Everything Goes Wrong For Syracuse in Loss to Florida State

The Orange struggled mightily on both sides of the ball.

The roar of the crowd reached new heights when Garrett Shrader stepped back onto the field, but the noise didn’t last long.

After a three and out to start the game for the Syracuse offense, Florida State wasted no time getting on the board.

Eight plays, 72 yards later and a rushing touchdown for Jordan Travis.

Before any one in the stands could blink, the score was 14-0 after Malik McClain hauled in a 11-yard touchdown and broke a tackle on his way to the end zone.

With hopes and good energy coming into senior day to snap a three game losing streak, this game was not it.

Andre Szmyt hit a 30-yard field goal to come within 11 points and here is where the game got interesting.

Syracuse’s defense came up with a gigantic strip on quarterback Jordan Travis where Justin Barron recovered the ball to set up shop in Florida State territory.

Any fan, media member, coach or security guard was thinking a touchdown or even a field goal could settle the ground under Syracuse’s feet, but the result was opposite.

A rare missed field goal from Szmyt and that was the last time anyone watching saw the Orange get close to scoring.

Like Rocky Balboa in the ring, punches kept coming from the Seminoles.

Johnny Wilson scored on a 24-yard touchdown grab to make it 21-3. Florida State then kicked a field goal to go up 24-3 at half.

At halftime, fans like Alaina Losito were chatting about the tough first half performance.

“Very disappointed, but we can do it and it’s only the first half,” said Losito.

That optimism didn’t hold on in the 2nd half.

Two scores through the air in the 3rd quarter where Travis threw one and caught one on a “Seminole Special” type play call.

No score in the 4th quarter between both sides just throwing in their back ups to wind down the clock until the final buzzer rang.

A painful senior day for the Orange walking off the field for the last time in a 35-point loss, 38-3.

Head Coach Dino Babers was disappointed in the loss and the continued struggle of this team.

"As coaches, we have to find ways to help our guys. This team is not the same as the beginning of the season,” said Babers.

Sean Tucker ended the game with 14 carries for 52 yards, but would have added to that total had their not been 10 offensive penalties that resulted in 72 yards negated.

“The penalties hurt us a lot tonight,” said Tucker.

Garrett Shrader got back onto the field for the first time in six quarters going 6-16 for 65 yards.

“I didn’t play particularly well and I mean it happens. Just moving forward we have to find a way to stay connected and work as a unit is the biggest thing,” said Shrader.

This is Syracuse’s forth consecutive loss after starting the season 6-0.

A disappointing night for the team and fans. It doesn’t get any easier as the Orange hit the road to take on a tough Wake Forest squad in North Carolina.

Babers, however, is confident this team can bounce back.

“We’re in a little bit of a drought here, but we’ll come back,” said Babers.

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