Were the expectations too high for this college football program in 2024?

The Syracuse Orange are coming off a 41-13 loss to the hands of the No. 19 Pittsburgh Panthers this past Thursday night. The story of the game was not only how good the Pirates are, but how much work needs to be done with the Orange. Syracuse welcomed a new head coach in Fran Brown and top-portal prospect Kyle McCord prior to the season and expectations started to mount. Did the College Football community put too much stock in the Orange?

McCord, who was the quarterback for Ohio State last season, had one of the worst quarterback performances in recent memory. McCord tossed for 321 yards and threw three touchdowns, except those touchdowns were for the other team. Yes, McCord threw three pick-sixes and five overall interceptions in the lopsided loss.

Prior to the game, McCord was having a solid campaign by having tossed for 2,160 yards and 19 touchdowns along with six interceptions. However, one thing became crystal clear on Thursday night, the Orange relies heavily on the arm of McCord. If McCord plays a bad game, the Orange almost have no shot to be competitive.

It's fair to say that the matchup against Pittsburgh was the first real test the Orange have faced all season. The Orange have faced the likes of Stanford (2-5), NC State (4-4), and Holy Cross (3-5) just to name a few. However, against the Pirates, the Orange got completely exposed and manhandled from start to finish.

First and foremost, the Orange's offensive line is suspect to say the least. McCord had almost no time to scan the field before he saw defenders in his face. The Pirates defense garnered 4 sacks and held the Orange's rushing attack to an astonishing 0.2 yards per rush, respectively. How is that even possible? Overall, Syracuse's rushing game averages just 3.0 yards per carry for the season. There is a reason why McCord threw for a whopping 64 times on Thursday night.

Yes, McCord is the main reason the Orange were demolished against the Pirates, but he shouldn't be the only one to blame. If a team's offensive line is below average, the running game can't thrive and without a running game, opposing defense's don't have to fill the box and can put more bodies into pass coverage. It's even more alarming when the Orange had the football for 41:18 minutes compared to the Pirates having possession for only 18:47 minutes.

McCord's draft stock took a major hit due to this performance. As for Brown, who is a head coach for the first time in his career, will have to rally McCord and his team and focus on finishing this season strong and learn from his first year in a role of this magnitude.

The Orange were projected to win seven games prior to the season, which they still can with games against Boston College, UConn, and California on the slate. However, the Orange do finish the season against Cam Ward and the Miami Hurricanes in the last week of the season. Syracuse may be out of the ACC title hunt, but they sure can play spoiler and can end the season with a huge win for a program that has had a losing season in four out of the last five campaigns.

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