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Jeff Nixon made his vision clear early in his tenure as Syracuse’s offensive coordinator. The Orange brought in gunslinger Kyle McCord at quarterback but still had a dynamic running back in LeQuint Allen Jr. returning.

“We want to be balanced,” Nixon said on March 25. “We want to be able to at any point during the season when we play an opponent, if we want to throw it 50 times a game, we want to be able to do that … If it’s a game where we think we have to win up front, a team that’s struggling in the run, we want to be able to run the football 50 times.”

Halfway through SU’s 2024 campaign, it’s largely been the former. The Orange have thrown 287 passes through six games, 103 more than their rushing attempts. With the offense relying heavily on McCord’s arm, the quarterback has averaged 47 passing attempts a game.

McCord’s heavy usage has resulted in totals putting him on pace for 4,320 passing yards, 38 touchdowns, 564 attempts and 370 completions at the end of the 12-game regular season. In the Atlantic Coast Conference, his marks would put him for third-most in passing attempts in a single season, behind Boston College’s Matt Ryan in 2007 and Clemson’s Deshaun Watson in 2016. If McCord’s numbers were to have happened in 2023, he would’ve led the conference in completions by 80 and attempts by 110.

Nixon and first-year head coach Fran Brown have put their faith in McCord, and so far he’s thrived, leading the Orange to a 5-1 start.

In December 2023, Brown plucked McCord out of the transfer portal. McCord led Ohio State to an 11-0 start last season, but a middling performance in the regular-season finale against Michigan soured his campaign. Buckeyes head coach Ryan Day wouldn’t commit to McCord as the starter going forward, causing him to enter the portal.

Knowing the uncertainty McCord faced with Ohio State, Brown made it apparent the trust and commitment he had for the quarterback. On the first day of fall training camp, he echoed these sentiments.

“I would like for him to take this team and lead this team as far as we can possibly go,” Brown said. “If he can maximize all the guys, I’m the head coach and after the head coach comes Kyle McCord.”

In SU’s season-opener versus Ohio, McCord showcased his passing prowess. Across the final three quarters, he recorded four touchdowns and 354 passing yards on a 27-of-39 mark — all new single-game highs for the quarterback.

“Send Ryan Day a bottle of champagne for allowing us to get Kyle McCord,” Brown confidently said postgame.

Joe Zhao | Video Editor

His production only increased the next week in SU’s ACC opener versus then-No. 23 Georgia Tech. This time, it was four touchdowns with 381 yards through the air. However, it was a newfound swagger that stood out. On a third-and-3 in the third quarter, McCord scrambled out left for 15 yards, spiking the ball out of bounds after the play.

Earlier in the contest, his flamboyance, which was rarely seen at Ohio State, was caught by TV cameras, exuding confidence with an expletive-filled speech to teammates.

In his ACC debut, McCord led Syracuse to victory. The Orange won 31-28, leading by as much as 17 in the fourth quarter. It was a game McCord envisioned before the season started.

“I know in the Big Ten, some of the teams run the ball all game and pass 10 times a game,” McCord said at ACC Kickoff on July 25. “The quarterbacks in the ACC in my opinion are top-notch. There will be some games where we might get into a little bit of a shootout this year.”

While he won his first ACC shootout, McCord was brought back to earth in Syracuse’s loss to Stanford. For the third straight game, he recorded over 300 passing yards, but two costly interceptions — including a pick-six — helped the Cardinal come out on top.

After all the Heisman hype through two games, many questioned if this was the real McCord. But, it’s clear this is an improved version of McCord.

With the Buckeyes a season ago, per Pro Football Focus, he had a 31.3 offensive grade when pressured and a 67.5 grade when blitzed. Six games into 2024, those numbers have improved. Under pressure, he’s at 77.9. When blitzed, he’s at 92.2.

McCord rebounded from the loss to Stanford, with a career-high 385 passing yards against Holy Cross. He threw the ball 50 times, resulting in four touchdowns.

Then came his largest usage to date. On the road versus then-No. 25 UNLV, McCord attempted a career-high 63 passes, completing 40 of them. Using heavy run-pass option concepts, the Orange ran 96 total plays and doubled the Rebels’ time of possession. SU finished with 30 more passes than runs, but McCord saw the discrepancy as a positive mark.

“I think the number, to be honest, is a little inflated. A lot of those passes were quick throws to the flat or to the outside for five yards,” McCord said. “We have a run play called, but they’re just giving us access on the outside. I’m taking it. And so it, really, in my mind, is just an extension of the run game, but goes down as a pass.”

The numbers back McCord’s thinking. He’s averaging just 11.98 yards per completion, ranking 74th in the nation. But that doesn’t mean McCord has been ineffective downfield.

The quarterback has a 99.1 PFF grade on passes 20 yards or further and is 11-of-12 on passes 20 yards or more between the numbers.

Syracuse quarterback Kyle McCord threads the needle in SU’s victory over Holy Cross on Sept. 28. In his first season with the Orange, McCord has totaled 19 touchdowns through six games. Jacob Halsema | Staff Photographer

Two weeks ago against NC State, McCord totaled 346 yards and two touchdowns through the air. He also completed a season-high 73.8% of his passes.

Even without Zeed Haynes, SU’s No. 1 wide receiver, for the last four games, McCord has spread the wealth. The Orange are the only Football Bowl Subdivision team with three players — Jackson Meeks (76.5), Trebor Peña (76.3) and Oronde Gadsden II (72.2) — averaging over 70 receiving yards per game.

Halfway through the season, McCord’s playing at a historic pace. For SU program history, Ryan Nassib’s 2012 season produced program records for single-season yards (3,749), touchdowns (26), completions (294) and attempts (471). McCord’s on pace to shatter them all.

McCord’s productivity is nearly the opposite of SU’s offense from a year ago. The Orange totaled 17 passing touchdowns and 2,223 yards in 2023. A year later, they’ve already passed the touchdown mark and will easily pass in yardage in their next contest versus No. 19 Pitt.

This offensive philosophy puts significant weight on McCord’s shoulders. It forces SU into a win by McCord, lose by McCord scenario weekly. But he’s proven to sustain his production and scrap together wins, potentially better than any Syracuse quarterback ever has.

Published on October 23, 2024 at 11:20 pm

Contact Aiden at: amstepan@syr.edu | @AidenStepansky