It was not easy and it certainly was not pretty, but Syracuse found a way to win against Virginia to improve to 4-0. You can watch highlights of the game winning drive in the video above.
Recap
Syracuse football jumped out to a 16-0 lead, let it slip away in the fourth quarter and then kicked a late field goal to secure a 22-20 victory over Virginia Friday night in the JMA Wireless Dome. With the win, the Orange improves to 4-0 (2-0). Next up is Wagner on Saturday, October 1st at 5:00 p.m.
After an impressive start that saw Syracuse march down the field on its first drive for an easy touchdown on a Garrett Shrader run, the Virginia defense stifled the Orange offense for the rest of the night. Syracuse only managed five field goals and turned the ball over four times. SU entered the game as one of only a few teams in the country that had not turned it over.
Virginia’s offense was not much better, but started to get into rhythm in the second half. The Orange took a 16-0 advantage into halftime, and the Cavs scored a touchdown on the first drive of the third quarter. Syracuse would fumble the ensuing kickoff, and Virginia would turn that into another touchdown moments later.
Late in the fourth quarter, Virginia quarterback Brennan Armstrong found Lavel Davis on a fourth and goal play to take the lead for the first time. The advantage was just one point, however.
Aided by a facemask penalty, Syracuse would drive into field goal range on the subsequent possession. Andre Szmyt drilled his fifth of the night with 1:14 remaining to give the Orange the lead back. The defense would stop Virginia at midfield to clinch the victory.
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Shrader finished the game 22-33 for 277 yards and one interception. He also ran for 11 yards and one touchdown. Sean Tucker ran for 60 yards on 21 carries and added 39 yards receiving but lost a fumble in the first half. Oronde Gadsden led the team with seven catches for 113 yards.
Virginia had 287 yards of offense, 149 of which came on the ground. Brennan Armstrong was just 19-38 passing for 138 yards with one touchdown, one interception and one lost fumble. Shrader was sacked six times while Armstrong was dropped four times.
It was also a costly game for Syracuse as Terry Lockett, Ja’Had Carter and Alijah Clark all went down with injuries at different points of the game.
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