Although stay-at-home orders are still in place in many states, we’re going to take a trip down memory lane. After beginning the Fizz’s Top 3 series with the three best coaches and three best home wins, we continue today with the three best road wins. This article details number three, the silver medalist will be released on Friday, and the best road win in SU history will be named on Monday.
3. October 18th, 1992 – Graves Brawls and Beats West Virginia
Down 17-13 with under four minutes left in the fourth quarter, quarterback Marvin Graves and the Syracuse offense needed to engineer a touchdown drive to top the Mountaineers. But the drive instantly almost went south. After being pushed out of bounds at the SU 28 yard line by Tommy Orr, Graves flung the football at the WVU defensive back, and incited a bench-clearing melee. However, Lady Luck was on the SU side that day. The referees only ejected one Orange player, a backup lineman, and sent three of the Mountaineers’ defensive starters to the showers.
A couple plays later, the officials gave Syracuse another gift. On fourth down, Graves threw an incomplete pass in the direction of All-American tight end Chris Gedney, but the refs ruled pass interference, keeping the SU drive alive. Graves then ran for 14 yards, connected with Gedney for 38, and finally found the senior tight end in the back of the end zone to put the Orange up 20-14 and ultimately seal a Syracuse victory.
The game won’t be remembered for its first three quarters, but the final drive goes down as one of the luckiest finishes of all time.
