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Syracuse football tackle Sean Hickey played well against Clemson defensive end Vic Beasley last season, especially considering the Orange offense ran with one snap count.

(Stephen D. Cannerelli)

Syracuse, N.Y. — Tim Lester is a man who values efficiency. The Syracuse offensive coordinator believes overall success can be improved by emphasizing minor aspects of his unit's performance in practice.

One such factor that he tweaked this spring was especially alarming, yet somewhat unsurprising for an offense that was historically bad at scoring touchdowns and racked up numerous injuries on the offensive line.

The Orange used only one cadence in games last season, as opposed to varying the snap count or tempo to keep opposing defenses from timing their jump.

"You can't just use one. which is what we did," Lester said during a wide-ranging interview on Tuesday. "We had other ones, but we used one. We have to use them; you're trained to do that."

While he didn't think opposing teams could pick this up off film heading into games, Lester said defensive linemen would notice it during games and take advantage. However, he believes SU couldn't vary its snap count during games last season because the offensive linemen wouldn't have been able to stay onsides.

Lester, who was promoted from quarterbacks coach to take over for George McDonald midway through last season, spent the first four practices this spring installing the base 30 percent of his offensive system. Then he warned SU head coach Scott Shafer and the defensive staff. Part of Day 5 would be spent hammering home a variety of cadences.

"It was obvious," Lester said of the issues. "You could ask any coach. I was like Shafe, 'We've got to do it.'"

Much to the dismay of the defensive staff and players, the offense jumped while practicing snap counts "like 27 times" that first day. The next practice the number of penalties dwindled to 13, then seven, then three, Lester said.

The unit was asked to do three up-downs for each false start, Lester said with a chuckle.

"They do it now the moment I blow the whistle they do, then pop up and run the play," Lester said. "It's hilarious."

Despite going off one snap count in each game last season, the Orange offensive line wasn't among the nation's worst at allowing sacks. The unit, which was forced to use 10 players over the course of the season, gave up two sacks per game, tying for 56th of 125 Division I teams.

However, with a huge void to fill at left tackle — redshirt senior Ivan Foy is taking over for three-year starter Sean Hickey — and a new center in redshirt senior Rob Trudo, the offensive line should value every edge it can get.

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