It hasn’t been particularly enjoyable to chart the Syracuse Orange first-down offense in recent years. Often predictable and forcing the offense into challenging situations, it was a chore to chart ineffective runs followed by second-halves with predictable passes.
On Saturday night Robert Anae and the Orange offense overcame all those penalties to make their first downs impactful. Syracuse wanted to have a balanced attack this year and they came out to do just that against Louisville to open the 2022 season.
Until they were trying to put the game away in the second half, Syracuse didn’t run the ball on more than two consecutive first downs.