Observations from SU’s Boca Raton Bowl loss: Critical errors, USF’s passing attack

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BOCA RATON, Fla. — Since Fran Brown’s hiring on Nov. 28, there has been an unmistakable excitement and interest in Syracuse football. Even with the buzz around the program, the current players still tried to focus on the Boca Raton Bowl against South Florida. Caleb Okechukwu said that he had to block all the noise, including good news.

But with a 45-0 blowout loss to the Bulls, the Brown era couldn’t possibly come soon enough. The Orange were shutout 31-0 in the first half, the first time they were shutout in the first half of a bowl game since the 1966 Gator Bowl against Tennessee. USF quarterback Byrum Brown finished with 214 yards and three touchdowns while the Orange allowed two scoop-and-score plays in the first half alone.

On SU’s sideline, players had their heads down in disappointment. Meanwhile, four-star recruit KingJoseph Edwards posted embarrassing face-palm emojis on X, formerly known as Twitter.

Here are some observations from Syracuse’s (6-7, 2-6 Atlantic Coast) defeat to South Florida (7-6, 4-4 American Athletic) in the Boca Raton Bowl:

Bulls are very fast

South Florida displayed the offense that resulted in Brown being one of the best quarterbacks in the AAC. Although the Bulls punted on their first drive, they gave Syracuse little time to breathe before scoring a touchdown on their next drive. USF eventually burned the Orange with a fast, no-huddle attack.

On the first play of the drive, Brown patiently waited in the pocket until wide receiver Sean Atkins completed his comeback route to put the Bulls in SU territory. Two plays following the completion, Brown threw a tunnel screen pass to Atkins, who sped through defenders for the first down. As Brown led the Bulls down the field, he found Atkins, who was at the back of the endzone behind SU safety Alijah Clark, for a 13-yard touchdown.

Brown consistently showed off his athleticism by patiently waiting in the pocket before burning the Orange on the ground. On USF’s fourth drive of the game, Brown lobbed a throw down the middle to Kahfre Brown for a 31-yard score to increase the Bulls’ lead to 21.

But the Brown-Atkins combination that has defined USF’s offense continued to burn Syracuse. On a 4th-and-3 in the third quarter, Brown found Atkins again for a touchdown. Following the play, Justin Barron seemed to get frustrated at Jason Simmons Jr. for getting burned on Atkins’ score.

Even though he didn’t play most of the fourth quarter, Brown finished as the game’s offensive MVP while Atkins became the first South Florida receiver to surpass the 1,000-yard mark in a single season.

Will SU’s QB please stand up?

With Garrett Shrader out, the bulk of the passing game was left to third-stringer Braden Davis and quarterback-turned-tight end Dan Villari. But the Orange’s passing attack was lethargic throughout, finishing a total of 10-of-23 for 139 passing yards.

Villari started the game under center for Syracuse with a rush of three yards. While Villari connected with Donovan Brown for 10 yards, a loss of yards on the previous play forced SU to punt. Villari tried to throw the ball down field, but he couldn’t connect with receivers like Umari Hatcher or Damien Alford.

Davis did have some success, but nothing that led to points. On the Orange’s fifth drive, he fired a deep dart to Alford to get the Orange into USF territory on a 33-yard strike. But the drive ended on an interception from Villari.

Davis also threw ugly passes, including one where he faced a big hit and threw an errant ball intended for Alford. The ball ended up landing in the middle of the end zone, but Alford was on the right side, leading to an intentional grounding.

In the second half, Davis missed on a miscommunication with Hatcher on a slant before Villari threw a short pass to Hatcher that got intercepted by Tavin Ward along the right sideline. On USF’s ensuing drive, Atkins scored his second receiving touchdown of the day.

Davis finished the night going 6-of-12, while Villari completed 4-of-11 of his passes including two interceptions. Kyle McCord, who committed to play for the Orange in 2024 after notching 3,170 passing yards and 24 touchdowns at Ohio State this season, watched the pitiful display of offense from the sideline.

A rollercoaster two minutes not in Syracuse’s favor

In a first quarter that lasted 45 minutes (unusually long for the opening period), Syracuse and South Florida completed a wild two-minute stretch of football near the end of the quarter.

After Syracuse punted it away, Brown continued USF’s momentum with an 8-yard sneak up the left side. On the next play, Brown faked a handoff before rushing for a first down. A play after Kevin Jobity Jr. sacked Brown, Atkins fumbled the ball and Clark picked up the ball before returning it for a scoop and score touchdown.

But there was an illegal block from Simmons Jr., which negated the touchdown, but gave SU possession. Barron and Marlowe Wax were both incredulous with the officials on the block.

Regardless, Syracuse had the ball and a chance to score from USF’s 28-yard line. Villari started the drive with a rush up the middle that gained two yards. But catastrophe nearly struck as SU as LeQuint Allen Jr. fumbled the ball after a jet sweep. The ball went out of bounds, though, setting up a 3rd-and-23. The Orange got yards back, with Villari standing in the pocket on a fake run, chucking the ball to Alford for a pickup of 10 over the middle that set up a 45-yard attempt for Brady Denaburg.

That’s when catastrophe struck.

Holder Jack Stonehouse fumbled the snap and USF’s Aamaris Brown recovered the ball and ran it back for a touchdown. This wild sequence turned a Syracuse touchdown into a 14-0 South Florida lead — emblematic of the rest of the ugly contest.

But the Orange didn’t stop there.

The Orange failing to finish off drives in comical fashion

If the blocked punt return for a touchdown wasn’t bad enough for the Orange, they continued to struggle for the rest of the first half in finishing off drives. Although 10 drives ended in punts, Syracuse did find success moving the ball downfield, but it made more disastrous errors that kept it scoreless throughout the contest.

On the Orange’s fourth drive, Davis’ 33-yard completion to Alford put them into USF territory. But three plays later, Davis fumbled a snap in a jumbo set and nearly gave the ball away to the Bulls.

Two plays after Villari picked up a first down on 4th-and-3, Villari dropped back and tossed a pass off his back foot. His throw got deflected by Jhalyn Shuler and intercepted by backup linebacker Jacquez Williams. With another back-breaking turnover, the Orange walked back to the sidelines in frustration, with Maximilian Mang, the intended receiver on the play, sitting down and angrily taking off his helmet.

After the Bulls went down the field and scored a field goal off the interception, the Orange had another chance before halftime. Again, the drive looked successful; Davis and Allen Jr. moved the team down the field in small chunks. But three plays after a targeting call gave SU prime position for at least a field goal, disaster struck yet again.

USF’s Daquan Evans strip-sacked Davis and the ball was picked up by Tramel Logan, who returned it for a 61-yard touchdown. It was the Bulls’ second scoop-and-score touchdown of the half. In the final seconds of the half, frustration boiled over for Syracuse with some pushing and shoving, but it didn’t change the final outcome.