Syracuse (3-4, 1-3 ACC) fell, 30-13, to Pittsburgh (5-2, 3-1 ACC) at the Dome on Saturday.

Coming off their bye-week, the defense played its best game of the season, but the offense didn’t show much improvement. Rickie Collins threw for two touchdowns and three interceptions. Luke Carney started the second half but only completed two drives attempting two passes.

Here are three takeaways from the Orange’s third consecutive defeat. 

Syracuse was absolutely stout defensively. Pitt never drove the length of the field to find the endzone. The only two Panther touchdowns came after an interception and a turnover on downs, both in Syracuse territory.

While Pitt freshman quarterback Mason Heintschel drew headlines in his first two starts for throwing over 300 yards, he looked uncomfortable all night, completing just 13 of 24 passes for 143 yards and no touchdowns, while throwing an INT. They also limited Pitt to just 4-15 on third down.

After Heintschel’s scramble touchdown in the first quarter, he had a net -13 rushing yards. Elijah Robinson’s defense kept the QB in check with good rush-lane integrity and by occasionally deploying a spy.

“We wanted to make sure we got to the quarterback,” Syracuse head coach Fran Brown said. “Everybody is on the same page. I think they’re playing fast and they’re playing together.”

Kevin Jobity Jr. was Syracuse’s best player rotating three sacks, part of a pass rush that netted seven. Jobity hadn’t had more than one in a game in his career.

With good pressure from the edges forcing the quarterback to step up, Jobity did a great job not being overzealous in his rush. He was able to meet Heintschel and plant him for a loss on multiple key occasions. 

He fared well against the run as Pitt averaged 2.7 yards per carry and were unable to accomplish much between the tackles. 

Syracuse played good defense against Pitt’s attempt at a two minute drill and got the ball back with 30 seconds left at their 20 yard line. Trailing by three, they took a semi-aggressive approach on offense. Collins nearly threw a pick on first down, then a short completion to Nixon stopped the clock after the running back ran out of play. 

On third-and-long, Syracuse attempted another pass that was thrown into double coverage and fell incomplete. The ensuing punt was taken to the end zone widening the deficit to 10. Pitt then got the ball to start the second half.

With Collins looking shaky, especially after his first down attempt, Syracuse could’ve avoided this disaster had they let the clock down. The odds of the Orange scoring were already slim considering their offensive struggles and they would’ve had to drive 55 yards in 30 seconds with only one timeout.

The odds of disaster were much higher, and their approach made matters worse. A seven-point swing wasn’t the end all, be all but it certainly made a difference. 

“That was just really bad coaching,” Brown said. “That’s probably one of the worst things that I’ve done since I’ve been a football coach here.”

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