The Syracuse Orange trailed early and often, but mounted a last-minute drive to defeat the South Florida Bulls on the road, 37-36.
Syracuse found themselves trailing 23-3 at half, but stormed back in the third quarter. The Orange scored three third quarter touchdowns, shaving the lead to 26-24 heading into the fourth quarter. After a Syracuse punt to start the fourth, each team traded touchdowns to push the score to 33-31. South Florida then went on a drive that chewed up 5:56, launching a field goal with 1:23 left to put the Bulls up 36-31.
Ryan Nassib and the Syracuse offense took over at their own 25 yard-line with only 1:23 left on the clock, but Nassib led the offense into the South Florida red zone. After two offensive penalties, Nassib completed a pass to Marcus Sales, who was stopped on the South Florida one-yard line with less then ten seconds left. On the next play, Nassib tossed a one-yard touchdown pass to Alec Lemon to give Syracuse a 37-36 win.
Nassib finished with 328 yards passing, completing 27 of his 40 pass attempts while tossing four touchdowns. Sales was Nassib's favorite target, hauling in nine receptions for 125 yards and two touchdowns. Jerome Smith led the Syracuse rushing attack with 127 yards on 28 carries.
South Florida had a strong day running the ball, finishing with 369 rushing yards. Lindsey Lamar was the team's leading rusher, picking up 145 yards and one touchdown on the ground on just ten carries. Quarterback B.J. Daniels had 134 yards rushing on twelve carries, and added 183 yards and a touchdown through the air.
Box Score Hero: Syracuse quarterback Ryan Nassib, who went 27-of-40 with 328 yards passing while throwing four touchdowns and no interceptions.
Rankings Ramifications: Neither team received any votes in either polls, and neither team should expect to rank in the polls next week.
But Did They Cover? South Florida was a 7½-point favorite, failing to cover the spread.
For More On This Game:
For more on Cuse football, visit Syracuse blog Troy Nunes Is An Absolute Magician plus SB Nation New York. And Big East Coast Bias, for the time being.
For more on USF football, visit South Florida blog Voodoo Five, plus Big East blog Big East Coast Bias.
Syracuse - at Cincinnati
South Florida - vs. Connecticut
