With positive buzz surrounding Syracuse, it laid an egg in the Boca Raton Bowl. The 45-0 shutout was necessary if the Orange want to move into the Fran Brown era on a clean slate.
With Garrett Shrader healthy enough to throw downfield for the first time since Oct. 26, Syracuse opened up its playbook against Wake Forest, totaling 468 yards of offense.
With a possible sixth consecutive loss looming, the Orange changed their playstyle completely against Pitt, heavily utilizing the wild cat formation. In doing that, tight end Dan Vilari rushed for a game-high 154 yards.
Despite being listed as a tight end, Dan Villari's 154 rushing yards against Pittsburgh earned him ACC Running Back of the Week while Chris Bleich picked up ACC Offensive Linemen of the Week honors.