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RALEIGH, N.C. — Derek McDonald viciously swung Kendrick Raphael’s body like a rag doll before ripping the ball from underneath his left tricep. With 5:18 left in the second quarter, it was some much-needed violence for what had been an underperforming Syracuse squad.

Safety Justin Barron fell on the fumble at SU’s own 17-yard line. Up 3-0, the Orange hadn’t found a groove in the red zone quite yet. But a spark lit under quarterback Kyle McCord once McDonald, a linebacker, caused the NC State turnover.

McCord drove Syracuse downfield for a seven-play, 83-yard drive. It was capped off by a 28-yard touchdown pass to Umari Hatcher, where McCord hit the receiver’s back shoulder in the right corner of the end zone.

The seven-point swing put the Orange up 10-0. Not only did it help ignite SU’s offense, but it showed its defense can make the necessary plays to capture a victory.

“Man, we love playing complementary football,” wide receiver Jackson Meeks said postgame, lauding his team’s defensive performance. “That’s all coach Fran (Brown) preaches about … When we play to our potential, I honestly don’t feel like there’s a lot of people who can mess with us.”

In its first Atlantic Coast Conference road game under Brown, Syracuse (5-1, 2-1 ACC) defeated NC State (3-4, 0-3 ACC) 24-17 at Carter-Finley Stadium. McCord, as usual, dominated through the air, finishing with 346 passing yards and two touchdowns. Yet it was SU’s defense that carried the win. The Orange forced three turnovers — including on back-to-back drives in the third quarter — and scored 21 points off those turnovers.

Wolfpack quarterback CJ Bailey made a few big plays, though the momentum never lasted. Syracuse’s defense put together its best outing of the season, forcing its most turnovers and allowing its fewest points in a game versus an ACC opponent in 2024.

“We finally got a little bit of that complementary football that we wanted to get out there,” Brown said, confirming Meeks’ sentiment. “We’ve talked about that for a while, of us getting turnovers and then being able to do things on offense.”

Defensive coordinator Elijah Robinson’s group bent, but didn’t break, on NC State’s opening possession as kicker Kanoah Vinesett missed a 41-yard field goal. Syracuse then forced a punt early in the second quarter after Bailey threw two straight incompletions on second and third down.

Its offense couldn’t take advantage of a favorable defensive showing, though, as kicker Jadyn Oh hooked a 43-yard field goal wide left to end SU’s third drive.

Right after, Syracuse’s defense flexed its brute strength, with McDonald punching out a fumble that Barron recovered. SU promptly dropped seven points on the other end to make it 10-0.

“Really good football play that came at the right time,” Brown said of McDonald’s forced fumble. “That’s what coach (Robinson) preaches to the guys. ‘Next play, how are we gonna get the ball out?’”

Syracuse safety Duce Chestnut wraps up NC State wide receiver Kevin Concepcion during the Orange’s 24-17 win over the Wolfpack. Chestnut was part of a defense that forced three turnovers, helping the Orange to victory. Courtesy of Nicholas Oerter | NC State Athletics

Though, the Orange weathered a rough ending to the first half. NC State had less than two and a half minutes to score before halftime. It drove down to SU’s 14-yard line, spurred by a 42-yard reception from Kevin Concepcion, yet the Orange induced a field goal try.

Vinesett’s 31-yarder was good. But Syracuse was flagged for an illegal formation — officials said a defender was lined up in front of the long snapper. Two plays later, Bailey threw a 14-yard touchdown pass to Justin Joly to cut SU’s lead to 10-7 at the break.

All of a sudden, the Wolfpack went from being shut out to having a chance to double dip: score before halftime, and score after receiving the second-half kickoff. It seemed likely once Bailey drove NC State’s offense to Syracuse’s 21-yard line.

From there, though, the Orange’s defense turned the ferocity dial up a notch.

Defensive back Devin Grant blitzed Bailey on a second-and-6 with just over 10 minutes left in the third. He collided with the quarterback’s blind side. The impact allowed the ball to pop from Bailey’s hands, while SU defensive lineman David Omopariola inched toward the loose ball. Omopariola secured the fumble recovery, Syracuse’s second turnover of the night.

Syracuse’s air-raid offense just had to do its job on the other side. And it did, as McCord led a 73-yard touchdown drive that finished with running back LeQuint Allen Jr. muscling his way across the goal line for a four-yard rushing score. It was 17-7. It got even worse for NC State.

The Wolfpack worked across midfield again late in the third quarter but it ended in a turnover — again. On a first-and-10 from Syracuse’s 28-yard line, Bailey threw over the middle to Wesley Grimes on a drag route. The ball was placed too high, though, deflecting off Grimes’ hands and into the arms of an awaiting Barron. The safety corralled the pick and scampered 41 yards to NC State’s 38-yard line.

Brown praised his defense’s ability to respond from adversity. The Wolfpack averaged a scintillating 9.1 yards per play. But that total is only impressive from examining the box score.

“Those turnovers were key,” Brown said. “The best thing that I looked at is when they did give up a big play, they didn’t flinch on the next play.

“Most of the time, when you give up a big play, guys have their heads down on the next play. And we were able to give up a big play, then recover a fumble. Give up a few big plays, then all of a sudden, the same guy (Barron) gets an interception,” Brown added.

Another massive turnover for Syracuse resulted in another touchdown. This time, with 10:20 remaining in the fourth quarter, McCord found Jackson Meeks for a two-yard touchdown reception to extend the Orange’s lead to 24-7.

The result wound up boiling down to points off turnovers. Syracuse had 21. NC State had zero. Brown was certainly a fan of those numbers.

“If you win the turnover battle like that — three to zero — there’s a good chance you’ll win the game,” Brown said bluntly.

Even after SU’s defense committed its first major mistake of the evening — a blown coverage high on the right sideline to let Bailey find a wide-open Noah Rogers for a 75-yard touchdown — the game was all but over. The Wolfpack made another attempt at an absurd comeback late after Hollywood Smothers cut through SU’s defense on a 72-yard catch and run.

They could only muster a field goal, though. Barron sacked Bailey on second-and-goal to thwart NC State’s chance.

At the end of the day for Syracuse, Brown is right: all it needs is complementary football. It hadn’t accomplished that consistently beforehand, with UNLV dropping 41 points last week and Georgia Tech scoring 28 back in Week 2. Yet, against a formidable program in NC State, SU’s defense delivered a signature performance, a potential stepping stone for the future.

Published on October 12, 2024 at 11:30 pm

Contact Cooper at: ccandrew@syr.edu | @cooper_andrews