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BERKELEY, Calif. — Twenty-four days ago, Kyle McCord looked broken. He tossed a career-worst five interceptions in a 41-13 loss to Pittsburgh on Oct. 24. The quarterback was ineffective in the pocket, staring down defenders before throws and lacking accuracy on tight-window attempts. He was a shell of the gunslinging marksman who tore through Syracuse’s record books in the first half of the season.

It’s not easy to move on from an uncharacteristic performance like that. McCord’s healing process began two days later on a Saturday night, when he went to SU head coach Fran Brown’s house. It was simply a conversation so they could get back on the same page, McCord said on Oct. 29, rather than Brown grilling him in the film room.

McCord faced a long weekend to stew over his stinker with the Orange having played a Thursday night game. Once film sessions with offensive coordinator Jeff Nixon and his staff began, though, he was a man on a mission.

“He forgot about that Pittsburgh game on Monday,” Brown said.

In SU’s three games since then, McCord has issued a resounding response. The most recent example was his stellar outing Saturday against California, in which he went 29-for-46 for 323 yards and one touchdown. Most importantly? No giveaways. His consistency — which is at its highest point all year — guided Syracuse (7-3, 4-3 Atlantic Coast Conference) to a 33-25 victory over Cal (5-5, 1-5 ACC) on the road.

McCord has combined for a 65.1% completion percentage, 995 yards, five touchdowns and just one interception across SU’s last three outings: a loss at Boston College sandwiched between victories over Virginia Tech and Cal. Yet, in the senior’s nonchalant manner, he downplayed the turnaround.

“I wouldn’t say it was anything monumental,” McCord said Saturday. “We’ve run the ball better, which I think has helped me and the offense out. Every time you have a game like that, you just go back and you really study all the little areas where things went wrong. And I think that I do that.”

He’s right. Syracuse’s run game noticeably improved since the Pitt game, which aids Nixon’s ability to call a more balanced scheme and, in turn, exploit holes in the passing game.

But McCord’s impact can’t be understated. It could’ve been easy for the Ohio State transfer to sulk, pack it in and move his mind toward a possible NFL Combine invite. After all, a second loss doomed SU’s College Football Playoff chances.

He didn’t do that, though. McCord trusted himself to make sure his rut only lasted one game, and had the unwavering support of Syracuse’s entire program. Especially Brown, who seemed perplexed at the notion that McCord would ever let a rough game toy with him.

“I’m biased, but Kyle McCord’s a top-five quarterback in the country,” Brown said. “He don’t get beat up about it, he don’t complain about it, he’s just, ‘It is what it is, let’s move on to the next thing.’ Without him, our program wouldn’t be where it’s at right now.”

McCord’s value to SU is particularly significant. No team works its quarterback harder — he leads the country in pass attempts (475) and completions (304), clearing the field by more than 20 in each statistic. He may be tied for second in the nation in interceptions (12), but McCord makes up for it with his 3,476 passing yards. Only Miami’s Cam Ward has more.

Against Cal, McCord’s volume remained intact as he accumulated 46 pass attempts. Though for the most part, it wasn’t through his typical means of scanning the field on three-step drop backs to look for deep and intermediate routes. Nixon came in with a game plan for McCord to act as a technician, taking immense pressure off him to increase his success.

The Golden Bears’ defensive duo of cornerback Nohl Williams, who leads the country with seven interceptions, and edge rusher Xavier Carlton, who entered Saturday top-10 in sacks with nine, presented a challenge for McCord and Co. So, Nixon dialed up throngs of quick passes early while heavily using the run game with LeQuint Allen Jr. Syracuse’s offensive line, which gave up four sacks last week to BC, blocked with tenacity as well, something McCord credited as the main reason for SU’s first-half offensive explosion.

Unlike in Pittsburgh, McCord was in control. But that’s because he had more relief. He said it was easy to gain a rhythm through the quick-passing game, and that opened up opportunities for chunk plays as the game progressed.

“We were efficient at getting those four or five or six yards a play, and then we ran the ball as well,” McCord said. “I think anytime you do that and march down the field a little bit, it forces the defense to press up and really react to some of those runs. And that’s why I think play actions really hit down the field today.”

McCord looked to wide receiver Trebor Peña and tight end Oronde Gadsden II much of the time. The two totaled 19 receptions for 206 combined yards. Early on, it was a bunch of short stuff. Run-pass options and swing routes that’d find Peña for catch-and-runs, along with Gadsden getting free over the middle or even moving out wide for one-on-one chances.

It took until early in the second quarter for Syracuse to find the end zone. But it was a clinic once the Orange did. McCord didn’t throw a single pass past the sticks on SU’s first touchdown drive, which Allen Jr. closed out with a one-yard rushing score.

On its next possession, McCord hit Peña in a tight window near the right hash marks for a 26-yard gain, bringing SU across midfield. He then took the easy play on the next snap, finding Gadsden on a quick hitter over the middle for 24 yards. That drive also resulted in an Allen Jr. rushing score.

Then, the aforementioned play action showed face. A play fake to Allen Jr. opened up Justus Ross-Simmons on an intermediate post route, which McCord found him on 15 yards downfield. Ross-Simmons bolted up the left sideline for a 40-yard reception, SU’s longest pass play of the day.

McCord went 4-for-4 on that possession, Syracuse’s last of the first half. A red zone completion to Jackson Meeks for six yards on a fourth-and-3 was indicative of his progress since the Pitt game — he wasn’t completing passes in such narrow windows like that 24 days ago.

The eight-play, 70-yard scoring drive was capped off by McCord hitting Meeks on a quick curl route for a six-yard touchdown pass. It was his lone score of the day, but McCord put the Golden Bears out of reach with his first-half production alone.

Here in November, a month that SU has struggled to conquer for a while, the Orange finally have a signal-caller who can steer them to crucial, late-season victories. Even if McCord doesn’t think he’s done anything special, he’s done enough to put himself among the program’s all-time greats.

“The kid will play on Sundays,” Brown said. “Kyle sees red in his eyes when it’s time to go play football.”

Published on November 17, 2024 at 12:15 pm

Contact Cooper at: ccandrew@syr.edu | @cooper_andrews