FB : Three things that went wrong for Syracuse in 2011 season
Red zone
Red zone offense was not the culprit behind the first two Syracuse losses in this five-game meltdown. In fact, the Orange was borderline impressive inside the 20 against Louisville and Connecticut, scoring touchdowns on four of six possessions.
But against South Florida, Cincinnati and Pittsburgh, it seemed that the closer the Orange got to the end zone, the harder it got to put points on the board.
In that span, Syracuse reached the red zone on 11 possessions. And of those 11, SU came off the field scoreless (four times) more than it produced touchdowns (three).
What’s worse, those ugly numbers don’t even include a single turnover. Instead, the Orange simply stopped itself. SU only produced 10 points on five red zone drives against USF and failed to score from inside the 20 on three consecutive possessions at the end of the game thanks to drops by receivers. Against Cincinnati, Syracuse punched it into the end zone on just one-of-three such drives.
And in the final episode of this collapse at Pittsburgh on Saturday, SU twice moved the ball inside the 10 only to settle for field goals in the 13-point loss.
A lack of red zone efficiency may not have been the initial trigger to set off the losing streak, but it was one of the keys that kept it going.
Secondary
It was ominous right from the start. From the first few days of training camp back in August, the Syracuse secondary was hampered with problems. And up until the last week of the season those problems never stopped.
Three of the slated starters for the 2011 season suffered an injury at some point in camp. Keon Lyn (dislocated shoulder), Shamarko Thomas (concussion) and Phillip Thomas (fractured jaw) all missed at least a portion of preseason practice.
And when the regular season began, it was no better. Lyn, Shamarko Thomas and Olando Fisher all missed time with injuries, Phillip Thomas received a one-year suspension for an undisclosed violation of athletics department policy and, finally, Lyn was sent home from Pittsburgh for conduct detrimental to the team.
It all culminated in a 5-7 record, and the poor play of the secondary was one big reason why. The Orange secondary ranked 98th in the country in pass defense, allowing 258.25 yards per game.
Tanner Price, Matt Barkley and B.J. Daniels all torched the defense throughout the year. And standout wide receivers Chris Givens, Robert Woods and Eric Page found it easy to tear apart the secondary with no cornerback or safety able to shut down the star from the opposing team.
It was by far the weakest part of the defensive unit for the Orange in 2011.
Field position
Steve Rene’s job as Syracuse’s punt returner this season was just to catch the ball.
Most of the time SU forced a punt, Rene ended the play with a fair catch. Sometimes he called for them inside the 10-yard line. And he only returned 10 punts in 12 games, with his longest return going for a futile 6 yards.
After Syracuse’s season-ending loss to Pittsburgh, head coach Doug Marrone talked about field position as one of the issues that crushed the Orange in key spots. Only three (Kentucky, New Mexico, Notre Dame) of 119 other Football Bowl Subdivision teams finished with fewer total punt return yards than Syracuse’s 37.
On the other side, the Orange entered the season with a competition for punting duties between junior Shane Raupers and freshman Jonathan Fisher. Raupers won in the preseason, but Fisher took the job over a few games into the season. But Fisher had three punts go for 25 yards or less in a loss to Connecticut. The next week, his first punt to South Florida was shanked out of bounds after 11 yards.
On kick returns, Dorian Graham provided a marquee moment in the season when he took a kick back for a score in SU’s 49-23 win over then-No. 11 West Virginia. But primary kick returner Jeremiah Kobena was never able to break one and was stopped inside SU’s own 20 too many times.
—Compiled by The Daily Orange Sports staff, sports@dailyorange.com
