Recap: Defense Sparks Orange in 49-6 Victory at Duke

Saturday, November 16

Durham, NC

4 PM

Syracuse University

4-6 , 1-5

Duke

4-6 , 2-4

1st

2nd

3rd

4th

Syracuse

Duke

Recap: Defense Sparks Orange in 49-6 Victory at Duke

11/16/2019 7:23:00 PM | Football

Box Score Highlights Photo Gallery Dino Babers Press Conference Moe Neal Press Conference Kendall Coleman Press Conference Postgame Notes Quotes

DURHAM N.C. – The Syracuse defense forced three Duke turnovers in the third quarter that resulted in 21 points and the Orange (4-6, 1-5 ACC) went on to defeat the Blue Devils 49-6 at Wallace Wade Stadium on Saturday night.

The win gave Syracuse head coach Dino Babers a victory in his 100th career game as a collegiate head coach. It was also the Orange's first win in four tries against Duke (4-6, 2-4 ACC).

Sophomore safety Andre Cisco recorded his first career pick-six to start the turnover barrage and turn a 14-6 halftime lead into a 21-6 margin.

On the next Duke drive, cornerback Christopher Fredrick intercepted a pass that led to a Luke Benson touchdown. Syracuse cashed in again a little more than three minutes later when senior Moe Neal scored from two yards out following an Evan Foster fumble recovery. Neal's touchdown extended the Syracuse advantage to 35-6 and effectively put the game out of reach.

Neal and Jarveon Howard paced the offense with 115 rushing yards each. For Neal, it was his fourth career 100-yard rushing game, while Howard averaged 12.8 yards per rush on nine carries.

Linebacker Lakiem Williams led the defense with a team-high 14 tackles, including one sack. Foster logged 12 tackles and one pass breakup to go along with his fumble recovery.

QUOTABLE
"It was a really good effort by our young men. There was a celebration in there. It's just one game. It's one football game, but how important of a football game it was to us was extreme based on the things that had gone on in the last two weeks," head coach Dino Babers said. "I'm really excited for them. I'm really excited that they have the experience of winning again."

ORANGE STRIKE QUICKLY
Syracuse opened the game's scoring with touchdowns on its first two possessions. An 18-yard pass from Tommy DeVito to Trishton Jackson put the Orange on the board less than six minutes into the game. It was the ninth scoring connection between DeVito and Jackson this season. The four-play, 74-yard drive took 1:36 and included a 50-yard reception by Jackson.

DeVito scored the second Orange touchdown on a 1-yard run with 3:37 left in the opening quarter. It was his second rushing touchdown of the season. Neal sparked the Orange during the series, running for 80 yards on the nine-play march, including converting a fourth-and-1 to keep the drive alive.

BLUE DEVILS CLOSE THE GAP
Duke placekicker AJ Reed kicked two field goals in the second quarter, including a 51-yard boot with 22 seconds remaining before halftime, to make the score 14-6 at the intermission.

SYRACUSE SLAMS THE DOOR
Cisco's interception of Duke quarterback Quentin Harris at the start of the third quarter was his 10th career pick and resulted in his first career touchdown. The last time a Syracuse player scored a touchdown on an interception return was Evan Foster against Central Michigan in 2017.

The Orange offense took advantage of the Fredrick interception with a six-play, 42-yard scoring drive to increase the lead to 28-6 with 7:54 left in the period. DeVito hooked up with Benson for a 22-yard touchdown up the right sideline. It was the second TD reception of the year for the true freshman tight end.

After linebacker Andrew Armstrong ripped the ball away from running back Mataeo Durant on Duke's next series, Foster picked it up and rumbled 27 yards to the Duke 15-yard line. The Orange once again made the most of the opportunity, turning to Neal and giving the senior the ball four straight times to cover the 15 yards needed to find the end zone.

Howard and Jawhar Jordan tacked on touchdowns in the fourth quarter. Howard scored on a 28-yard run to make the score 42-6. Jordan hit paydirt for the first time in his career from seven yards out to close the scoring and end Syracuse's four-game losing streak.

OF NOTE

The 43-point margin of victory was Syracuse's largest ever in an ACC game and most versus an FBS opponent since a 63-7 triumph over Buffalo on Sept. 2, 2000.
Syracuse was whistled for a season-low four penalties for 39 yards.
With his touchdown catch, Trishton Jackson tied Rob Moore (1989) and Kevin Johnson (1998) for fifth on the Orange's single-season list with nine TD receptions in 2019.
The Orange held the Blue Devils to 279 yards of offense on 85 plays, an average of 3.3 yards per play.
Defensive tackle McKinley Williams made his season debut against the Blue Devils. Williams missed the first nine games of the year because of a foot injury he suffered in preseason camp. Williams finished the game with three tackles, including half a sack.
DeVito accounted for three touchdowns and was 6-for-15 through the air for 105 yards and two scores. In the process, he extended his streak of consecutive pass attempts without an interception to 146. The streak is the third-longest in school history.

UP NEXT
Syracuse travels to Louisville on Saturday, Nov. 23 for its penultimate regular-season game. The Orange and Cardinals square off at 4 p.m. on ACC Network.

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