Last night, on Sept. 24, 2021, the Syracuse Orange defeated the Liberty Flames 24-21 on a last-second field goal by Andre Szmyt. This was the first Syracuse football game I attended in person, and I’m suffering from all sorts of deja vu.
When Szmyt’s field goal went through the uprights as time expired, I couldn’t help but think: I’ve been here before.
I’ll spare you the full recap — the story works better if I speak largely from memory anyway.
October 6, 2012. NC State versus #3 Florida State. EJ Manuel versus Mike Glennon.
In one of the more forgotten upsets in recent college football history, the unranked Wolfpack erased a 16-point halftime deficit to upset the Seminoles.
I sat at about a dozen rows up, near midfield, and witnessed future NFL quarterbacks lead uninspiring offenses to minimal success.
Even as the Seminoles lead slowly wilted, their victory felt inevitable — until a blocked punt with a few minutes remaining handed the Wolfpack prime field position to steal the game.
Glennon’s touchdown pass with 16 seconds left tied the game and Niklas Sade’s extra point clinched the upset for NC State.
My interest going into yesterday’s game had nothing to do with Syracuse and everything to do with the opposing quarterback: Malik Willis. The Liberty quarterback has been on the national radar since the tail end of last season as a potential top NFL draft prospect.
ESPN’s Harry Lyles Jr. traveled to Lynchburg to profile the redshirt-junior in August. Earlier on Sept. 24, Pro Football Focus announced Willis as their latest top quarterback prospect.
There’s a certain mystique in witnessing a future professional early in their development. Everyone wants to be able to say: I saw him/her before they werre a star.
As I took my seat about a dozen rows up, near midfield, memories of that 2012 upset in Raleigh flooded back. The parallels between each game are undeniable.
Willis takes on the role of Manuel as future first round pick, although the former flashed more talent than I ever saw from the latter.
In fact, Manuel was so unimpressive against NC State that I didn’t realize until a few days after the Bills selected him that I had seen him play in person. (That speaks to my limited football knowledge and the ineptitude of the Bills scouting department in 2013.)
I guess that awards the role of Glennon to Garrett Shrader. Now, these two players couldn’t be more different: Glennon’s reputation was strong enough that NC State felt content with allowing Russell Wilson to transfer out of the program; on the other hand, it took Shrader three games to earn a starting nod over the aggressively mediocre Tommy DeVito.
The Orange led big at halftime, but Willis put the Flames on his back in the second half. Even after Syracuse stopped Willis on fourth-and-goal — which would’ve given the Flames a 28-21 lead — Liberty’s eventual victory seemed destined.
The combo of Syracuse’s lack of trust in Shrader and over-reliance on a running back to move the ball were aging like a #1 from White Castle. Furthermore, Willis had seemingly solved the Orange’s vaunted defense.
And then Cody Roscoe and Marlowe Wax strip sacked the star quarterback, handing the Orange prime field position to steal the game.
Sound familiar?
I just hope Willis’ NFL career pans out better than Manuel’s.