Syracuse error-filled again in 27-13 loss at Pitt
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PITTSBURGH — Fran Brown thought the referees “were effing cheating” Syracuse.
In the second quarter, on the heels of a pass interference penalty that kept a Pitt drive alive, Brown was called for an unsportsmanlike penalty, handing the Panthers another 15 yards in field position.
What did he say to warrant the flag?
“‘You guys are effing cheating,’ and I shouldn’t have said that,” Brown said postgame, censoring himself in his press conference. “I should be able to hold my composure as being the face of our football program. Can’t say words like that to a referee.”
Brown added he was standing up for his player after multiple incorrect calls, in his opinion.
The head coach’s frustration was palpable. Syracuse (1-2, 0-2 Atlantic Coast) had lost a 27-13 game at Pitt (3-0, 1-0 Atlantic Coast). The same negative trends that percolated in the Orange’s narrow, error-ridden loss to Cal Saturday appeared again Thursday.
Quarterback Steve Angeli followed a three-interception day versus the Golden Bears with two against the Panthers and just six second-half passing yards. The Orange slightly improved their penalty yards from 110 to 94. They saw another shank from kicker Tripp Woody, who erred on two kicks Saturday, before finding success in freshman Shay Barker.
“I believe in these players,” Brown said postgame. “I believe in our football team. I understand, and I know that our football team, the display and the results that came out the last couple of weeks, aren’t who they are. That’s not how we work.”
SU dropped another conference clash — its ninth straight dating back to last season — ponderously. It enters its bye week with an acrid aftertaste following its performance at Acrisure Stadium.
“It’s the beginning of the season, so we got things to clean up,” cornerback/punt returner Demetres Samuel Jr. said. “We got a bye week coming up, so we have a lot of things we can fix and get better at.”
The Orange finally had running back momentum with Jackson State transfer Ahmad Miller gathering 57 third-quarter rushing yards and a rushing touchdown. But to begin the fourth, Angeli threw an interception. Momentum kiboshed. Pitt cornerback Raion Strader jumped the passing lane, taking the ball at Pitt’s 33.
Syracuse’s defense was doing its job, compiling consecutive stops. Then, Angeli was picked again. A deep attempt at Daunte Bacheyie was claimed by Braylan Lovelace.
“They do a good job bringing pressure,” a laconic Angeli said postgame, adding he hadn’t conversed with Brown about his interceptions and benching.
After a Panthers field goal, Odom replaced Angeli under center on SU’s next drive. The Kennesaw State transfer piloted Syracuse to Pitt’s 12-yard line, but it made a cosmetic field goal to make it 27-13 for its first second-half score with 3:08 left in the fourth quarter.
Brown stressed postgame there has been and will be a weekly quarterback competition.
“It’s disrespectful to state that there is going to be a quarterback competition to Steve,” Brown said. “He’s done a great job there in helping build the culture of being a quarterback. So that means a lot. And then also to just be able to say that about Amari, if you’re saying there’s going to be quarterback competition, because Malachi Nelson is also a good quarterback. That would be disrespectful to all of those guys to just state that.”
It didn’t take long for a familiar bug — penalties — to bite the Orange. A third-down stop on Pitt’s second drive turned into a 15-yard penalty. Pitt’s La’Vell Wright took advantage with a two-yard rushing touchdown.
SU’s misconduct miasma continued emanating. Offensively, a holding on a kickoff, a holding on an Angeli rush and a false start were called. It was inescapable. Removing penalties from Syracuse is like cleaning the Augean stables. At the end of the first quarter, the Orange had 59 total yards and 50 penalty yards.
Minutes into the second quarter, back-to-back 15-yard penalties — a Samuel pass interference and Brown’s unsportsmanlike conduct — enabled the Panthers to make it 14-0.
Brown didn’t want to hear about penalties postgame.
“I thought we just talked about the penalty issue a second ago,” he began one answer.
“Three people already said that right before you … I spoke on that,” Brown responded when asked again.
Brown elaborated but didn’t explain the holding penalties his team committed. He did, however, call out his team for jumping offsides. He noted some were “judgment calls,” like the pass interference.
“I’m not really sure what to say or where we go when it comes to things that are in play, but it has to be better,” Brown said of penalties. “Whether it’s in play, whether it isn’t, flags can’t happen. Flags have to be better, because you have 100 yards that are against you now due to the fact of that.”
Brown also criticized the Orange’s play deep in Pitt territory. They had five trips past the Panthers’ 30-yard line and only a touchdown and two field goals to show for.
“We get to the red area, and we can’t score,” Brown said postgame.
When Woody missed from 29 yards midway through the second quarter, adding to his two fourth-quarter failures versus Cal, SU turned to Barker, its freshman top-10 recruit. He finished 2-for-2 on field goals and cut the score to 17-10 to end the first half.
“I feel like we went and fixed that right away, because you see Shay come in, and he made his kicks,” Brown said.
It was a scarce positive. On the penalties, Brown offered a final point: it “demoralizes” his players when they’re coached to do something, and it results in a flag, as he said Thursday.
It was 30 minutes removed from the game ending with SU’s previous concerns heightened. Brown brought more poise discussing penalties at the podium than he admitted he did during the heat of the game.
“It makes them feel like they can’t do anything right, because when they try to go hard, sometimes you’re getting flagged,” Brown said. “And that’s a judgment (call), and it comes back and might not be right. That’s all I really say about that.”
