Orange Winning Streak Comes To An End

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SYRACUSE, N.Y. - The Orange (4-2, 1-1) saw its three-game winning streak come to an end on Saturday, Oct. 16 with a 45-14 loss to Pittsburgh (3-3, 1-0) at the Carrier Dome.Orange quarterback Ryan Nassib established career highs in completions and attempts against the Panthers. He completed 25-of-46 passes for 231 yards and a touchdown. Nassib's 25 completions tied for second on the school's single-game record list. His 46 passing attempts tied for the third-most by an SU signal caller in one game.

Senior running back Delone Carter led the Syracuse ground game with 38 yards on 13 carries and a touchdown. His first-quarter score was the 21st rushing touchdown of his career, tying him with Malcolm Thomas for ninth on the Orange's career list.

The Panthers grabbed an early 7-0 lead scoring on their first offensive play, a screen pass to Devin Street that resulted in a 79-yard touchdown. Syracuse absorbed Pitt's quick-scoring strike and responded with a 10-play, 83-yard touchdown march on its ensuing drive to tie the game at 7-7 with 8:59 left in the first quarter.

The drive's key play was a 41-yard completion from Nassib to Alec Lemon who laid out to make a spectacular catch along the sideline. Five plays later, Carter punched it in from a yard out to even the score.

The Panthers took advantage of a short field late in the first quarter to regain the advantage, 14-7. Cameron Saddler returned a punt 31 yards to the SU 22-yard line to set up the Pitt offense and quarterback Tino Sunseri found Ray Graham for a 15-yard touchdown with 23 seconds remaining in the opening period.

The Panthers extended their lead to 21-7 at the 9:39 mark of the second quarter when Sunseri converted a 3rd-and-10 by hooking up with Mike Shanahan for a 30-yard score. A one-yard TD run by Dion Lewis with 3:18 left in the half pushed the margin to 28-7 at halftime.

In the second half, Pitt did it with defense as Ricky Gary thwarted the Orange's first drive of the third quarter, returning an interception 80 yards for a 35-7 Pitt lead.

SU scored again, this time on a Nassib touchdown pass to Van Chew at the 13:07 mark of the fourth quarter. A Pittsburgh field goal and touchdown produced the final score.

Lemon led the SU receiving corps with eight catches for 108 yards. It was his second career 100-yard receiving game. Linebacker Doug Hogue paced the Orange defense with a career-high 12 tackles in the contest, including 1.5 for a loss. Seven of his stops were solo.

Syracuse continues BIG EAST play next weekend at #25 West Virginia. Kickoff is scheduled for 12 p.m. at Milan Puskar Stadium on Saturday, Oct. 23 in Morgantown. The game will be televised on ESPN2.

Syracuse University Athletics

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