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Football

Syracuse football: 3 quick takeaways from Syracuse’s blowout 62-28 loss to Louisville

Jessica Sheldon | Photo Editor

Dino Babers was upset with how frequently Louisville players were falling down, halting SU's fast offense.

Syracuse (1-1, 0-1 Atlantic Coast) was blown out by No. 13 Louisville (2-0, 1-0), losing 62-28, in the Carrier Dome on Friday night. The Cardinals amassed 845 yards of offense — a school record for Louisville, the most given up by an SU team and an ACC record.

Here are three quick reactions from the game.

Shell-shocked

Syracuse started the game about as poorly as anyone could’ve thought. Within the first five minutes, Louisville had racked up more than 200 yards of offense and scored three touchdowns.

Jackson alone already had 133 yards and one touchdown through the air, along with 79 yards and two touchdowns on the ground.



On the first play from scrimmage, Jackson hit receiver James Quick up the seam on the left side for a 72-yard touchdown pass. Quick burned Syracuse safety Antwan Cordy up the middle of the field.

Two offensive plays for Louisville later, Jackson found receiver Jaylen Smith on the same route, just the other side of the field. Smith got inside safety Kielan Whitner for the 61-yard catch. Jackson then danced his way into the end zone from 10-yards out.

Fans were already booing as the Cardinals came off the field.

The very next time Jackson touched the ball he did the same thing — only this time it was from 72 yards away. Jackson took the snap out of shotgun, ran right, past defensive end Kenneth Ruff, and juked Whitner in the open field.

Action Jackson

Lamar Jackson was everything as advertised in the Carrier Dome on Friday. He finished the game with 411 yards in the air and 199 on the ground. He was 20-for-39 and accounted for five touchdowns. His 610 total yards is most in ACC history and he’s just the second player in FBS history with 400 pass yards and 150 rush yards in a game.

The sophomore quarterback accounted for more yards than the Orange’s offense totaled. Jackson’s stat line was even hurt by several drops from his receiving corps.

When the Cardinals needed a third down conversion, Jackson would either scramble for 10-plus yards or complete a touch pass along the sideline. He broke tackles and even hurdled Syracuse defensive back Cordell Hudson on an impressive touchdown run.


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Going down

A common scene in the Carrier Dome on Friday was Louisville players laying on the turf with apparent injuries. Each time the stoppage of play was met with a chorus of boos from the Syracuse crowd.

The first time it happened was on Syracuse’s third drive of the game. Eric Dungey slipped a pass to Moe Neal to Louisville’s 17-yard line and as the Orange tried to lineup for another snap, a Louisville defensive lineman remained on the ground.

Referees stopped play and SU head coach Dino Babers ran down the sideline yelling at the officials in protest.

At least three other times in the game, a Cardinals defensive player caused a stoppage of play with a leg injury. Once, an SU fan yelled, “lock him up.” When the Cardinals were driving down the field fans yelled, “somebody fall down.”

Each time, Babers seemed to be upset and talked with the referees.

When Louisville’s Chris Williams squirmed on the ground while Syracuse was in the red zone. Dungey ran over to the defensive lineman and turned him over before running back Dontae Strickland pulled Dungey away.





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