Second-half collapse leads to Syracuse defeat against Cal

The year is 1967. The top song in the United States was “To Sir with Love” by Lulu; the Green Bay Packers won the first-ever Super Bowl and Cal played a college football game in Syracuse, New York.

The Golden Bears haven’t played the Orange on the road since that year, as Saturday was the opening ACC clash for both teams in the JMA Wireless Dome.

Syracuse outperformed Cal in most statistical areas, but couldn’t in the scoreline, losing 21-18 after holding a 12-0 lead.

“I just have to coach better,” said Syracuse head coach Fran Brown. “There’s some things I need to do better to put our team in position to go out and win.”

The Dome got one of its loudest roars of the game on the second play from scrimmage, where sophomore halfback Tylik Hill sprinted through a hole in the Golden Bears line, making his way down the left sideline until he was brought down at the 8-yard line.

Following the play, Hill was removed from the game and did not return.

“It was something with his quad I was told,” said Brown on the status of Hill. “That his quad was messed up.”

This expanded the roles of running backs Shavane Anderson Jr. and Ju’Juan Johnson, who shared the bulk of the carries from there.

“We got a four or five [player] running back room,” Ju’Juan Johnson said. “We just gotta go make plays.”

The receiving room took on a lot of responsibility, with wideout Justus Ross-Simmons officially returning to the lineup.

Ross-Simmons was cleared to play Saturday following court rulings involving his eligibility, tallying six receptions for 105 yards.

“I’m just thankful to be back,” said Ross-Simmons about the opportunity he’s been given. “I’m gonna go out there and dominate every day.”

Top freshman Calvin Russell III also dressed for the game, but still wasn’t cleared by staff for Saturday.

In the second quarter, SU quarterback Steve Angeli couldn’t complete a tough pass targeting sophomore tight end Daunte Bacheyie.

Despite that, Angeli liked what he saw, so he went right back the next play, hitting the sophomore tight end on a 38-yard deep ball across the middle. Bacheyie was found again for the score on the next play. 

With SU now leading 12-0 from a missed two-point attempt, California quarterback Jaron-Keawe Sagapolutele led his team to the end zone in five plays, as he threw the touchdown pass to Chase Hendricks.

Penalties became a major theme of the contest from that point forward, completely impacting the drives on offense, defense and especially special teams. Syracuse finished the game with 15 flags attributing to 132 yards.

“We might be a little more undisciplined than I thought,”  Brown said. “We can’t have that many penalties.”

Two of those altering penalties came on punt returns, both potentially wiping away Orange points.

Davien Kerr made the risky decision to play one off the bounce, which he took into field goal range with one second left in the half, before it was called back for a penalty.

The next quarter had a very similar finish, where a punt-return touchdown from Demetres Samuel Jr. was wiped off the board for an illegal block in the back. 

“It’s only week two so, we just gotta continue to work on it and get better,” said Samuel Jr. “A lot of the guys on the field are still young freshmen, so they’re going to have to understand when they can block.”

Those types of blunders took away a score, but it was SU’s quarterback who gave California one.

Golden Bears defensive back Kingston Lopa picked off Angeli three times in the second half. He brought this one, his second, to the end zone for a pick-6.

That Cal score put them ahead, a lead they would never relinquish, though Syracuse had plentiful opportunities.

The first of those was a field goal attempt knocked off the upright from kicker Tripp Woody from 31 yards out.

In a game full of penalties galore and wacky sequences, the late fourth quarter drive was full of it.

Ju’Juan Johnson fumbled on a play in which Cal recovered, but because the Golden Bears had 12 men on the field, SU kept possession.

Off of that, Tripp Woody was lined up with a 46-yard field goal attempt to not only tie up the game, but redeem his prior miss off the upright.Unfortunately for Woody, the kick went short and right, forcing SU’s defense to make yet another stop.

The defense stood tall preventing a first down, giving the Orange one last chance.

“I’m happy with what they’ve done on defense,” coach Brown said about his defense holding Cal to 14 points. “We’ll keep getting better and I think you’ll see that.”

The Orange return to action on Thursday night, playing the Pitt Panthers on the road.