WVSports.com takes a look at five thoughts from No. 16 West Virginia's 34-18 loss to No. 20 Syracuse during Friday's Camping World Bowl. The Mountaineers surrendered 17 unanswered points to the Orange and we take a look at five things that stood out during the course of the game.

1. Offense takes a step back - There’s no way to sugarcoat this one. West Virginia’s offense struggled throughout the entire game against Syracuse.

Yes, the Mountaineers were without four of their usual starters, but there were very few encouraging moments for this unit during the game and this performance can be compared to those of last year without Grier, when the offense struggled in every phase during the final two games against Oklahoma and Utah.

West Virginia was able to move the ball effectively at times and racked up 423 yards but that doesn’t matter if that can’t amount to touchdowns which the Mountaineers failed to do. It also didn’t help that the offense went 1-of-2 in the red zone and 6-of-18 on third downs.