The Syracuse Orange football team kicked off Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) play with a difficult 21-18 loss on Saturday afternoon against Cal at the JMA Wireless Dome.

It was a tough loss because it was a conference loss, a home loss, and a loss in a game in which Syracuse held a 12-0 lead and an 18-14 lead at one point. Syracuse hurt itself with self-inflicted errors all day long as well, including three thrown interceptions, double-digit penalties, including one that wiped away a punt return for a touchdown. One of the interceptions by quarterback Steve Angeli was returned for a touchdown also.

An injury to running back Tylik Hill didn't help either, as he was lost for the game to a quad injury on his second carry of the day. 

And that brings us to one of our biggest questions about the Orange right now.

Let's start here.

In Week 1, Hill started, carrying the ball 15 times for 90 yards. Freshman Shavane Anderson Jr. carried it 13 times for 102 yards and three touchdowns, earning ACC Rookie of the Week honors.

Of course, that was a game against FCS New Hampshire, so it was a good game, but not necessarily indicative of what we can expect from Anderson moving forward.

However, in this game, once Hill got hurt, Anderson was not given the bulk of the carries. He finished the day with nine rushes for 18 yards, and 15 carries went to LSU transfer Ju'Juan Johnson.

Again, just because Anderson had a great game against New Hampshire, it doesn't mean he should be the lead back for this team, but it was surprising to see him not play a huge role in the gameplan coming off that performance, especially after Hill was injured so early in the first quarter.

Syracuse will have to forget about this one because they have a quick turnaround. The Orange will be on the road on Thursday night at Pitt in another ACC game. This will be the first road contest of the year for SU.

The Panthers are 2-0, but they are coming off an uninspiring performance against Central Florida. They only won 12-7. They beat Miami (Ohio) in the opener by a much more impressive score of 59-14.

These two programs are longtime Big East rivals that have both moved to the ACC.