NFL
By: Rick O’Donnell
They stormed the field at the JMA Wireless Dome in Syracuse after the Syracuse Orange took down the (6) Miami Hurricanes. It has been some time since the two faced off as members of the Big East but Saturday afternoon proved these two teams have some history left to be made. Miami holds a very lopsided 15-8 record against the Orange but it’s not the first time Syracuse has played spoiler to their season. Both programs are working their way back to the top of college football, but did Syracuse and Miami reignite a long-forgotten rivalry?
At the time of the game, Syracuse entered their matchup unranked while the Hurricanes were on pace for a ACC championship spot. Kyle McCord had Syracuse as the second-best passing attack where Cam Ward had the Hurricanes right on their heels. The matchup might not have featured the pushing and shoving of other rivalry games over the weekend, but a hard-fought game by both teams brought out the fireworks.
A loud JMA Wireless Dome let Miami know how they felt about them. The minute they took the field, the boo-birds were out. Miami was on the attack right from jump and got out to an early 21-point lead and looked like the faster, more physical team. However, the Orange are resilient and never showed they were mentally out of this game. With this comeback, Syracuse surpassed their largest comeback victory in school history.
Whether it was Kyle McCord becoming the first Syracuse QB to throw for over 4,000 yards in a season or LeQuint Allen fighting for every yard often hurdling defenders, the Orange were on the hunt. Cam Ward kept his Heisman hopes alive with a brilliant performance himself. Xavier Restrepo would go on to match the Orange’s top WR (Trebor Pena) with his fair share of big plays as well. Damien Martinez and Mark Fletcher Jr stepped in big for the run game of the Hurricanes totaling 3 rushing TDs. Both Trebor Pena and Jackson Meeks had well over 100 yards receiving. So did Jacolby George for the Hurricanes.
Both teams had to use every player and play in their playbook until the final whistle. McCord finished with 380 yards and 3 TDs, Ward 349 and 2 TDs. Neither threw and interception and there was only 3 sacks total for either QB, two on McCord and one of Ward.
This game was a battle of explosive plays from explosive players and while the two might not face off as much as they used to, it’ll be hard to forget this game the next time they square off. Their Big East days might be gone, but the rivalry is far from over.
