Dyshawn Davis described a miserable scene on the Syracuse bus after the Orange’s crushing loss to Connecticut last Saturday. Everyone seemed dejected. Teammates had their heads down.

But by Tuesday this week, the Orange put the loss behind it. A couple of players said the team’s practices on Monday and Tuesday were among the best Syracuse has had this year.

And that’s turned the negative feeling following the loss to UConn into a positive mood surrounding the Orange this week.

‘We put that loss behind us, and we’re getting ready for South Florida,’ Davis, an SU freshman linebacker, said. ‘I feel like everybody is on the positive track right now. Everybody’s trying to get better.’

Although Syracuse (5-4, 1-3 Big East) may have moved on from the loss last week, it will have to perform better against the run to avoid rehashing those feelings from the UConn loss when it takes on South Florida (4-4, 0-4 Big East) on Friday at 8 p.m. in the Carrier Dome, a game televised nationally on ESPN2. Connecticut gashed Syracuse for nearly 200 yards on the ground last weekend behind running back Lyle McCombs and Wildcat quarterback Scott McCummings. And USF boasts a dual-threat quarterback of its own in junior B.J. Daniels, who ranks eighth in the Big East with 440 yards on the ground.

The Syracuse defense will have to contain Daniels and the Bulls rushing attack to end its two-game slide.

‘We have to do a pretty good job of keeping him in the pocket,’ Davis said. ‘He’s one of those guys who likes to pull the ball, likes to make plays with his legs and he also can throw the ball. We’re pretty familiar with seeing good quarterbacks, so we’ll just try to do a good job, play our game and try to keep him from making those plays.’

Against UConn, SU failed to stop the Huskies’ Wildcat package with McCummings taking snaps. He didn’t throw a pass in the game, but ran for 59 yards and two scores.

Syracuse linebackers coach Dan Conley said the biggest issue in that game was missed opportunities. Missed tackles, which occurred on both of McCummings’ touchdown runs, and missed assignments by the Orange defense allowed the Huskies to completely abandon the pass and still have success on the ground.

‘I remember just going back and thinking that week that if we were able to shut down the Wildcat package, they’d probably get out of it,’ Conley said. ‘And we just weren’t sound at times in the run fits. We had some opportunities to make some plays we didn’t make.’

Daniels poses a different threat than McCummings because he is also South Florida’s starting quarterback and can beat the Orange in the passing game. In addition to his rushing numbers, Daniels also ranks second in the conference with 2,027 passing yards and 12 touchdowns to five interceptions.

With the short week for both teams, Conley doesn’t think USF will change much of its scheme to try and beat SU the same way UConn did. But with Daniels’ athleticism, he said, the Bulls pretty much have that Wildcat option every time they snap the ball.

‘I think you consider him a Wildcat guy,’ Conley said. ‘ … I would think they’re going to continue to do what they do. It’s not to say they won’t put a wrinkle in, but I don’t think they’re going to change drastically. When you play a kid like B.J. Daniels, those guys run the ball all the time.’

And though the Orange has put the UConn loss and that disappointment out of its mind, if it can’t contain Daniels that feeling could come right back and continue the team’s struggles with the season’s end rapidly approaching.

‘You want to end the season on a good note,’ offensive lineman Justin Pugh said. ‘Last year, we kind of struggled down the stretch, so I want to make sure that we finish on a good note and make sure we win this game at home.’

And if Syracuse can get that win, it could serve as a springboard for the rest of this year.

‘We’re trying to keep the streak going at home,’ Davis said. ‘We’re undefeated after a bye the last couple years, so we want to win this game and go into this bye week, get an advantage before Cincinnati and come out big against them, too.’

zjbrown@syr.edu

Published on November 10, 2011 at 12:00 pm