TAMPA, Fla. — The ingredients of a comeback were there.

Jordan Fredericks made three defenders miss before outrunning the South Florida defense for a 30-yard touchdown reception. A sack-fumble two plays later set up a 7-yard touchdown run for Eric Dungey. In less than five minutes the Orange sliced South Florida’s three-touchdown lead to seven points with 5:41 left in the third quarter and an entire fourth to play.

The wheels were turning, and then they stopped. A key ingredient was missing. Syracuse needed its defense to show up. Outside of that sack-fumble, it never did.

“We got outplayed, out-coached, everything,” said Chuck Bullough, SU’s defensive coordinator. “When the score is like that there is nothing else you can say.”

The score was 45-24, with the Bulls (2-3, 0-1 American Athletic) offense sprinting past the Orange (3-2, 1-0 Atlantic Coast) at Raymond James Stadium on Saturday. South Florida attacked SU’s defense on the edge and, when it found success, never deviated from that plan. The result was 536 total yards, 179 on the ground for USF running back Marlon Mack and 35 second-half points that stiff-armed SU in the third before burying it in the fourth.

After the game, Syracuse could have described the loss in a lot of ways. There was a painfully slow offensive start. Unfamiliar heat and humidity. It was the first road game of the season for a young team. A late-hit penalty by freshman safety Kielan Whitner extended a Bulls scoring drive when the Orange trailed 31-24 and still had a puncher’s chance in the fourth.

But none of that could change the fact that SU gave up more points than it was ever going to score, and no one denied that.

“They were just getting to the edge. They really have a lot of good athletes,” Zaire Franklin, SU’s middle linebacker, said. “… They definitely had the ability to get the edge before we could contain and they did that really well all game. I think they had a strong game plan coming in and I think they just executed it to the best of their abilities.”

USF starting quarterback Quinton Flowers couldn’t throw downfield consistently. His only big passing gains, aside from screens, came on back-to-back plays in the third when a 28-yard completion led to a 42-yard touchdown on a reverse flea flicker. Other than that, the Bulls were equally predictable and clinical, dialing up stretch handoffs and screen passes that Syracuse could anticipate but not stop.

On the last play of the first quarter, Flowers hit Tyre McCants with a wide receiver screen on second-and-15. SU cornerback Julian Whigham was sealed by a block and McCants sprinted 56 yards to the Syracuse 2-yard line. USF then scored on the second play of the second quarter to take a 7-0 lead.

It was more of the same in the fourth quarter, with the Orange down a score and the Bulls setting the edge with strong blocking. USF converted a third-and-14 with an 18-yard wide receiver screen. Then collected back-to-back first downs on outside runs to the left side. Whitner’s penalty came three plays later and a 2-yard touchdown run from Flowers sealed Syracuse’s fate.

“I thought they blocked better than we got off blocks,” SU head coach Scott Shafer said. “There’s a lot of instances where it’s man-on-man and you have to win that battle. Across the board, they beat us far more times than we beat them.”

With the rest of the team in the locker room after the game, SU linebackers coach Clark Lea talked to his unit in the hallway. On that 18-yard screen in the fourth, outside linebacker Parris Bennett had a clear shot at Ryeshene Bronson but didn’t bring him down. Marqez Hodge, opposite Bennett, whiffed on a few chances to bring Flowers down in eventual scoring drives. The consistent success on bubble screens and outside runs was, in part, the linebackers’ faults.

So Lea told them to stay the course, that missteps happen and that the next performance has the ability to erase this one. When his teammates went to change out of their uniforms, Franklin hung around to talk to Lea one-on-one. Lea patted him twice on the left shoulder pad when they finished and offered some final advice.

“There’s always going to be some tough times,” Lea said to Franklin.

Then Franklin dipped into the locker room and the metal door clicked behind him. In the coming weeks, the captain can only hope the defense will do the same.

Published on October 10, 2015 at 9:16 pm

Contact Jesse: jcdoug01@syr.edu | @dougherty_jesse