Alec Lemon called it the worst feeling ever.

After a sloppy, mistake-filled loss to Rutgers, Syracuse took a silent bus ride home. A winnable game slipped away from the Orange, and the whole team knew it. The frustration level and disappointment were high. As the bus approached Syracuse, the Orange approached a crossroads in its season.

Syracuse (2-4, 1-1 Big East) hosts Connecticut (3-4, 0-2) in the Carrier Dome at 7 p.m. Friday and will look to correct the mistakes that cost it a game to the Scarlet Knights. The Orange’s schedule becomes increasingly difficult after this week, with four of its last five games on the road. Syracuse’s focus this week has been on turnovers, a problem that continues to plague the team. Much of SU’s season depends on if it can improve its turnover margin and hold onto the football, or in the case of the defense, force more mistakes.

“Lack of focus, our mentality maybe changed a little bit, maybe people weren’t playing with confidence, I’m not too sure,” Lemon said. “We need to come back with the confidence that we’ve had in the past, and go out there and play the game we know how to play.”

Head coach Doug Marrone said Monday that there needs to be a “heightened intensity” on taking care of the football. Through six weeks, that’s been lacking. The numbers are ugly. Syracuse is tied for 115th in the country in turnover margin out of 120 Football Bowl Subdivision teams at minus-1.67 per game.

Rutgers took advantage of the Orange’s turnover weakness last weekend, and the Huskies will look to do the same on Friday. UConn has a strong defense under the tutelage of head coach Paul Pasqualoni, who’s considered a defensive guru. The Huskies, third in the Big East in scoring defense, will look to strip the ball away on any chance they get.

Syracuse spent this week working on additional ball security drills, where the scout team defense was told to do everything it could to force a turnover. The offensive players must hold onto the ball, and the defense won’t stop trying to get a takeaway until the whistle blows.

“We’ve got to tighten that ball,” Lemon said. “When you’re holding that ball, you’re holding the whole team in your hands.”

But the turnovers aren’t only on the ball carriers.

Quarterback Ryan Nassib has thrown eight interceptions this season. He threw nine interceptions all of last season, and a total of eight in 2008. Nassib said Tuesday that has a lot to do with Syracuse’s new-look offense. The Orange quarterback is taking more chances downfield. In previous years, he might have checked down rather than take a shot and throw deep.

“Sometimes it doesn’t go our way,” Nassib said. “That’s just the nature of the beast.”

Lemon said the players remind one another to play with confidence and protect the football. He said even when they see each other around campus they discuss it. They reinforce it in the locker room and during practice.

“Anyone who touches the ball, they have to have a heightened awareness of the situation at hand,” center Macky MacPherson said. “We have a (minus-10) turnover ratio right now. That’s terrible. And we know that and that’s something we’re working on.”

And now the defense is getting in on the act.

The Orange has only recovered two fumbles and forced just five turnovers. Syracuse spent a lot of time improving its tackling, so forcing turnovers was not emphasized until the tackling got better. Now that’s starting to change.

Marrone said turnover margin is a team category. Every player has to contribute.

Still, it’s the offense that has much of the responsibility.

“From the players’ standpoint, it’s the focus,” Marrone said. “And knowing how to take a hit, how to go down with the ball, how to cover it up in traffic, knowing when to go down at times.”

He said the coaches tell players that at times, they have to go down. After the first defender makes contact, often another will come in to try to strip the ball away from the ball carrier. Going down before that happens is key.

Turnovers are at the root of Syracuse’s disappointing season so far. As the turnovers pile up, the frustration builds. In the hours after the loss to the Scarlet Knights, the frustration hit its peak.

It’s easy to see what the problem’s been. The Orange’s season depends on it being corrected.

“We’re just really hurting ourselves,” Nassib said. “We’re confident if we can fix ourselves, then teams will have a much harder time stopping us.”

Published on October 19, 2012 at 1:59 am

Contact Chris: cjiseman@syr.edu | @chris_iseman