Syracuse Football: Explaining Wild Sequence at End of First Half vs. Clemson

A wild sequence transpired at the end of the first half on Saturday between the Syracuse Orange and Clemson Tigers football teams.

And it's something that the ESPN2 broadcast crew didn't pick up on, so let's dive a little deeper.

Syracuse trailed 9-6 with 54 seconds left when Davion Kerr recorded an interception at the Syracuse 39-yard line.

From that point forward:

1) Quarterback Steve Angeli completed a five-yard pass to Ju'Juan Johnson, getting to the Syracuse 44.

2) Angeli threw an incomplete pass to make it 3rd-and-5.

3) Angeli competed a pass for eight yards to the Clemson 48. That was a first down.

4) Now with 19 seconds left, Angeli dropped back to pass, but there was a penalty, making it 1st-and-25 at the Syracuse 37, even further back than where the drive started.

5) Angeli then completed a pass to freshman Calvin Russell III, who got 30 yards down to the Clemson 33. Russell fought for extra yards on the play, and the clock officially stopped with two seconds remaining in the half.

6) Rather than spike the ball and attempt a game-tying 50-yard field goal, or spike it and attempt a 33-yard pass to the endzone, Angeli took the ball and delivered a pass to Umari Hatcher, who ran for seven yards. Hatcher looked surprised to get the ball and the ESPN broadcasters seemed perplexed that Angeli didn't spike the ball.

The broadcast team didn't pick up on the fact that you are not allowed to spike the ball with only two seconds to play. So, in fact, Angeli was right to run a play. The broadcasters were wrong, but several players on the field seemed to forget the rule as well. Not everyone on the field was prepared for a play to be run.

You can view the sequence below.

There are two:

1) Everyone needs to understand the rule and realize that with less than three seconds to go, spike plays are not allowed. That means everyone needs to be prepared to run a play inside of three seconds.

2) Russell needs to recognize that fighting for extra yards here, while admirable, actually worked to his detriment. It took more time off the clock. Once you get the first down, you have to get down immediately to preserve time. Had he done that, the Orange would have had a chance to spike the ball and attempt an actually called play.