Syracuse - NC State Postgame Reactions OR There's Your First ACC Win
0 Comments Published on 10.17.2013 by Brian Harrison
Don't worry too much Scott. You just earned your first road win and the first ACC win ever.
Syracuse went down to Raleigh looking to prove that Syracuse was not a team that could only beat the likes of a Tulane or a Wagner. And while Terrel Hunt didn't play spectacularly well, Syracuse did enough on the ground to earn a big win in hostile territory to not only earn their first ACC win, but they got their first road win of the season, and the first win ever against NC State. They are your winner over the Wolfpack 24 to 10.
Offense
B-
Hunt (10/20, 74 yds, 0 TD, 2 INT, 1 rush TD) had a rough day. Or I should say, a rough first half, then let his running backs do most of the work in the second half. The offense earns its grade due to the hard running of both Jerome Smith (19 car, 140 yds, 7.4avg, 1 TD), and PTG (9 car, 132 yds, 14.7 avg, 1 TD). They both had their moments in this game and both had long runs of over 50 yards on the day. They earned 15 first downs, they were 5-14 on third downs, and had 436 total yards. Overall, not much offense in the first half, but the second half more than made up for it.
Defense
B
The defense had a major improvement over the week before. While NC State isn't a potent an offense as Clemson, the Syracuse defense really showed improvement, especially in the secondary. And Syracuse was able to get to the quarterback and sack him several times in the game. Syracuse held NC State to only 7-23 on third downs and 2-5 on fourth down. The only reason they didn't score an A is because they allowed several receptions of 30 yards or more. The secondary still needs to get better, but this was definitely an improved effort, and earning another interception helps, especially only yards from the goal line.
Special Teams
B
That was one of the best two point conversion attempts I have ever seen. If you missed it, try and catch a replay but RGLCL pitched it for an easy two points off a read of where the defense lined up. Perfectly executed after a botched XP attempt earlier in the game. Ryan Norton has been a decent fill in for DAS BOOT, hitting his one field goal attempt (19 yds) and technically hitting his one XP attempt.
Coaching
B
The play calling has been good so far this season, and this game was no exception. However, the penalties continue to be an issue for Syracuse. While there was one holding penalty in particular was simply to avoid Hunt taking a big shot, the rest were dumb penalties that Syracuse needs to avoid. That's the biggest issue the coaches need to address right now, but otherwise they had a fine game.
GPA
B (2.93)
Syracuse was so much better than NC State the majority of this game so if they ended up on the losing end it would have been a huge disappointment. Luckily, Syracuse's run game came up big in the second half, and the defense contributed key stops. Syracuse was the better team on the field and on the scoreboard when the 60 minutes were done.
Now at the halfway point Syracuse is 3-3 (1-1), which is not a bad position to be in with your first season in a new conference. Syracuse has the opportunity to pick up three more wins and get back to a bowl game and six games to do it in. With the remaining schedule it is certainly possible, but here at the half way point you have to be satisfied as a fan for the most part with how things have gone so far.
Offense
B-
Hunt (10/20, 74 yds, 0 TD, 2 INT, 1 rush TD) had a rough day. Or I should say, a rough first half, then let his running backs do most of the work in the second half. The offense earns its grade due to the hard running of both Jerome Smith (19 car, 140 yds, 7.4avg, 1 TD), and PTG (9 car, 132 yds, 14.7 avg, 1 TD). They both had their moments in this game and both had long runs of over 50 yards on the day. They earned 15 first downs, they were 5-14 on third downs, and had 436 total yards. Overall, not much offense in the first half, but the second half more than made up for it.
Defense
B
The defense had a major improvement over the week before. While NC State isn't a potent an offense as Clemson, the Syracuse defense really showed improvement, especially in the secondary. And Syracuse was able to get to the quarterback and sack him several times in the game. Syracuse held NC State to only 7-23 on third downs and 2-5 on fourth down. The only reason they didn't score an A is because they allowed several receptions of 30 yards or more. The secondary still needs to get better, but this was definitely an improved effort, and earning another interception helps, especially only yards from the goal line.
Special Teams
B
That was one of the best two point conversion attempts I have ever seen. If you missed it, try and catch a replay but RGLCL pitched it for an easy two points off a read of where the defense lined up. Perfectly executed after a botched XP attempt earlier in the game. Ryan Norton has been a decent fill in for DAS BOOT, hitting his one field goal attempt (19 yds) and technically hitting his one XP attempt.
Coaching
B
The play calling has been good so far this season, and this game was no exception. However, the penalties continue to be an issue for Syracuse. While there was one holding penalty in particular was simply to avoid Hunt taking a big shot, the rest were dumb penalties that Syracuse needs to avoid. That's the biggest issue the coaches need to address right now, but otherwise they had a fine game.
GPA
B (2.93)
Syracuse was so much better than NC State the majority of this game so if they ended up on the losing end it would have been a huge disappointment. Luckily, Syracuse's run game came up big in the second half, and the defense contributed key stops. Syracuse was the better team on the field and on the scoreboard when the 60 minutes were done.
Now at the halfway point Syracuse is 3-3 (1-1), which is not a bad position to be in with your first season in a new conference. Syracuse has the opportunity to pick up three more wins and get back to a bowl game and six games to do it in. With the remaining schedule it is certainly possible, but here at the half way point you have to be satisfied as a fan for the most part with how things have gone so far.
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