Orange Rally Comes Up Short to Louisville

Saturday, October 17

Syracuse, N.Y.

7:30 PM

Syracuse University

2-4 , 0-4

Louisville

4-3 , 3-2

Team	1st	2nd	3rd	4th	Final F
Louisville	14	14	0	6	34
Syracuse	10	13	0	3	26

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10/17/2026 11:17:00 PM | Football

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After combining for nearly 700 yards of offense in the first half, Syracuse football fell in a grind-it-out second half, dropping a 34-26 decision to ACC foe Louisville on Saturday night at the JMA Wireless Dome.

Umari Hatcher had 13 catches for 224 yards and a touchdown for Syracuse (2-4, 0-4 ACC). It was the fifth-most receiving yards for a Syracuse player in a single game and the eighth game over 200 yard in program history. Malachi Nelson completed 26 of 39 passes for 315 yards and two touchdowns, with two interceptions. Ahmad Miller ran for 123 yards and a touchdown on 18 carries.

Defensively, Chris D'Appolonia had 12 tackles, including a late 11-yard sack. Davien Kerr finished with five tackles, a sack, two interceptions and a pass breakup.

Lincoln Kienholz led Louisville (4-3, 3-2 ACC) with 310 passing yards and a touchdown. He added 53 rushing yards and two scores on the ground. Lawayne McCoy caught five passes for 93 yards.

The Orange return to the road for a showdown at North Carolina on Saturday, Oct. 24, with kickoff slated for 7:30 p.m. on ACC Network. Syracuse is back at the JMA Wireless Dome on Halloween to host No. 24 SMU. Tickets are available at Cuse.com/tickets.

The Orange defense got off to a strong start, as Chris D'Appolonia dropped Isaac Brown for a 2-yard loss. The Cardinals tried back-to-back passing plays, the first skipping off the turf of Ernie Davis Legends Field, with the second nearly picked off by Chris Peal at midfield.

Syracuse got its offense humming early after the 3-and-out as Nelson connected with leading receiver Umari Hatcher for 65 yards down the right side, the longest play of the season for the Orange. Hatcher was dragged down at the 10-yard line. The Orange could not find pay dirt, however. Shay Barker booted through a 26-yard field goal for the first Syracuse points at the Dome since Sept. 12 as the Orange returned home for the first time in over a month.

In its second time on the field, the defense came up with an interception. Davien Kerr picked off Kienholz at midfield, setting Syracuse up on the Louisville 43-yard line. Two plays later, Nelson hit Hatcher for a 41-yard touchdown, Hatcher's 14th career touchdown, moving him to a three-way tie for 11th all-time at Syracuse. Hatcher had 106 yards on just two catches six and a half minutes into the game.

The Cardinals answered back to make it a 10-7 Orange lead on a quick-striking 5-play, 89-yard drive. Kienholz hit Treyshun Hurry and McCoy for two plays of 35-yards and 40-yards, respectively, before Keyjuan Brown scored a rushing touchdown from 5-yards out. The drive took just 2 minutes and 34 seconds off the clock.

After picking up a first down on a Louisville holding penalty, the Orange drive stalled and forced the first Syracuse punt of the game. The Cardinals made good on the change of possession, ending with an 82-yard run from Kienholz out of the pocket, putting Louisville ahead 14-10 with 2:19 left in the first.

Syracuse got its rushing game going late in the first as Ahmad Miller ripped off a 39-yard run right through the middle of the field. Hatcher caught a 20-yard pass for a second-straight first down, effectively ending the first quarter. One play into the second quarter on a 3rd-and-15, Nelson hit Calvin Russell III with a back shoulder fade for another touchdown. Syracuse went back up 16-14 after an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty backed up the PAT unit and the try faded to the right.

Louisville marched down the field for 94 yards in 10 plays, the longest drive of the night to that point, using over five minutes. Kienholz connected with Tre Richardson for 48 yards, getting the Cardinals deep in Syracuse territory. Six plays later, Kienholz scored his second rushing touchdown of the night to put the visitors up 21-16 with nine and a half minutes to play in the half.

Syracuse regained the lead 23-21 on a 15-play, six and a half minute drive across 88 yards. Nelson and Hatcher connected again for 16 yards in the middle of the drive before Nelson hit Daunte Bacheyie for another 10. On 4th-and-1 to go, Syracuse got three from Miller up the middle to keep the drive alive. Three plays later, Syracuse was in another 4th-down situation, but needing eight yards. Nelson got the Cardinals to jump offsides with a hard count, making it 4th-and-3. Nelson then hit Noah Meyers for 10 yards, setting up a 20-yard run for Miller to pay dirt.

The track meet continued as Louisville scored on an 8-play, 75-yard drive. Keyjuan Brown took a rush to the left for 20 yards before Kienholz hit Isaac Brown in stride for a 46-yard touchdown for the fifth lead change of the night as Louisville took a 28-23 lead with 28 seconds left in the half. The two teams accounted for nearly 700 combined yards of offense in the first half alone, Louisville with 367 and Syracuse with 302.

After just three total punts in the first half, the two teams traded three-and-outs to open the second half of play. On its second possession, Syracuse was clicking on offense, with Nelson and Hatcher connecting on three straight plays. But down inside the 10-yard line, Nelson fumbled the ball and the Cardinals recovered, taking over near the midway point of the third. It was the first lost fumble for Syracuse since week 10 of the 2025 season.

Davien Kerr bailed out the turnover, coming up with his second interception of the game. Kerr is the first Syracuse player with two interceptions in the same game since Sept. 8 2018 against Wagner at the Dome. But the offensive series was short lived as Nelson was picked off two plays later at the Cardinals' 17-yard line.

Once again the defense stood tall and forced a Louisville punt just four plays later. It was again Kerr making the deciding play on defense, knocking down a potential first-down pass as the Orange took the ball back with 2:52 to go in the third.

Punting continued for both sides as the teams traded punts for a third-straight drive as Louisville continued its 28-23 lead into the fourth quarter. On the final play of the third quarter, Nelson hit Hatcher for his 10th catch to go over 200 yards on the day.

It took until the 12:45 mark of the fourth quarter before the scoreboard changed as Barker hit a 24-yard field goal to make it a two-point game at 28-26 Louisville. Midway through the drive, Nelson came out for one play with Danny Lauter coming in relief. Lauter missed his lone pass attempt, but took a late hit and drew a 15-yard penalty to keep the offense on the field. The first scoring drive of the half covered 47 yards in three minutes across nine plays.

The Orange defense surrendered just five yards on the next series. Davien Kerr dropped Kienholz for a loss of seven before a 12-yard completion to Hurry. On third down, Peal stuck his arm out and knocked down a pass and pushed Louisville into its fourth punt of the half.

A costly interception on the next Syracuse drive led to a Louisville touchdown to extend its lead to 34-26 after a missed PAT. Kienholz connected with Jackson Voth on the left side before another strike to McCoy got Louisville to the Syracuse 5 yard line. Brown ran to the left and scored, but Carson Hilbert's kick went left, keeping it a one-score game.

After getting into the red zone, the Orange took two sacks totaling 12 yards, pushing Syracuse out of field goal range. The second sack was on fourth down and resulted in a turnover on downs near midfield.

Late in the fourth and down 34-26, Syracuse's defense stepped in again as D'Appolonia came up with an 11-yard sack on third down and drove the Cardinals back and forced the punt. It was the second loss of yards on the drive with Tunmise Adeleye getting a six-yard tackle for loss.

Lauter came in on the final Orange series, completing three passes but the final Syracuse play came up a yard short of the first down marker and led to a turnover on downs and a 34-26 final.