Syracuse football uses full team effort in win over No. 23 Georgia Tech

What a difference an off-season can make. Syracuse football (2-0, 1-0 Atlantic Coast Conference) takes down No. 23 Georgia Tech (2-1, 1-1 Atlantic Coast Conference) 31-28 for the first conference win under new head coach Fran Brown.

Much of the hype early in this college football season has been surrounding Georgia Tech, and rightfully so. The Yellow Jackets took down 11th ranked Florida State to open up the season in Dublin, Ireland, and then came back to the U.S and took care of Georgia State comfortably. But when GT arrived at the JMA Wireless dome on Saturday morning, SU wasn’t having any of it.

“I didn’t even know that they were ranked,” said SU head coach Fran Brown when asked about playing a top 25 team. “Alright bet, that’s cool, just something else for us to go and get,” and his squad had the foot on the gas from the very start.

It only took until the 12:41 mark of the first quarter for Syracuse to draw first blood. Wide receiver Trebor Pena ran a wheel route from the 11 yard-line and extended out past the goal-line to put SU in front 7-0. Georgia Tech wasn’t fazed though, the Yellow Jackets marched right back down the field and quarterback Haynes King used his legs from 21 yards out to knot the score.

The second quarter started almost identical to the first. A seven play, 70 yard drive was capped off by an 11 yard Trebor Pena touchdown to put the ‘Cuse back in front 14-7. That touchdown was Pena’s fifth of the year which is already more than any SU receiver had all of last season.

Pena, who missed almost all of last year due to a hamstring injury said, “I’m just happy I'm able to contribute to this team… Just to be able to show what I can do means a lot.” The redshirt junior has played a huge role just two games into the season.

Later in the second quarter, SU tight end Oronde Gadsden had the chance to showcase what he can do as well. A 20 yard strike from quarterback Kyle McCord to Gadsden gave Syracuse a 21-7 lead but that didn’t last for too long. Just like the first frame, Yellow Jackets quarterback Haynes King rushed in a score to make it 21-14 heading into halftime.

@CuseFootball

Out of the break, it was time for the defense to shine. Syracuse forced Georgia Tech to punt on both of its possessions in the third quarter. Keep in mind, this is without star linebacker Marlowe Wax who is out for six weeks with a foot injury.

With just over two min gone in the fourth, the Yellow Jackets had the ball on their own 35 yard-line down by 10 and decided to go for it on fourth and one. So far this season, it’s been defensive back Fadill Diggs who’s stepped up huge for SU and it was no different on this play. The Texas A&M transfer broke up the Georgia Tech offensive line and took GT down running back Anthony Carrie in the back field.

SU quarterback Kyle McCord made sure this possession in enemy territory didn’t go to waste and found his tight end Oronde Gadsen once more for a touchdown. McCord ended the day with 381 yards and four touchdowns. The Ohio State transfer became the first ‘Cuse quarterback to throw for over 350 yards in each of his first two games with the program since 2012.

Georgia Tech didn’t go away easily though. The Yellow Jackets scored two touchdowns in the final six minutes. Sandwiched in between the scores was a successful onside kick recovery, but Syracuse did enough to hold on to the victory. 

After the game, Syracuse head coach Fran Brown said, “this game was very personal,” after some back and forth between himself and Georgia Tech head coach Brent Key leading up to the game. “When you play us just be quiet… Don’t give no ammo to me, if you give ammo to me I'm coming at you for it.”

Well Brown and the ‘Cuse used that ammo and turned it into a win. The Orange have a bye week coming up, but after that it’s a Friday night showdown with new ACC team Stanford in the dome. Gametime is set for 7:30 on September 20th, but first WAER will have you covered with Countdown to Kickoff at 7.