SU Falls Short at #19 Northwestern

Saturday, September 7

Evanston, IL

6:00 p.m.

Syracuse University

0-2

Northwestern

2-0

1st

2nd

3rd

4th

Syracuse

Northwestern

Photo by: Charles Wainwright

9/7/2013 9:28:00 PM | Football

Box Score

Final Stats | Photos | Postgame Notes | Quotes

EVANSTON, Ill. – Four different Syracuse players scored touchdowns in Syracuse's 48-27 loss at #19 Northewetern before 38,033 fans at Ryan Field. Jerome Smith, Kendall Moore, Prince-Tyson Gulley and Terrel Hunt each had touchdowns for SU (0-2). Ashton Broyld and Christopher Clark led the offense with a combined 13 catches for 128 yards. Broyld caught seven passes for 62 yards and Clark snagged six balls for 66 yards as both players had career receiving days. Smith led all SU rushers with 45 yards on 11 carries, and with his touchdown, he matched his rushing TD total from all of last season (3) in the first two games of 2013.

For Northwestern (2-0), Colter and Siemian combined to go 30-of-37 through the air for 375 yards and four touchdowns. Colter, who was injured last week at Cal, started and completed 15-of-18 passes for 116 yards and one touchdown. Siemian was 15-for-19 for 259 yards and three scores.

The Wildcats took an early 7-0 lead when Treyvon Green caught an eight-yard pass from Colter to cap the game's first possession. Colter completed all four of his passes on the drive as he marched Northwestern 75 yards in just 51 seconds. NU extended the lead to 10-0 with 3:15 remaining in the first quarter on a 32-yard field goal by Jeff Budzien.

Early in the second quarter, Siemian connected with Dan Vitale for a 20-yard yard touchdown to increase the NU lead to 17-0 with 12:38 remaining in the first half.

On the ensuing possession, Northwestern's Traveon Henry intercepted a long pass from Orange quarterback Drew Allen with just more than 11 minutes left to give the Wildcats possession on their own 46. Five plays later Budzien cashed in on the turnover, hitting a 21-yard field goal for a 20-0 Northwestern advantage.

Smith cut the lead to 20-7 as he found his way into the end zone on a three-yard rush with 6:29 left in the half, but Colter answered on Northwestern's next possession, scrambling for a 16-yard score to push the margin back to 20 points, 27-7. Late in the first half, the Wildcats took advantage of another Allen interception, scoring with two seconds left on a Siemian-to-Christian Jones pass to go up 34-7 at halftime.

On the first series of the second half, Syracuse marched 75 yards and Allen capped the drive by hitting Kendall Moore for his first career touchdown. Ross Krautman missed the extra point, ending his streak of 66 consecutive made PATs, and the score remained 34-13 with 12:32 left in the third.

In the fourth quarter, the two sides traded touchdowns. Siemian threw a 47-yard TD pass to Tony Jones. Gulley answered with a nine-yard dash to paydirt for Syracuse, closing the gap to 41-20. Another Treyvon Green touchdown with 5:18 to go in regulation gave the Wildcats a 48-20 advantage, and Hunt closed the game's scoring with a 15-yard touchdown run for the Orange with 2:49 left.

Allen finished the game 27-for-41 for 279 yards and one touchdown. He was intercepted four times. Hunt made his debut under center late in the fourth quarter and was 2-for-4 passing for 22 yards. He also ran three times for 30 yards, including his 15-yard TD run. Strong safety Durell Eskridge led the Orange defense with a career-high 10 tackles.

The Orange returns to action on Saturday, Sept. 14. Syracuse hosts Wagner in its home opener at 4 p.m. at the Carrier Dome. The game is available live nationally on ESPN3.