No ACC opponent defeats the Syracuse Orange 12 times in a row.
Calvin Russell scored a touchdown and caught a two-point conversion in overtime to give Syracuse its first ACC win of the season. The Orange defeated the North Carolina Tar Heels in Chapel Hill 31-30 in a game that Syracuse never led until the last moment.
Here are our three takeaways from a potentially season-saving win.
There was a lot a hype around Calvin Russell once he finally joined the Orange. However, potential can just be magic beans. You need to see the product on the field to see if you really have a trustworthy product.
The last two games can make Syracuse fans safely say that Russell is not just magic beans. He's the real deal.
Russell had yet another career game with Syracuse. He caught eight balls for 86 yards, including the game winning touchdown and two-point conversion. His body control, field presence and field awareness is something you see in players older than the true freshman.
Syracuse has been looking for a reliable second receiving option to Umari Hatcher. UNC's gameplan to cover Hatcher clearly worked, with only one explosive play coming back to bite them. At times this year, it fell to Daunte Bacheyie or Justus Ross-Simmons to be that second option, but neither player has been a consistent threat throughout the season.
But now, a little over six-and-a-half months after Achilles surgery, Russell has shown that Syracuse's passing attack can now be considered dangerous.
When fans watch Syracuse games, a common trend is that Orange offensive drives stall often due to third-and-long situations. Syracuse often plays behind the sticks in those situations and has to create miracles to pick up first downs.
Ahmad Miller did more to help the Orange win against UNC other than scoring a touchdown. Miller kept on gaining extra yards after contact and constantly gained decent yardage on rushes. His rushing allowed Syracuse to settle into third downs that were manageable and go for multiple four downs that were high-percentage conversion chances.
Miller rushed 30 times for 125 yards and a touchdown. It was clear that Syracuse identified that the Tar Heels defense would allow Miller to gain yards easily. His performance opened up the playbook and the opportunities for the Orange
This is a game that Syracuse easily loses a month ago. The same reason that the Orange lost games early on in the season continued to show up in Chapel Hill.
While the penalty numbers have dropped, the Orange still had seven penalties for 65 yards. Many of those penalties took away Syracuse scoring chances. It seems like more rolling is in Syracuse's future.
Syracuse also still has no answers at kicker. The Orange should have won that game in regulation, but Shay Barker's missed extra point sent the game to overtime. Syracuse has now missed five extra points and missed seven field goals this season. If the Orange want to go bowling this season, those details need to get fixed immediately.
