When South Florida’s Marlon Mack ripped off a 40-yard run to end the first quarter, there didn’t seem to be much concern. The fans didn’t seem upset and Syracuse’s players on the sideline still seemed relatively upbeat.

After all, the first quarter ended with SU up 17-0. Eric Dungey had thrown touchdowns on each of the first two Orange possessions. Syracuse had held the ball for nearly 11 minutes and had racked up 214 yards, while limiting USF to just 12 plays and 64 yards — with 40 coming on that Mack run.

But that play didn’t end up being a footnote; rather, it was the turning point in the game. USF scored four touchdowns in the second quarter, which opened after that Mack run. The only SU drive that went for more than 31 yards in the period ended in a fumble.

“Second quarter they got a couple of first downs that allowed them to really get the ball moving,” freshman defensive end Kendall Coleman said. “We weren’t ready to keep up with their pace in that moment.”

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MORE COVERAGE

• What we learned from SU football’s loss to USF
• Dontae Strickland has career day in loss to Florida
• Syracuse football comes up short on 4th downs in loss to USF

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Syracuse (1-2, 0-1 Atlantic Coast) got off to a blistering start to the game, with the offense moving crisply down the field and the defense preventing scores. But that level of play on both sides didn’t last long. USF (3-0) scored 28 points in the second quarter to seize control and eventually win 45-20 on Saturday evening in the Carrier Dome.

The Mack run set up a touchdown pass to senior receiver Rodney Adams just 34 seconds into the second quarter. But SU’s offense got the ball back and had already scored on each of its drives.

The Orange started on its own 19-yard line and eight plays later was at its own 47, looking at a 4th-and-4. Syracuse had already gone for it once on fourth down to extend an eventual scoring drive.

Quarterback Eric Dungey’s pass to Steve Ishmael was a bit high and deflected off Ishmael’s hands, giving the Bulls position. Ishmael helped himself off the ground. USF safety Ronnie Hoggins, who was in coverage on the play, turned toward the Syracuse offense and wagged his finger.

“Offensively we can’t be complacent,” Dungey said. “Right after we didn’t score on that, after we scored 17 off of that field goal … it didn’t help.”

For as fast as the Orange is supposed to be, the breakdown of its defense was even faster. South Florida’s four scoring drives in the quarter amassed 251 yards. Combined, those four drives took 5:08. The longest one was just 1:37.

Three touchdowns in that quarter came from Adams. After he caught the initial one, he scored twice more jet sweep handoffs. He recorded 86 yards in the second quarter alone.

“We had the right guys, just all 11 guys didn’t do the job to the level that we expected we needed too, so he got out,” linebacker Zaire Franklin said. “He’s also really dynamic and fast player, so it’s very hard to mimic that in practice.”

The SU offense had one last shot after it got the ball back with 43 seconds left before the break. A field goal would have made it a one-possession game. SU started at its own 25 and got down to USF’s 40.

But a 13-yard completion to Ervin Phillips ended in a fumble with only a few seconds left.

Just like Philips lost control of that ball, Syracuse lost control of the game.

Published on September 17, 2016 at 9:20 pm

Contact Tomer: tdlanger@syr.edu | @tomer_langer