'Cuse Blanks Wake Forest, 13-0

Saturday, November 2

Syracuse, NY

12:30 p.m.

Syracuse University

4-4 , 2-2

Wake Forest

4-5 , 2-4

1st

2nd

3rd

4th

Wake Forest

Syracuse

The Orange defense posted its second shutout of the season Saturday versus Wake Forest.

Photo by: Charles Wainwright

11/2/2013 5:52:00 PM | Football

Box Score

Box Score | Notes | Photos | Coach Shafer Quotes | Player Quotes | Wake Forest Quotes
Video: Highlights | Coach Shafer Press Conference | Estime/Johnson/Hunt

SYRACUSE, N.Y. -- Syracuse (4-4, 2-2 ACC) scored two third-quarter touchdowns and received a tremendous effort from its defense to defeat Wake Forest (4-5, 2-4 ACC), 13-0, on Saturday afternoon in the Carrier Dome. The shutout is the second for the Orange this year, marking the first time since1997 SU has blanked two opponents in the same season.

SU quarterback Terrel Hunt completed 18 of his 30 passing attempts for 143 yards. He also rushed for 36 yards and scored the game's first touchdown on a six-yard run.

Brisly Estime was Hunt's top target. The freshman made his first career start and set personal bests for receptions (9) and yards (62). He also caught his first touchdown on a reverse-pass from wide receiver Jarrod West.

Prince-Tyson Gulley paced the the Syracuse ground attack with 85 yards on 13 attempts, including a career-long tying 67-yard run. Jerome Smith ran for 62 yards on 17 carries.

Defensively, the Orange held the Demon Deacons to 198 total yards (51 in the second half) on 73 plays (2.7 yards per play). Syracuse forced 12 Wake Forest punts, one shy of the Orange opponent record set by Holy Cross in 1968, and the Demon Deacons were a dismal 4-for-18 (.222) on third down.

Cameron Lynch, Jay Bromley and Durell Eskridge led the defense with five tackles each. Bromley had two sacks to record his third multi-sack game fo the year.

True freshman Isaiah Johnson recorded a sack and intercepted his first pass to set up SU's second touchdown. Johnson finished with two tackles.

For Wake Forest, quarterback Tanner Price completed 22-of-54 passes for 173 yards, no touchdowns and one interception. He was sacked twice and hurried six times by the Orange's aggressive defense. Ten of Price's completions went to Sherman Ragland III, who finished with a game-high 91 receiving yards.

Syracuse limited Wake Forest star receiver Michael Campanaro to two receptions for 11 yards. Campanaro, who entered the game fourth the nation in receptions per game (9.3), left with an injury in the first half and did not return.

After a scoreless first two quarters, SU broke the ice on the opening drive of the second half. West made a 15-yard catch to set up the Orange on Wake's one-yard line. After a false start pushed SU back to the six, Hunt dove into the end zone on a quarterback keeper to put the hosts on top, 6-0, with 8:58 left in the third, capping a 14-play drive. Jonathan Fisher added the first extra point of his career to make it 7-0 Orange.

Later in the quarter, Johnson batted a Price pass up in the air and made a diving interception at the Wake Forest 25. On the very next play, Hunt handed off to Gulley, running left. He flipped it to West and the junior receiver launched a pass to Estime who was wide open in the corner of the end zone. Fisher's PAT was blocked and the score remained 13-0.

The Orange defense did the rest, holding Wake to a total of four first downs on its final five possessions to seal the victory and improve to 3-1 at home this season.

Syracuse is back in action next week when it heads to Maryland to take on the Terps Saturday, Nov. 9 at Byrd Stadium. Kickoff is slated for 3:30 p.m. on the ACC Regional Sports Networks (RSN).