Syracuse (2-2) lost Saturday, 35-26, in its first road test of the season at No. 25 Louisiana State (3-1, 0-1 Southeastern). The Orange hung around for most of the game, but in the end it was ruined by a few big plays from the Tigers.

Here’s a look at some of the game’s notable performances.

Stock up

Parris Bennett

The senior linebacker has consistently clogged opposing offenses for most of his career, but he has had to surrender the spotlight to three-year captain Zaire Franklin. In a primetime, nationally televised matchup, Bennett showed that he’s just as much of a leader for the SU defense. His versatility allowed him to play all over the field, recording 12 tackles including eight solo efforts. He logged one quarterback hurry and broke up a pass. Coverage was something he said he wanted to improve on the most in his final season.

Defensive line

The focus was on the status of LSU’s powerhouse running back Derrius Guice. He was playing, then he wasn’t and then he was. He did suit up but didn’t do much damage, and much of that has to be attributed to an impressive showing from SU’s defensive line.

Aside from the big-play outbursts, LSU’s offense never established a dominant rhythm in the first half. Its first touchdown came from the 1-yard line after Eric Dungey threw a pick on the first play of the game, but movement was a struggle after that. Redshirt junior tackle Chris Slayton was especially noticeable, chipping in on six tackles.

For this SU defensive line, flashes of strength will have to turn 60-minute efforts to consistently stop good teams. But it was a start.

Specialists

Senior kicker Cole Murphy has struggled away from home in his career, making just one field goal outside the Carrier Dome last season. He made his only attempt Saturday, a 42-yarder in the first quarter.

Redshirt sophomore punter Sterling Hofrichter, coming off a strong showing against Central Michigan that placed him among the nation’s best at his position, excelled again. He punted seven times for an average of 46.7 yards. Five of those punts pinned LSU inside its own 20-yard line. Two forced the Tigers to start from basically their own goal line and SU’s defense dropped LSU for a safety that gave SU the ball and brought the difference to just two possessions.

Hofrichter’s play, when paired with a defense that doesn’t give up a lot of ground, can be an effective weapon.

Ali Harford | Senior Design Editor

Stock down

Sean Riley

Riley came off the game of his life — 247 all-purpose yards against Central Michigan — to make the biggest error of his young career. In the second quarter, Dungey extended a play and saw Riley streaking across the middle to a wide-open end zone. Dungey hurled a near-perfect ball to hit Riley, but the ball bounced off the sophomore’s body and fell incomplete. The drop was a lost opportunity for SU to deliver an uppercut of its own, something LSU was able to capitalize on multiple times in the game.

Jessica Sheldon | Staff Photographer

The secondary

The group as a whole has had plenty of encouraging moments this season, especially considering the instability of the unit. But against LSU, the secondary got burned for big plays that negated an otherwise strong performance by the defense.

Less than two minutes before halftime, safety Jordan Martin came in to stop LSU’s Steph Sullivan who had just caught a crossing route across the middle. Martin took a poor angle and had no chance to make a play on Sullivan who made one move and went 43-yards for a touchdown. Then on the first play from scrimmage in the second half, cornerback Christopher Fredrick could only watch as LSU receiver Drake Davis beat him over the top and coasted for an 87-yard touchdown.

SU’s players have preached consistency since the preseason. They’ll have to make it happen in that regard if they want to keep some of the Atlantic Coast Conference’s most dynamic weapons in check moving forward.

Dino Babers

SU’s head coach made some questionable decisions late in Saturday’s game that made a difference in how the final minutes unfolded.

With Syracuse down by 16 points — a two-possession deficit — he sent out Murphy for an extra point instead of going for a two-point conversion to potentially cut LSU’s lead to eight points and make it a one-possession game. Then, after scoring again to cut the Tigers’ lead to just two with more than five minutes left, Babers decided to try what appeared to be an onside kick. But Cole Murphy sent the ball too deep and it was an easy recovery for LSU, which then used the shorter field to punctuate the game with a final touchdown.

Published on September 24, 2017 at 9:02 pm

Contact: jtbloss@syr.edu | @jtbloss