first pairing between the two teams, 37-21, at Archbold Stadium in 1966. Hall-of-Famers Floyd Little and Larry Csonka combined for four of SU's five touchdowns, with Little scoring three times and Csonka once. Little carried 20 times for a game-high 193 yards. Csonka added 65 yards on 17 attempts.
LAST TIME VS. FLORIDA STATE
• Florida State built a 59-0 lead before a Ryan Norton field goal midway through the fourth quarter produced the 59-3 final score on Nov. 16, 2013.
• Devante McFarlane led the Orange with 81 yards rushing.
• FSU quarterback Jameis Winston was 19-for-21 passing for 277 yards and two touchdowns.
• All eight of the Seminoles' offensive scoring drives lasted less than three minutes. In addition, Chris Casher ran back an SU fumble 31 yards for a touchdown to cap FSU's scoring.
SYRACUSE-FLORIDA STATE CONNECTIONS
•Syracuse features 14 players from the state of Florida – Adly Enoicy (Delray Beach),Brisly Estime (Delray Beach), Antwan Cordy (Homestead), Cordell Hudson (Largo), PJ Batten (Miami), Durell Eskridge (Miami), Oliver Vigille (Miami), Marqez Hodge (Miami),Steve Ishmael (Miami), Sean Avant (Miramar), Ritchy Desir (North Miami Beach), Juwan Dowels (Sunrise), Tyler Provo (West Palm Beach) and Julian Whigham (West Palm Beach).
• FSU has one player from New York on its roster – Kareem Are (Floral Park).
• 'Cuse receivers Adly Enoicy, Brisly Estime and FSU DT Keith Bryant all attended Atlantic Community High School.
• SU receiver Sean Avant and FSU WR Rashad Gholston played scholastically at Miramar High.
• A host of players on both teams attended Miami Central High School, including Orange S Durell Eskridge, LB Oliver Vigille, LB Marqez Hodge and Florida State RB Dalvin Cook and DT Fredrick Jones.
• FSU tight end Nick O'Leary and Orange CB Julian Whigham played together at Dwyer High School.
• George McDonald, SU's wide receivers coach, was the receivers coach at Minnesota under Florida State tight ends coach Tim Brewster who was the Golden Gophers' head coach at the time.
• SU D-line coach Tim Daoust was a member of FSU linebackers coach Bill Miller's staff when Miller coordinated the Western Michigan defense in 2007. Daoust mentored WMU's defensive backs.
Shafer: 'Why Not Us'
With the injury to Terrel Hunt, a new signal caller will have his opportunity to lead the offense, while they'll have a tough opponent to face, Shafer feels it's an exciting challenge for his quarterbacks.
"It's what you dream about as a young man, a chance to get on the field and play against the best team in the country," Shafer said. "A team that a lot of people would argue is the best team in the last 10 years with the talent level and the win streak, so for those kids I'm excited for them. It is a very exciting time for those guys. You can see it in their energy and you can feel it just with their presence walking into the room. They understand that it's their time to play and there's a sense of energy that just doesn't come when you're a third string player."
Syracuse last defeated the No. 1 ranked team in 1984, when it took down Nebraska. While the precedent is there, Shafer chose more recent examples when talking about the possibility of an upset.
"They don't think that far back, but what I did was I took the last three weeks in college football and showed them the teams that won games with spreads of 20 or 21 points down to 12 or 13 points," Shafer said. "I just showed it to them and said 'look, every opportunity you have is a chance to win a game, the ball is oblong and doesn't always bounce the same way every weekend.' If we can control the things we can then why not us?
"If you look back at some of the games that we've won since I've been here the last few years, games that no one gave us a chance in, 2010 at West Virginia, Louisville a couple years ago and West Virginia here and you say 'why not us.' You don't want to live anywhere but in the present, but you look back at some of those games and you say these guys weren't given a chance and they won."
For more of what coach Shafer had to say about Florida State watch the full press conference here: Shafer Press Conference
CuseTV: Moving On to Florida State
After quarterback Terrel Hunt was sidelined with an injury, another member of the Orange will be making his first-career start this weekend when the Orange host No. 1 Florida State.
Head coach Scott Shafer's focus is to now move forward and figure out how to take down the Seminoles without Hunt.
"I just feel so bad for the young man as well as all the kids who go through the natural part of this game which is injuries and fighting your way back," Shafer said. "I feel terrible for him, but it is that reality and now we're going to move forward and develop a plan for Austin and A.J. and have Mitch ready to go as well.
"I think all-three of those young men have the skill sets to do it, the thing is you never know until they get out there. Austin has been out there and he's done some good things, A.J. has done an extremely good job in practice against our number one defense and he was actually scout team player of the week the last two or three weeks and he's going against the ones. A lot of comments from the defensive guys 'man, that kid is pretty good.' There's definitely a drop off because Terrel is a very good quarterback and his development just continued to go up. But now that he's out we go to the next ball player up and we're going to try and come up with a great plan, move forward and be excited about it, so that's where we are."
The decision on who will get the starting nod will be determined this week. However, it won't be entirely based on who performs well this week in practice.
"When I look at it it's going to be less of a competition as to which guy does better in practice this week to 'let's come up with a plan, if we choose to use two guys, let's use two guys and give them pieces of the game plan.' Shafer said. "There will be carry over between the two guys because of the fact that both guys can do a lot of the same things, but we also have to do a good job accentuating the strengths of each one of those guys. To me, it's similar to things we've done in the past.
"When Dyshawn Davis was a young linebacker, I put him in and I blitzed him and then we slowly taught him how to do other things and he did a great job learning them. Same thing from a quarterback point of view. You accentuate the things you know they do well, there's strength in saying these are the four or five things you do well, this will be a big part of your game plan. Then you take the next guys and say you're a different guy, you give us a change-up, we're going to use these types of things. In an ideal world, you'd love to have a quarterback that does all those things well, but the reality is that we don't want to put that weight on any singular player, so that's how we're approaching it as we put together a game plan against the best team in the country."
That team has a 22-game win streak that the Orange will try and snap on Saturday. Despite that fact, it doesn't change the way Shafer approaches the game.
"I really try and go into each game plan regardless of who it is with the same mindset," Shafer said. "Let's have every piece of ammunition that we own in our holsters as we go into this game. I always felt like you're never prepared if you go into a game saying we should beat this team we shouldn't have to use a trick play. You never know when you're going to have to pull that thing out. You don't want to look back and say I wish we had that ready to go. So this like every game, we're going to have all the ammunition that we think is necessary."
Head coach Scott Shafer's focus is to now move forward and figure out how to take down the Seminoles without Hunt.
"I just feel so bad for the young man as well as all the kids who go through the natural part of this game which is injuries and fighting your way back," Shafer said. "I feel terrible for him, but it is that reality and now we're going to move forward and develop a plan for Austin and A.J. and have Mitch ready to go as well.
"I think all-three of those young men have the skill sets to do it, the thing is you never know until they get out there. Austin has been out there and he's done some good things, A.J. has done an extremely good job in practice against our number one defense and he was actually scout team player of the week the last two or three weeks and he's going against the ones. A lot of comments from the defensive guys 'man, that kid is pretty good.' There's definitely a drop off because Terrel is a very good quarterback and his development just continued to go up. But now that he's out we go to the next ball player up and we're going to try and come up with a great plan, move forward and be excited about it, so that's where we are."
The decision on who will get the starting nod will be determined this week. However, it won't be entirely based on who performs well this week in practice.
"When I look at it it's going to be less of a competition as to which guy does better in practice this week to 'let's come up with a plan, if we choose to use two guys, let's use two guys and give them pieces of the game plan.' Shafer said. "There will be carry over between the two guys because of the fact that both guys can do a lot of the same things, but we also have to do a good job accentuating the strengths of each one of those guys. To me, it's similar to things we've done in the past.
"When Dyshawn Davis was a young linebacker, I put him in and I blitzed him and then we slowly taught him how to do other things and he did a great job learning them. Same thing from a quarterback point of view. You accentuate the things you know they do well, there's strength in saying these are the four or five things you do well, this will be a big part of your game plan. Then you take the next guys and say you're a different guy, you give us a change-up, we're going to use these types of things. In an ideal world, you'd love to have a quarterback that does all those things well, but the reality is that we don't want to put that weight on any singular player, so that's how we're approaching it as we put together a game plan against the best team in the country."
That team has a 22-game win streak that the Orange will try and snap on Saturday. Despite that fact, it doesn't change the way Shafer approaches the game.
"I really try and go into each game plan regardless of who it is with the same mindset," Shafer said. "Let's have every piece of ammunition that we own in our holsters as we go into this game. I always felt like you're never prepared if you go into a game saying we should beat this team we shouldn't have to use a trick play. You never know when you're going to have to pull that thing out. You don't want to look back and say I wish we had that ready to go. So this like every game, we're going to have all the ammunition that we think is necessary."
Orange Announce Coaching Change
Syracuse University head football coach Scott Shafer has changed titles and responsibilities for two members of the offensive coaching staff, effective immediately.
"I've had to make a tough decision that has been less difficult to make because of the unselfishness of our teammate and coach George McDonald. Let me start by saying I've never worked with a harder working and more devoted individual than George McDonald. I truly appreciate his devotion to the team," Shafer said.
"I've made the decision to change roles to use our staff's talents together more effectively. Coach Tim Lester will call the plays and coordinate the offense moving forward. He, George and the offensive staff will continue to work alongside one another striving to improve our offense together. George will continue to coach our receiver unit. Tim will take charge of the play calling and the development of our young quarterbacks as we move forward without Terrel Hunt as he works to rehab his injury. Terrel sustained a fracture to his fibula on in the game against Louisville. He is expected to be out of activity for 4-6 weeks.
"We are committed and unified to take the actions necessary to maximize the talent and drive of this football team."
"I've had to make a tough decision that has been less difficult to make because of the unselfishness of our teammate and coach George McDonald. Let me start by saying I've never worked with a harder working and more devoted individual than George McDonald. I truly appreciate his devotion to the team," Shafer said.
"I've made the decision to change roles to use our staff's talents together more effectively. Coach Tim Lester will call the plays and coordinate the offense moving forward. He, George and the offensive staff will continue to work alongside one another striving to improve our offense together. George will continue to coach our receiver unit. Tim will take charge of the play calling and the development of our young quarterbacks as we move forward without Terrel Hunt as he works to rehab his injury. Terrel sustained a fracture to his fibula on in the game against Louisville. He is expected to be out of activity for 4-6 weeks.
"We are committed and unified to take the actions necessary to maximize the talent and drive of this football team."
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