DURHAM, N.C. — Coming out of its second bye week of the season, Syracuse (4-6, 1-5 Atlantic Coast) showed different looks than weeks past. A few reverses, some blitz combinations and three turnovers were enough to push the Orange past Duke (4-6, 2-4), 49-6, on Saturday night at Wallace Wade Stadium. 

Syracuse finished with 395 yards, including 286 on the ground. After allowing nearly 500 rushing yards to Boston College, Syracuse held Duke to 276 total yards and handed the Blue Devils their fourth straight loss.  

Below are three takeaways from the Orange’s first win since September. 

Turning it around 

Syracuse forced Duke turnovers on three straight possessions in the third quarter. All three turnovers were followed by Syracuse touchdowns. 

The first marked the Orange’s defensive touchdown of the season. It started with an Antwan Cordy pass break-up that sent the ball lofting into the air. Then, cornerback Chris Fredrick knocked the ball away. Finally, as the ball lofted through the air one last time, Andre Cisco grabbed the ball and dashed 48 yards to the end zone. 

The second turnover came from the air again, as Fredrick knocked the ball loose out of a Duke receivers hands. As the ball bounced out of the Duke players grasp, Fredrick snatched the ball for a turnover and subsequent drive that ended in a Luke Benson touchdown. The third turnover came from Andrew Armstrong yanking the ball loose and Evan Foster scooping the ball for a 27-yard return. A Moe Neal touchdown on the following drive put the Orange up 29 and all but ended the game. 

On the run

The Orange had almost triple the amount of rushing yards than passing yards.

As winds rattled the goal posts, Syracuse relied on its ground game to pace the offense after a successful first drive in the air. Neal, playing a little more than two hours away from his hometown, ran wild on Syracuse’s second touchdown drive of the game. With Syracuse’s offensive line winning the point of attack over Duke’s line, Neal just needed to make open field tacklers miss.

Several times Neal shook by defenders and dashed to open field toward the sideline. On one play, with two pulling offensive linemen in front of him, Neal darted up the sideline and 35 yards later dove for the pylon. He was ruled out of bounds, though Tommy DeVito finished the drive with a rushing touchdown of his own.

Neal finished with 115 yards and a touchdown while the Orange totaled 286 yards and four touchdowns on the ground. 

Going bowling? 

With it’s first against a Power 5 team this year, Syracuse keeps its bowl hopes alive. With two games remaining on the schedule, the Orange would have to win both of its games to become an automatic qualifier for a bowl game. 

Syraucse travels to Louisville (5-4), who plays North Carolina State on Saturday night, before hosting Wake Forest. The Demon Deacons spent part of this season ranked in the Top 25 but most recently lost to Clemson, 52-3, on Saturday.  

If a not enough teams qualify at 6-6, the Orange could still make a bowl game at 5-7. 

Published on November 16, 2019 at 7:29 pm

Contact Josh: jlschafe@syr.edu | @Schafer_44