The Syracuse Orange football program opened the doors to the Dome to the Miami Hurricanes for the first time in exactly 22 years, with the last time these two faced off in Central New York being back on Saturday, November 30, 2002.
This match-up featured the top two passing-yard quarterbacks in the entire country, with Syracuse senior Kyle McCord coming in with 3, 946 yards and Miami senior Cam Ward entering with 3,774.
Ward would lead the Hurricanes to a score on their opening drive after a defensive pass interference call on true freshman cornerback Davien Kerr would move the 'Canes from the Orange 13-yard line to the two-yard line. The scoring play came from a run by sophomore running back Mark Fletcher, Jr., from two yards out, giving Miami the first lead of the day, 7-0, at the 10:46 mark of the first quarter.
McCord would complete his first pass attempt of the game on Syracuse's first play, with an 11-yard connection with redshirt-junior tight end Oronde Gadsden II. The drive would seemingly end with a touchdown pass from McCord to redshirt-junior wide receiver Trebor Pena, but it was called back due to an illegal formation.
Orange Head Coach Fran Brown would elect to go for it on 4th-&-2 on this opening drive and the Orange would end up turning the ball over on downs when senior wide receiver Jackson Meeks did not hold on to his reception attempt, placing the Hurricanes at their own 37 to start their second drive of the day.
Miami would end this drive with another touchdown, this coming after senior wide receiver Xavier Restrepo caught a pass from Ward, was ruled down at the Syracuse one-yard line, and an official review overturned the play, stating Restrepo crossed the goal-line, giving him a 16-yard score to make it 14-0 Miami at the 3:43 mark of the first quarter.
The second Orange drive would end in a three-and-out, with a healthy bounce from the punt by redshirt-sophomore Jack Stonehouse pitting the Hurricanes at their own seven-yard line to start their third drive.
A three-yard pass to the middle of the end zone from Ward to redshirt-junior tight end Elijah Arroyo gave the Hurricanes three scores on their first three drives of the day, and a 21-0 lead after this score, with 12:57 before half.
However, the Orange would answer for the first time in the game, when junior running back LeQuint Allen, Jr., would take a carry up the middle, keep his feet, and get into the end zone on an eight-yard ground score to make it 21-7 Miami at the 10:54 mark.
Syracuse would end the scoring streak for Miami on Miami's fourth drive, forcing Miami to punt for the first time in this game, inside 10 minutes before halftime.
On their fourth drive of the game, the Orange would score for the second possession in a row, this on a 3rd-&-9 pass attempt from the Hurricanes' nine-yard line from McCord to Meeks to bring the Orange within one score, 21-14, at the 3:41 mark.
With this passing touchdown to Meeks, McCord became the all-time leader in Syracuse football history in single-season passing touchdowns when he achieved his 27th, passing Syracuse quarterback alum Ryan Nassib, who he also passed earlier this season to become the all-time Orange leader in passing yards in a single season.
A strong defensive stance on Miami's 3rd-&-6 does not allow Ward to complete a pass and forced Miami to punt for the second time in a row.
Syracuse would get the ball on their own 15 with 1:50 before half and all three of their timeouts handy.
But the Orange would get no farther than their own 36, punting the ball back to the Hurricanes with 28 seconds remaining.
Miami would let the clock run to zeroes, going into the locker room at the break ahead 21-14 with Syracuse getting the ball out of the break.
McCord came into this game needing 54 yards to get to 4,000 passing yards on the season. He went in to a 2nd-&-8 attempt from the Orange 27-yard line nine yards shy and would complete a pass to junior wide receiver Justus Ross-Simmons for a 23-yard gain, officially becoming the first-ever Syracuse quarterback to throw for 4,000 yards in a single season, with this play getting him to 4,014.
At the half, Miami led in total yards, 254 to 195. The Hurricanes led on the ground, 70 yards to 39, with both teams carrying the ball 15 times in the first half. Passing yards also leaned in favor of Miami, 184 to 156.
Possession was almost even in the first 30 minutes of play, with Syracuse having the ball for 15:16 and Miami for 14:16.
Ward concluded the first two quarters 11-for-16 (69%) for 184 yards, two touchdowns, and no interceptions.
Senior wide receiver Jacolby George had 103 yards on four catches in the first half for the 'Canes, followed by Restrepo with 63 on four catches, including his aforementioned touchdown.
McCord ended the first half 16-for-24 (67%) for 154 yards, one touchdown, and no interceptions.
Meeks led all Orange receivers in the first half with 39 yards on four catches, including his aforementioned touchdown, followed by Allen who had 28 yards on four catches out of the backfield.
Junior running back Damien Martinez led the Miami backfield in the first half with 36 yards on four attempts.
Allen had 33 yards on eight carries, including his touchdown for Syracuse in the first half.
Senior linebacker Francisco Mauigoa ended the opening half atop all 'Canes with eight total tackles, with five solo.
Orange senior cornerback Clarence Lewis and true freshman defensive tackle Maraad Watson each had four total tackles in the first half, Lewis with two solo and Watson with one.
It took Syracuse just three plays out of the locker room, all pass plays, with an incompletion on the first play followed by a 50-yard completion from McCord to Pena and a 25-yard completion for a score from McCord to Pena to tie the game at 21 just 39 seconds into the third quarter. This 25-yard receiving play by Pena would get him over 100 yards on the day, with 106 at this time.
But Miami would quickly respond, ending their first drive of the second half the same way they ended their first drive of the first half, on a two-yard run for a score by Fletcher, giving the 'Canes the lead back, 28-21, at the 11:02 mark.
After being sacked on first down for a loss of eight yards, McCord responded by going 4-for-4 on the team's second drive of the second half, with the last completion being to Meeks who cut inside for a nine-yard touchdown to tie the game at 28 at the 7:47 mark of the third quarter.
A holding penalty would negate a huge run by the Hurricanes on their second drive of the half, followed by senior defensive end Fadil Diggs and junior defensive end Denis Jaquez, Jr., sacking Ward for a loss of eight yards. On 3rd-&-25, the Orange would pressure Ward again, ultimately forcing the Hurricanes to punt the ball away on fourth down.
Syracuse would move the ball well on their third drive of the second half, but true freshman linebacker Cam Pruitt would force true freshman running back Yasin Willis to fumble on his rush attempt and Pruitt would recover the ball for Miami at his own 17.
The Orange defense would reply by getting the Hurricanes to fumble the ball back courtesy of junior defensive back Devin Grant who caught the ball in the air after forcing it out of the hands of Restrepo and returned the ball 56 yards for a defensive touchdown, giving the Orange their first lead of the day, 35-28, with 1:47 left in the third quarter.
Miami replied with a two-yard run up the middle by Martinez to tie the game at 35 with 13:02 to play.
A pass interference call on the Hurricanes in the end zone with Meeks trying to receive the ball would place the Orange on the Hurricanes' five-yard line.
Allen would carry the ball for two yards, followed by a three-yard touchdown run where he went into the end zone untouched for a 42-35 Syracuse lead with 9:16 to go.
On the next Miami possession, Grant would drop a potential interception on a tipped ball by the goal-line, but Miami would be flagged for unsportsmanlike conduct, losing 15 yards.
The Hurricanes would end this drive with the first field-goal attempt of the day by either side, with senior kicker Andres Borregales connecting from 27 yards out to make it 42-38 Orange with 3:42 remaining.
Allen carried the ball four times for 28 yards, including two first downs, on the following Syracuse drive, and Miami was flagged for an offsides penalty.
McCord would then hand the ball off to Pena who ran for 11 yards and a first down, which would clinch the win as the Orange got into victory formation to follow.
Syracuse's defeat of 6th-ranked Miami, 42-38, serves as their third win over a top-25 ranked team at the time of play this season, the other wins being at home versus the 23rd-ranked Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets and on the road against the 25th-ranked UNLV Rebels.
The victory moves the Orange to 9-3 on the season, 5-3 in Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) play, while the Hurricanes conclude the regular season at 10-2 overall and 6-2 in the ACC.
With their loss, Miami will not advance to the ACC Championship. Instead, the Clemson Tigers will face the SMU Mustangs.
McCord would finish the game 26-for-36 380 yards, three touchdowns, and no interceptions.
Pena led all Orange receivers with 128 yards on six catches, followed by Meeks with 110 yards on seven catches. Meeks had two touchdowns and Pena had one on the day.
Allen had 82 yards on 22 carries, with two touchdowns.
Lewis and Watson, as they did at the half, would lead Syracuse in total tackles for the game, each with six.
For Miami, Ward ended this match-up 25-for-36 for 349 yards, two touchdowns, and no interceptions.
Restrepo led all receivers on both teams with 148 yards, receiving the ball nine times, including one touchdown, followed by George with 121 yards on six catches.
Martinez had 84 yards on 10 carries, with one touchdown.
Mauigoa led all defenders for both teams with 13 total tackles on the day.
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