Syracuse Passing Game Empty Concepts

In this article we will look at some of the empty concepts used by Syracuse University. They were the top passing team in the country in 2024 amassing a whopping 366 yards per game.

This article looks at some of their empty concepts. One of the reasons they were able to do this was they had an excellent QB in Kyle McCord and 4 great WR threats. WR Jackson Meeks had 78 catches for 1021 yards while their other top WR Trebor Pena had 84 catches for 941 yards. TE Oronde Jackson had 72 catches for 921 yards and RB LeQuint Allen had 64 catches for 529 yards.

They had great success because of their talented WR and often went empty out of 11P. Defenses played a ton of zone because of the matchup issues caused by Jackson and especially Allen in the slot. When they went man, Allen or Gadsen had a matchup advantage vs a LB or safety.

Example #1

Trips bunch with Formation to the boundary. TE to the field.

TE mismatch vs a DB and Jackson wins it. They run the TE on the out cut (Friday concept) with 3 man snag to the boundary.

Example #2

They move the TE and RB to the same side and Miami is trying to go man and just can’t get lined up.

LB is running over to cover the RB and they have 1 OLB aligned incorrectly. The QB sees it and they run Friday again to the 2 WR side.

Quick check by McCord and he hits the WR in the slot. They move their great RB and TE around and that causes issues defensively.

Example #3

In the 3rd example they create space for their WR in the slot matched up against a LB. They run #3 strong on a stick route which opens up the middle of the field.

They create space and the ball is thrown behind the WR or it’s a huge gain. Nice design but lousy execution.

They run the same concept with different personnel later in the game. They put their RB Allen there and he makes a great move and gains 20 yards.

Here’s all their empty routes vs Miami: (11 clips)