By the time Syracuse safety Evan Foster realized his mistake, it was too late. Maryland running back Javon Leake zoomed past him, streaking upfield. Foster stumbled backward in an attempt to get back into the play but wound up falling to his stomach. Fifty-five yards in front of him, Leake breezed into the end zone, untouched, for the Terps’ seventh touchdown of the game.

The play came right after the halftime break, one in which the Orange defense likely spent talking about how Maryland had just torn through it, specifically on the ground. Any adjustments SU made before the start of the third quarter were unapparent, as Leake’s run was reminiscent of SU’s struggles against the run all game.

By the end of the 63-20 massacre, Syracuse (1-1) had allowed the Terrapins to run for 354 yards, the most the Orange have allowed since 2017. On Saturday, No. 1 Clemson (2-0) comes to the Carrier Dome, along with its star running back, Travis Etienne. Considered a Heisman candidate by many, Etienne led the Tigers to a comeback win over Syracuse last season, scorching the Orange for 203 yards and three touchdowns in the process.

A week after being burned by Maryland’s running backs, SU’s defense is tasked with stopping arguably the best running back in college football.

“[Etienne is] big, he’s fast, he’s smart, he’s a really good blocker, he’s a really good receiver,” Syracuse head coach Dino Babers said on Monday. “He’s an NFL player in college football.”

When Clemson quarterback Trevor Lawrence went down during last season’s matchup and Syracuse took control of the game, the Tigers turned to Etienne down 23-13 early in the fourth quarter. On Clemson’s first possession of the quarter, Etienne took three carries for 44 yards and capped off the drive with a 26-yard touchdown.

He carried the ball five more times on the Tigers’ final possession, eventually finishing off a 13-play, 94-yard drive with another touchdown that gave Clemson the lead with 41 seconds left. Etienne ultimately finished with 27 carries, 10 of which came during the fourth quarter.

“They just kept handing him the ball,” Babers said of Etienne following the contest. “We knew what they were going to do, but we couldn’t slow him down.”

One of the reasons Syracuse struggled to contain him was missed tackles, similar to their issues last week against Maryland. Often times against the Tigers in 2018, SU defenders would put themselves in the right positions but couldn’t complete the play.

Versus the Terrapins, the Orange lacked in both aspects. Poor reads on RPOs and blocking schemes led to poor positioning while taking defenders out of plays before they even developed. Maryland’s running backs were able to extend plays and gain extra yardage, which specifically hurt Syracuse in third down situations.

“The biggest issues are the tiny mistakes,” said Mikel Jones, a true freshman. “If we don’t make those mistakes at the beginning of the play, we’ll be able to get lined up and put ourselves in better positions to make those tackles so we don’t have to reach and have arm tackles.”

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There were numerous instances on Saturday in which Jones and his fellow linebackers guessed wrong on a read, leading to poor positioning and the potential for a big play. Other times, it was the defenders risk-taking during the plays that led to long gains, as the Terps had five runs for 20 yards or more. Etienne is known for his ability to break off long runs, with carries of 75, 70 and 62 yards last season.

Perhaps the best example of Etienne’s game-breaking explosiveness came in this year’s season-opener, when Etienne tied the Clemson record with a 90-yard run against Georgia Tech. The same issues that plagued Syracuse against Maryland doomed the Yellow Jackets on the play, as a false step by a GT defensive lineman and a missed tackle allowed Etienne to break loose.

“When there is a big play or an explosive play, it’s because somebody wasn’t doing their job,” SU defensive end Kendall Coleman said last week.

Jones attributed some of the struggles to not staying calm enough during the course of the game despite being prepared. Babers explained on Monday that while there was no problem with his defense’s effort against the Terrapins, too often players just wound up “in the wrong place.”

On Saturday, Syracuse’s defense can’t afford the mental mistakes and errors that it committed against Maryland. The costly misreads. The missed arm tackles. They won’t hold up against players of Etienne’s caliber. Against Clemson, the Orange need to tighten up the holes in their defense. Sometimes, it’s as simple as going right at them.

“We just gotta hit ’em in the mouth,” SU linebacker Lakiem Williams said. “There’s really nothing else to say to it. When the game comes and we have Clemson, we’re just gonna do what we do.”

Published on September 12, 2019 at 2:10 am

Contact Eric: erblack@syr.edu | @esblack34