Once again, Syracuse put a game on the shoulders of Kyle McCord and the senior quarterback responded by directing an efficient attack that produced a 24-17 road win over North Carolina State. McCord completed 31-of-42 passes for 346 yards and a pair of touchdowns in leading the Orange (5-1, 2-1 ACC) to victory.

The SU defense had a productive night, forcing a season-best three turnovers by the Wolfpack (3-4, 0-3), including notching their first two fumble recoveries of the season. Each of those turnovers was converted into a touchdown by the Syracuse offense, accounting for 21 of the team’s 24 points.

The Orange ground out a 16-play opening drive that ate up almost seven minutes, but bogged down and settled for a 32-yard field goal from Jayden Oh and a 3-0 lead. The Wolfpack had a chance to answer on their opening possession, but missed their attempt at three.

Things became interesting for SU on fourth down after that. Their second drive ended by turning it over on downs after failing to convert a 4th-and-5 at the Wolfpack 19. After the Syracuse defense forced a quick punt to get the ball back, Oh ended the drive by pushing a 43-yard field goal attempt from the center of the field outside the left upright, keeping the score 3-0 midway through the second quarter.

Derek McDonald ended the next N.C. State drive by forcing a fumble that Justin Barron pounced on at the Orange 17. This time, the SU offense made it pay off when Umari Hatcher made a terrific adjustment on an underthrown pass in the end zone for a 28-yard touchdown. Oh’s kick made it a 10-0 game with 2:33 left in the first half.

That proved to be more than enough time for the hosts, who took advantage of a penalty on a short field goal to take three points off the scoreboard to eventually replace them with a seven with a touchdown pass. Syracuse held that 10-7 lead to intermission.

The Wolfpack looked primed to take the lead coming out of the half, but once they reached the outskirts of the red zone, Devin Grant forced a fumble on a sack and David Omopariola recovered for the Orange. The SU offense cashed in the turnover with a touchdown, breaking through when several teammates helped LeQuint Allen push into the end zone for a four-yard score. Oh tacked on the conversion to stretch the lead to 17-7 with under seven minutes left in the third quarter.

North Carolina State looked to get back into the game, but a pass of a wide receiver’s hands came right to Justin Barron, who gathered it and took off for a 41-yard return. Eight plays later, McCord put a fastball on Jackson Meeks for a two-yard touchdown pass on fourth-and-goal. The extra point made it 24-7, Syracuse, with 10:20 remaining.

Under a minute later, the Wolfpack struck back for a 75-yard touchdown where the receiver appeared to step out of bounds before catching the pass. In any case, the lead was sliced to 24-14 with 9:31 to play.

The Orange chewed up over six minutes of time on the following drive, but again turned it over on downs inside the ten. N.C.State quickly flipped the field, but settled for a field goal with 1:32 left, clipping the SU lead to 24-17.

While he had 11 receptions for 116 yards and a score, Meeks’ biggest catch of the game was when he came down with the ensuing offside kick, enabling SU to run out the clock.

Meeks was joined by a couple other receivers in posting big statistical lines. Trebor Pena had eight receptions for 75 yards and Oronde Gadsden II had six grabs for 74 yards.

Justin Barron had a productive all-around game for the defense, leading the unit with eight tackles, including a pair for loss, one of which was a sack, an interception and a pass breakup. Devin Grant forced a fumble and had a sack while Derek McDonald also forced a fumble.

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