Five takeaways from Saturday’s road loss to Syracuse

Here are some thoughts on UConn’s 51-21 loss to Syracuse:

Swing and miss: Unofficially, UConn had seven missed tackles in the first quarter giving Syracuse an additional 64 yards. The good news is that UConn only had had four missed tackles the rest of the way as the Huskies made a few alignment changes but it was too little, too late.

Missed opportunities: UConn started the game with an impressive drive only to give the ball away on an unforced error for the second time this season. Quarterback David Pindell lost the ball as he attempted a pump fake giving the Orange a gift sack and fumble recovery and their own 32. UConn has committed 10 turnovers this season and seven have come in the opponents’ territory including four in the red zone. With the defensive struggles, the UConn offense knows it needs to score on almost every drive to have a chance to win and squandering opportunities is a losing proposition.

Not living up to hype: UConn’s offensive line was engulfed by the Syracuse front four for much of the game. The Orange had 10 tackles for loss and six sacks, but it felt like the numbers should have been much higher. One of the sacks came on the aforementioned dropped ball by Pindell and another time right tackle Matt Peart blocked an inside linemen leaving either tight end Tyler Davis or running back Kevin Mensah to pick up the relentless Alton Robinson. Neither one picked him up as Rob-

inson had no resistance on his way to picking up the easiest of his three sacks. It should be noted that center Ryan Crozier and guards Nino Leone and Cam DeGeorge worked in unison perfectly to provide seal blocks on Pindell’s 75-yard scoring

run as the UConn quarterback became the only FBS player with a touchdown pass and rushing TD of at least 70 yards this season.

Opportunity knocks: Shamel Lazarus became the ninth true freshman to start on defense for UConn and drew plenty of praise from safety Tyler Coyle for his play. He had plenty of company

as eight other true freshman played on defense. Unofficially, that class accounted for 48 percent of the defensive snaps while juniors and seniors accounted for only 8 percent of the snaps on defense.

A look into the future: Redshirt freshman quarterback Marvin Washington got his first playing time of

the season as he played the entire fourth quarter. His first pass attempt went for a touchdown and while he lost a fumble and threw an interception, he looked comfortable running the offense.