Syracuse appeared to be its same old self. Shyheim Cullen was called for a running into the kicker penalty that extended a Colgate drive and gave the Raiders Friday’s first touchdown.

But six plays and fewer than two minutes changed the tone of the game. SU (1-0) marched down the field, tied the game and never let Colgate (0-1) score again en route to a 33-7 win.

Check out how the Orange completed its game-changing drive.

Play 1 – Pass to Ervin Philips for 9 yards

Syracuse rolled out with two receivers to the right and one to the left. The player SU picks on in this play is circled.

Courtesy of the ACC Digital Network

Syracuse ran the run-pass option concept, also known as “RPO.” It was one of Dino Babers’ base plays at Bowling Green, per BGSU receiver Ronnie Moore. Quarterback Eric Dungey and running back Dontae Strickland read for the zone read while Dungey scanned for the pass.

Colgate stacked the box with seven players close to the line of scrimmage. The circled player was responsible to read run or cover Philips in the slot.

Courtesy of the ACC Digital Network

Dungey and Strickland engaged in the read option portion of the play as the receivers began to run their routes. The player circled in the previous picture started to slide forward in anticipation of the run. For Dungey, it was a sign he should pass.

Courtesy of the ACC Digital Network

The fake brought the defender in a yard and Philips sat down in his route about 5 yards off the line of scrimmage. Syracuse effectively caught the defender out of position and opened up space for Philips.

Courtesy of the ACC Digital Network

The throw to Philips still needed to be on the money because the defender recognized his mistake and committed less enough that he nearly recovered and picked Dungey’s first pass. Instead, Philips turned up field and gained 9 yards.

Play 2 – Pass to Ervin Philips for 12 yards

Syracuse’s second play was much simpler. Philips went in motion to the left on a jet sweep, while the line reach blocked right. While it didn’t totally fool the defense, SU blocked up the play well.

Courtesy of the ACC Digital Network

Because Syracuse’s line blocks for a run to the right, one linebacker on the far side of the play false steps slightly. The blocking scheme also left a defensive end free on the near side.

Courtesy of the ACC Digital Network

Philips burned by that defensive end and used his speed to turn the corner. Defender 2 was picked up by Strickland and Defender 3 was picked up by Cameron MacPherson. No. 42 is slower than Philips and the SU wide receiver beat the linebacker on the edge. Philips gained 12 yards on the play.

Courtesy of the ACC Digital Network

Play 3 – Pass to Ervin Philips for 6 yards

In the early going, Syracuse-Colgate was really Philips vs. the Colgate defense. Syracuse moved him around, ran him left, had him catching screens on each side of the formation and used him effectively.

A lot of that had to do with Colgate’s alignment. The Raiders’ cover men either sagged off or were lined up in the box to stifle the run. Check out the closest defender to Philips in the following set:

Courtesy of the ACC Digital Network

Part of the reason this happened was Syracuse’s pace. Colgate was unable to get set up well enough to actually roll coverage at Philips. It’s hard to change a game plan when the other team is getting up to the line of scrimmage quickly. Add in that Colgate came in trying to stop the run by stacking the box, and SU got production by moving its inside receivers toward the edge of the field.

Courtesy of the ACC Digital Network

In the previous frame, Dungey faked the run with Strickland and then himself. That pulled in the linebacker near the hashes, giving Philips enough room to gain 6 yards on the play.

Play 4 – 1 yard run by Dontae Strickland

The fourth play of the drive was the least successful. The far side outside linebacker acted as a seventh man in the box. Syracuse gave a more run-oriented look with MacPherson lined up in the backfield.

Courtesy of the ACC Digital Network

Though there were only three down linemen, Syracuse had trouble blocking this play. Left tackle Cody Conway drove his man inside, which crowded Strickland’s running lane but also cleaned out the lineman. MacPherson, who appeared to have been responsible for blocking the outside linebacker, was pushed back. That closed the hole for Strickland, who had to bounce the run outside where two defenders were waiting for him.

Courtesy of the ACC Digital Network

Strickland was able to salvage at least a yard on the play, but the short run put Syracuse in a 3rd-and-short situation. SU had chunked its way to 28 yards on four plays, for an average of 7 yards per play.

Courtesy of the ACC Digital Network

Play 5 – Pass to Ervin Philips f0r 8 yards

Again, Babers ran a play he cued up at Bowling Green. At times last season, former BGSU quarterback Matt Johnson would turn and fire right off the snap from under center to a speedy receiver on a screen play.

Courtesy of the ACC Digital Network

Take a look at the room Philips had before the snap. No. 26 was actually covering Amba Etta-Tawo, who isn’t pictured but was located to the left of Philips. Just seconds before the snap, Colgate was in disarray.

Courtesy of the ACC Digital Network

Even after the snap and Dungey’s throw, there was no one there to cover Philips. No. 47 (circled) is the closest defender and the one that had been defending the slot most regularly for Colgate up this point. Syracuse knew that it had an athleticism advantage with the linebacker on Philips, so Dungey continued to throw there. Philips picked up another eight yards for SU. After the play, the game paused because of an injury to a Colgate player.

Play 6 – 43-yard touchdown pass to Amba Etta-Tawo

Maybe the timeout during the injury allowed Syracuse to evaluate its drive a bit or maybe Babers had play action queued up the whole time, but the play call worked to perfection. With Colgate fixated on stopping the run, Babers ran a play action pass on first down. Check out the pre-snap alignment in the following frame, particularly the Colgate safety, marked by an arrow.

Courtesy of the ACC Digital Network

Dungey and Strickland completed play action with the line pass blocking. The safety, however, got caught ball watching and stepped forward just a few yards.

Courtesy of the ACC Digital Network

During the fake, Etta-Tawo, who is on the bottom of the screen, bolted on a fly route toward the back-pedaling cornerback. The safety was still in the process of coming forward.

Courtesy of the ACC Digital Network

Dungey didn’t even have to bother looking off a defensive back because Etta-Tawo had one defender on him and the safety got caught too close to the line of scrimmage. Check out where the safety ends up in the play after biting on the fake.

Courtesy of the ACC Digital Network

Courtesy of the ACC Digital Network

Etta-Tawo got just enough separation to get free from the Colgate defender. Defensive backs noted that Etta-Tawo is a long strider and could get down the field in a hurry during training camp. The play resulted in a 43-yard touchdown catch.

Courtesy of the ACC Digital Network

Published on September 4, 2016 at 7:30 pm

Contact Chris: cjlibona@syr.edu | @ChrisLibonati