Sizing up the good and bad from WVU’s 38-14 loss to Syracuse at Yankee Stadium:
Best signage: Syracuse claims to be “New York’s college team” — it purchased a left-field placard at Yankee Stadium to advertise it. Hard to argue with that slogan after Saturday.
Worst treatment of headsets: Dana Holgorsen spiking his twice after a holding flag negated Andrew Buie’s 28-yard touchdown run.
Best season by a non-Biletnikoff winner: Stedman Bailey’s two touchdown catches gave him 25 this season, only two shy of the NCAA single-season record.
Worst surprise: WVU’s run defense, which hadn’t allowed a 100-yard rusher all season, surrendered two Saturday as the Orange’s Prince Tyson-Gulley piled up 208 and Jerome Smith 157.
Best crunch: Blitzing off the edge, Terence Garvin was ignored by Syracuse right tackle Sean Hickey leading to vicious hit that knocked quarterback Ryan Nassib out for a play. “It’s my last game, man, nothing’s going to take me out,” Nassib said.
Worst trajectory on a kick: Tyler Bitancurt’s 36-yard field-goal try officially was “blocked” by Syracuse, when in fact, Bitancurt kicked it into the back of his own lineman.
Best minus-1 yard run: Tavon Austin didn’t produce many highlight moments in his final college game. But he was at his slippery best on a first-quarter reverse where he was wrapped up 10 yards deep in the backfield, somehow escaped, and then made another tackler miss as he raced to the boundary for a short loss.
Worst hands by an All-Big East receiver: Alec Lemon had a certain TD pass bounce off his shoulder pads at the goal line on Syracuse’s first possession.
Worst hands by a linebacker: Garvin dropped a sure-fire pick-six in the fourth quarter.
Best strip: Garvin ripping the ball free from Gulley at the Syracuse 46. Garvin also recovered the ball to complete the play.
Worst understatement: Holgorsen’s postgame assertion that “any time you get out-rushed by 300 yards, you’re going to have some problems.”