Syracuse 42, Holy Cross 14
When: 12:00 PM ET, Saturday, September 28, 2024
Where: JMA Wireless Dome, Syracuse, New York
Temperature:
Dome
Head Official:
Stuart Mullins
Attendance:
43455
By Field Level Media
Kyle McCord passed for 385 yards and four touchdowns as Syracuse beat Holy Cross 42-14 on Saturday in Syracuse, N.Y.
It's the fourth straight 300-yard passing game to open the season for McCord, who was 28 of 50 and also threw two interceptions. Jackson Meeks had 10 catches for a career-high 161 yards and a touchdown.
KingJoseph Edwards recorded three sacks for the Orange.
Joe Pesansky was 14-for-25 passing for 167 yards, a touchdown and an interception for Holy Cross. Max Mosey made five catches for 105 yards and a touchdown. Jacob Peterson added 48 receiving yards and a touchdown.
The Orange (3-1) have won 14 straight games against Holy Cross (1-4) for a 25-5 series record and are 20-0 all-time against FCS teams.
Holy Cross went three-and-out on its first three drives, while Syracuse scored touchdowns on its first three.
On its opening drive, Syracuse scored when McCord scrambled to his left and found a sliding Umari Hatcher in the end zone for a 7-yard touchdown catch and a 7-0 Syracuse lead.
McCord, an Ohio State transfer, hit Darrell Gill Jr. for a 23-yard touchdown and a 14-0 lead on the second Syracuse drive. And a 38-yard pass from McCord to Meeks gave Syracuse a 21-0 lead on the first play of the second quarter.
Holy Cross then rallied to score on consecutive possessions. Pesansky found Mosey wide open out of the slot for a 63-yard touchdown pass to make the score 21-7. After the Crusaders' defense forced a three-and-out, Holy Cross reached into its bag of trick plays to make the score 21-14 in the second quarter.
Pesansky tossed the ball backward to running back Sam Slade, who drew in the Syracuse defense. Before he crossed the line of scrimmage, Slade threw a 28-yard touchdown pass to Peterson with 6:45 left in the second quarter.
After Syracuse forced Holy Cross to punt from its end zone, the Orange covered 54 yards in six plays and scored on a 4-yard touchdown pass from McCord to Trebor Pena for a 28-14 lead with 32 seconds left in the first half.
LeQuint Allen added a 1-yard touchdown run as time expired in the third quarter to give the Orange a 35-14 lead.
Syracuse took its largest lead of the day in the fourth quarter when defensive back Jayden Bellamy intercepted a Pesansky pass and returned it 33 yards for a touchdown and a 42-14 lead.
After four straight home games to open the season, the Orange will be away from the JMA Dome for the entire month of October and play three road games.
--Field Level Media
Top Game Performances
Rushing
| Holy Cross |
|
Syracuse |
|
Jayden Clerveaux |
Player |
Lequint Allen
|
|
10 |
Attempts |
16 |
|
10 |
Yards |
81 |
|
1.0 |
Avg Yards |
5.1 |
|
0 |
Touchdowns |
1 |
|
0 |
Long |
0 |
Receiving
| Holy Cross |
|
Syracuse |
|
Max Mosey |
Player |
Jackson Meeks
|
|
5 |
Receptions |
10 |
|
105 |
Yards |
161 |
|
21.0 |
Avg Yards |
16.1 |
|
1 |
Touchdowns |
1 |
|
0 |
Long |
0 |
Team Stats Summary
| |
Yards |
Scoring |
Defense |
| Team |
Tot |
Rus |
Pas |
TD |
FG |
INT |
Sck |
FF |
| Holy Cross |
203 |
9 |
194 |
2 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
| Syracuse
|
541 |
125 |
416 |
6 |
0 |
1 |
4.0 |
0 |
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