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In an eight-minute span, a JMA Wireless Dome littered with boos reverted to pure jubilation. Syracuse trailed 21-3 to Virginia Tech with 7:44 left in the third quarter. By the 14:22 mark of the fourth, the Orange had scored 21 unanswered points to lead 24-21.

SU’s comeback occurred after it weathered a difficult first-half performance. Ultimately, Syracuse’s early struggles came back to bite it.

VT took the lead again on a Malachi Thomas 15-yard rushing touchdown at the 11:04 mark of the fourth quarter. It extended its advantage to 31-24 off a 37-yard field goal by kicker John Love. Kyle McCord and Co. had one more chance to tie it, and they did, courtesy of a LeQuint Allen Jr. one-yard rushing touchdown.

The game went into overtime, where the Orange secured their improbable come-from-behind win. Allen Jr. punched in a one-yard touchdown while Marlowe Wax forced a fumble on the next possession that Fadil Diggs fell on. SU’s victory makes it bowl-eligible for the first time under head coach Fran Brown and marks its second overtime win of the season.

Here are some observations from Syracuse’s (6-2, 3-2 ACC) 38-31 overtime win over Virginia Tech (5-4, 3-2 ACC) Saturday afternoon:

A new November

November is where the Orange rot. At least, that’s how the season typically progressed under former head coach Dino Babers. In his eight-year tenure, Syracuse went a measly 7-22 in the month. It’s part of what led to his dismissal — the season can’t continually end during its most crucial month.

Saturday was Fran Brown’s first chance to rewrite the narrative that SU couldn’t finish a campaign with quality football. And, through 37 minutes and change, it didn’t look likely. Virginia Tech led 21-3. The Orange kept punting while quarterback Collin Schlee and VT’s rushing attack led the Hokies downfield with consistency.

But the script flipped in the second half, where Syracuse showed its resilience.

A pair of touchdown throws by McCord to receiver Justus Ross-Simmons, along with an Allen Jr. one-yard rushing score, made up one of SU’s best stretches of play thus far in 2024. The Orange accomplished the first leg needed to complete a comeback. They just needed to finish. Though the Hokies scored 10 straight points themselves, Syracuse answered back.

Down 31-24, McCord drove Syracuse down to Virginia Tech’s 13-yard line with 1:26 remaining. He completed a pass to Trebor Peña, who was tackled at the one-yard line. Allen Jr. leaped over SU’s offensive line to cap off the drive with a game-tying touchdown.

The Orange showed a fight that wasn’t apparent under Babers. Finishing off the victory with a dominant overtime period cemented that sentiment. After Saturday, for the first time in a while, SU is surging with momentum in November.

Pre-game surprise

Less than 20 minutes before kickoff, VT dual-threat quarterback Kyron Drones was ruled out due to an injury. Drones was seen warming up pregame, though ultimately couldn’t suit up.

It thrust the backup Schlee, a redshirt senior, under center for the Hokies. Schlee, who’s previously transferred from Kent State and UCLA, carried a solid amount of experience into his surprise start. He entered with 350 career pass attempts, including a 13-touchdown season in 2022 with the Golden Flashes.

Schlee struggled under duress on his first drive. Yet, he quickly settled in.

Early in the first quarter, with a clean pocket on VT’s 45-yard line, he rolled to his left by design and spotted a wide-open Stephen Gosnell. Schlee hit Gosnell for a 48-yard gain, giving the Hokies a goal-to-go chance they instantly took advantage of.

On his next drive, Schlee tucked the ball on a run-pass option and ran it for a 12-yard first-down pickup. He then spotted Gosnell one-on-one with Jayden Bellamy and slung it far along the right sideline for a 44-yard completion. Two straight massive gains to Gosnell led to two touchdowns. Schlee tallied the second one on a one-yard rushing score.

To all but put a bow on VT’s win, Schlee fired a frozen rope across the middle for Ali Jennings, who hauled it in for a 12-yard receiving touchdown. The score came at the 7:44 mark of the third quarter to put the Hokies up 21-3.

Schlee was certainly no slouch replacing Drones, finishing Saturday 16-for-24 with 206 passing yards, 54 rushing yards and two total touchdowns.

Nearly stalling Powell-Ryland

The most dangerous player on the field Saturday was 6-foot-3, 252-pound Hokies’ edge rusher Antwaun Powell-Ryland. He entered the day with an ACC-leading 11 sacks, which also ranked second in the Football Bowl Subdivision.

Considering McCord’s nearly incomprehensible struggles against Pittsburgh came via a difficult time dealing with a collapsing pocket, Powell-Ryland presented a grave task for SU.

Powell-Ryland moved from edge to edge, matching up against both left tackle Da’Metrius Weatherspoon and right tackle Savion Washington. And Weatherspoon and Washington held their ground.

Powell-Ryland accumulated one solo tackle and no other statistics through 30 minutes. The two consistently forced the edge rusher to the outside and rarely allowed him to gain leverage on them inside.

Their impact was even more apparent in the second half when the Orange began making their comeback. Syracuse opened up more short-yardage passing situations as Weatherspoon and Washington kept Powell-Ryland silent. Wide receiver Justus Ross-Simmons burned through VT’s defense for 55-yard, and 28-yard catch-and-run touchdowns — made possible by a clean pocket for McCord.

Yet when the game mattered most, Powell-Ryland showed face. On a stunt from Virginia Tech’s defensive line, Powell-Ryland stormed through SU’s interior line and brought down McCord for a third-down sack with under 10 minutes left. His one sack led to a Syracuse punt, and a field goal from the Hokies to make it 31-24.

“Rocky II”

Eight games into the 2024 campaign, the Orange have flipped back to former defensive coordinator Rocky Long’s 3-3-5 formation. They showed shades of reverting to the scheme last week against Pitt, yet first-year coordinator Elijah Robinson went all-in on it Saturday.

SU consistently lined up with Maraad Watson as the nose tackle, flanked by Chase Simmons and, typically, Isaiah Hastings on the edges. Justin Barron and Marlowe Wax played the outside linebacker positions, while usual edge rusher Diggs was the Mike linebacker.

The alignment didn’t work well initially, with the Hokies slashing downfield with ease to score two first-quarter touchdowns. But Robinson’s group started to settle in, particularly when he called blitzes.

Just over a minute into the second quarter, Syracuse sent six pass rushers toward Schlee on a first-and-10 dropback. Wax, whose 3.5 sacks now rank second on the Orange despite playing just three games, reached Schlee along with defensive lineman David Omopariola for a combined sack. VT lost 12 yards on the play.

On a third-and-18 a couple of plays later, Robinson brought the heat once again and this time, Wax finished the sack on his own.

The 3-3-5 look still gave a little too much cushion for Virginia Tech’s running game. With five players manning the secondary, SU had trouble gaining much of a push up front on any given running down. Plus, Schlee often received plentiful running room whenever he decided to take off on a scramble. Virginia Tech ended with 249 yards on the ground, led by running back Jeremiah Coney’s 96.

Published on November 2, 2024 at 3:58 pm

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