Syracuse football: Orange hold on to knock off #23 Georgia Tech 31-28 in ACC play

The Syracuse Orange moved to 2-0 (1-0 in ACC play) by surviving a late Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets flurry to win 31-28. It was a game the Orange had in control until the final 8 minutes when Tech scored two touchdowns and had the JMA Dome nervously watching.

A clutch third down completion from Kyle McCord to Oronde Gadsden gave Orange fans a sigh of relief as they avoided a late collapse.

The Orange offense got off to a blistering start marching down the field to score first on Trebor Pena’s fourth touchdown of the season as he hauled in an 11 yard pass from Kyle McCord.

Georgia Tech equaled after Haynes King avoided a tackle in the backfield and went 21 yards. Syracuse next drive stalled after a dropped pass and Brady Denaburg’s field goal was blocked and a wild first quarter ended up even at 7.

McCord and Pena hooked up again and the defense got a stop and McCord worked some magic getting the Orange back down the field. A mismatch got Oronde Gadsden wide open to put Syracuse up 21-7. A bad pursuit angle by Duce Chestnut allowed King to get his second rushing touchdown and the Dome crowd was subdued a bit.

After a blocked punt gave Tech great field position, the Syracuse defense kept them to a long field goal attempt which went wide and the Orange took a 21-14 lead into the half.

Syracuse got a stop and a long drive ended up with a Denaburg field goal to push the lead to 10. The Orange missed a couple of opportunities on the drive but Brown showed some faith in his offense by going for a 4th and 1 on Syracuse’s side of the field. A Zeed Haynes end around kept the Tech defense on the field for longer than they would have liked. The next Orange drive stalled after a Gadsden drop on 3rd down and we went to the fourth quarter with Syracuse up 24-14.

Huge 3rd and 4th down stops by Fadil Diggs gave the Orange the ball in a position to put the game away and McCord found Gadsen from 17 yards out to put Syracuse up 17. Georgia Tech’s offense finally got going with the Orange sitting in a softer defense and King hit Chase Lane from 4 yards out to make it 31-21 with 5:08 to go.

Of course it can’t be easy for the Orange so after they botched the onside kick, Tech made it 31-28 on a 15-yard run from Jamal Haynes. Syracuse had to convert on offense and after two near-interceptions, Oronde Gadsden made a clutch 3rd down catch followed by a 24-yard run from LeQuint Allen to seal the win.

McCord finished the day with 380 passing yards and 4 touchdowns. Gadsden and Pena had 6 receptions and 2 TD’s each. Allen finished with 83 yards rushing on 15 carries. Diggs and Derek McDonald led the defense with 7 tackles.

Syracuse was 10-17 on 3rd down conversions as the Orange made clutch plays throughout the afternoon to keep drives alive. The Orange are off next weekend and will welcome the Stanford Cardinal to the JMA Dome on Friday September 20th.