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Trebor Peña was among the first 10 players Fran Brown met once he arrived in Syracuse. A distressed Peña entered Brown’s office one day to ask the head coach for advice. He was tired of getting hurt, tired of not playing, tired of letting his potential go to waste.

Heading into his fifth season, Peña knew his career needed to change fast. The Ocean Township, New Jersey, native couldn’t have found a more approachable face than Brown, who grew up just over an hour away from Peña. The fix was simple, but tedious. Brown told him to sleep more, eat better and find structure in his life — consistency was what he lacked.

Brown’s guidance worked. Saturday’s performance, where Peña racked up a career-high three touchdowns and tallied 92 all-purpose yards, proved it.

“It’s been a long time coming,” Peña said postgame. “A lot of hard days rehabbing and going through all that stuff, but I put a lot of work in since January until now … So this win just means a lot.”

Peña delivered a breakout performance in Syracuse’s (1-0, 0-0 Atlantic Coast Conference) 38-22 victory over Ohio (0-1, 0-0 Mid-American Conference) to open the 2024 season. The wide receiver was used in a Swiss Army Knife role as a slot receiver, punt returner and ball carrier, though his six catches for 78 yards and two receiving touchdowns stood out.

On a team with a litany of new faces, the veteran Peña stamped his importance to the Orange in their opening game — setting the foundation for what could be his best year yet.

“It’s always helpful,” Brown said postgame of Peña emerging in SU’s wide receiver room. “The more players you’ve got that can make plays, the better off it is.”

Peña didn’t even register any offensive statistics last year. He played in one game on Sept. 23, 2023, versus Army, where he could only muster a pair of punt returns for nine yards. That was it. He was limited to just one game due to injury.

His previous three seasons didn’t reap much success either. As a sophomore in 2022, he led the ACC in kick-return average and caught 22 passes for 203 yards. He sparingly received offensive touches in 2021, however, and barely played in 2020.

Now classified as a redshirt junior due to a COVID-19 year and an injured season, Peña was given a fresh start under Brown’s new regime. He focused on improving the ability to take care of his body, staying in the weight room, drinking water and resting a proper amount.

The speedy wide receiver trusts his game, but he made sure to emphasize excelling at all the “little things” of life so he could become the best version of himself, he said. Brown can attest.

“He takes care of his body now and goes to sleep more,” SU’s head coach said of Peña. “He’s doing all those things because he’s been that good. He just had a lot of injuries and things of that nature.”

Brown added after Saturday’s game that Peña keeps a time-management sheet for his day-to-day work, and follows it to a tee. In the season-opener, Peña stayed on track. He did just about everything right.

It started with a routine curl route over the middle. Syracuse quarterback Kyle McCord hit an open Peña on a third-and-4 for five yards to start the second quarter with a first down — SU’s first of the afternoon. Two plays later, for the Orange’s first big play of the day, McCord hit Peña for a 20-yard reception high along the left sideline.

Peña’s pair of catches on the drive led to Oronde Gadsden II pulling in a 28-yard touchdown to give the Orange their first score of the season. Plenty of firsts were going around the JMA Wireless Dome, and Peña made sure to cash in on his own thereafter.

With 10 seconds left in the first half, Peña lined up in the slot with Umari Hatcher positioned next to him. The two receivers crossed each other’s routes as Peña moved from the middle of the field to near the sideline. Peña dusted his man, Ohio safety DJ Walker, and McCord spotted him. He fired to Peña, who hauled in a 20-yard touchdown reception — his first of the day — to put the Orange up 17-9 before halftime.

Peña remained a go-to weapon for McCord in the red zone. Late in the third quarter after Syracuse marched down to the Bobcats’ 14-yard line, Peña perfected a double move on Ohio safety Austin Brawley, cutting to his left to free himself up for a throw. McCord easily tossed an intermediate strike to Peña in the low-left corner of the end zone for a touchdown.

He even added a touchdown run to his tally, scoring on a jet sweep at the goal line just over a minute into the fourth quarter. Peña’s three touchdowns in Saturday’s game were more than he had across each of his first four seasons with the Orange.

Postgame, Peña expressed his comfortability within Syracuse offensive coordinator Jeff Nixon’s system. Peña lined up all over the field and ran a variety of routes from the slot, including a 15-yard reception on a drag route to convert a crucial third down and going vertical for two touchdown receptions. For a versatile player like Peña, Nixon’s plan was seamless.

“I love coach Nixon’s offense,” Peña said. “Coming from the (National Football League), he just knows how to get certain players in certain positions and mix it around.”

Peña elicits intrigue to SU’s offense going forward as someone who, taking from game one’s performance, has become more polished than ever before. He has the potential to provide balance to McCord’s arsenal of weapons — an X receiver in Zeed Haynes, a physical yet sure-handed tight end in Gadsden and a speedster in Peña.

It seems that Peña has finally found his role at Syracuse, fortifying the structure in which Brown knew he needed to achieve.

“When you become a senior, there’s a big difference in where you were before,” Brown said of Peña. “But I think he’s put structure into his life.”

Published on August 31, 2024 at 11:07 pm

Contact Cooper at: ccandrew@syr.edu | @cooper_andrews