RALEIGH, N.C. — Kingsley Jonathan bounced to his left and took a few quick steps. Shoving off an offensive lineman, he corralled North Carolina State running back Jordan Houston in his arms and threw him to the ground. Jonathan sprung up and waved his arms, celebrating with his teammates. 

That excitement continued the ensuing play, when Curtis Harper and Andrew Armstrong both sniffed out a Wolfpack screen. After rushing at first, Harper stayed alert, throwing his hands up when NC State quarterback Bailey Hockman released a lob pass. Harper managed to get a fingertip on the ball, deflecting before Armstrong, who fell underneath the ball, intercepted it. 

Yet 78 seconds later, the Orange’s defense returned to the field. Just as Syracuse’s (3-3, 0-2 Atlantic Coast) defense had got itself settled on the sideline benches, they had to put their helmets back on and trudge back out onto the field, time and time again. During a game in which the Orange defense held NC State (4-2, 1-1) to just one touchdown and extended its takeaway streak to 20 games, it still wound up on the wrong end of a 16-10 loss.

“I definitely think we kept (the offense) in the game,” SU safety Evan Foster said. “At the end of the day, our job is to go out there and defend whatever happens. There’s nothing we can do about it.” 

After back-to-back games in which Syracuse scored at least 41 points, its offensive firepower was completely extinguished on Thursday against the Wolfpack. Twenty-seven total yards on 14 plays in the first quarter. More penalty yards than rushing yards. More punting yards than passing yards. It was clear from the get-go that if SU had any hope of taking down NC State, it’d have to be on the back of its defense. 

And to the defense’s credit, it put SU’s offense on its shoulders. A Wolfpack team that poured 41 points on Syracuse last season struggled to put points on the board and was held to just three points in the second half. Hockman, who was making his first-career college start, never found any sort of consistency. He was sacked three times, threw an interception and had a completion percentage under 60%. On the ground, NC State was even less productive. Thirty-four carries went for just 104 net yards, a measly 3.1 average. Missed tackles were held to a minimum. Holes were closed quickly. Syracuse’s defense, for the most part, dominated.

“I’m proud of the way our defense played,” said Armstrong, who tallied a career-high 14 tackles. “I thought we had a lot of good plays, a lot of big stops.”

Gavin Liddell | Staff Photographer

Despite a few trips by the Wolfpack deep into SU territory, the Orange defense never gave in. Armstrong’s pick, which came on the first drive of the second half, occurred just outside the red zone at Syracuse’s 26-yard line. Foster nearly had an interception in the end zone but couldn’t come up with it. The two credit SU’s success deep in its own territory to quick play-calling, which allowed them to make adjustments and matchups early on before the snap. 

Following Foster’s near-pick, NC State kicked a field goal to go up 16-0 with 4:18 left in the third quarter. After that, it didn’t reach SU territory again. Syracuse’s defense stepped up during the biggest situations of the game, stopping NC State on 11 of its 15 third downs and forcing it to kick field goals on each of its two red zone trips. 

“Great defenses are always good in the red zone,” Foster said. “You can give up a big play, but as long as you keep them out of the end zone and reduce it to three points it really helps us throughout the game.”

The only non-field goal NC State score of the game came on a trick play, when wide receiver Thayer Thomas caught a lateral and found running back Trent Pennix out of the backfield for a touchdown. It was a new look that Syracuse hadn’t seen, causing some miscommunication between Foster and Armstrong over whose responsibility Pennix was. If SU was playing zone defense instead of man, Babers said, that miscommunication and the touchdown never would’ve happened.

“They came out really fast, and it was hard for us to matchup guys,” Foster said. “It was just one of those unfortunate situations.”

After the Orange’s 63-20 loss to Maryland on Sept. 7, Babers said that he still believed that the defense would be the strength of the team. It didn’t show that against Clemson the following week, or even versus Western Michigan the next, giving up over 500 total yards of offense in each. 

Against Holy Cross last week, however, Syracuse had its best game of the season defensively. The Crusaders managed just 128 yards, including just 18 yards on the ground. On Thursday, SU proved that it could have elite success against a conference opponent, too. Most importantly, it confirmed that its defense, even without Andre Cisco and Ifeatu Melifonwu, can be the strength of 2019’s team.

“They did more than enough,” Babers said. “What was the final score, 16-10? Sheesh, to hold a team to 16 points, it’s a good job.”

Published on October 11, 2019 at 1:42 am

Contact Eric: erblack@syr.edu | @esblack34