The Fran Brown Era had its first indelible moment as Syracuse outlasted a feisty UNLV squad on national television. The Orange took out the 25th ranked Rebels 44-41 in OT, here’s the good and the bad from Friday night.
Heroes:
LeQuint Allen. No one had a more impressive performance than the banged up running back. His left leg was clearly less than 100% and Allen dragged this team to victory. His goal line stampede in OT for the game-winner was one of the most incredible single-handed efforts of the season across college football. On a night where his was noticeably limping at times, Allen had 71 yards on the ground, 58 through the air, an insane four touchdowns, and the bulldozer moment of the night. Give the man every game ball you have.
Kyle McCord. SU’s triggerman under center threw an incredible 63 passes in the win, including some huge throws in the 2nd Half to keep the pressure on the UNLV defense. The Orange needed to go 75 yards in the final 2:30 to tie the game and send it to OT and McCord made it happen with his arm. Nearly the entire drive was on the shoulder of McCord and he delivered, eventually completing the drive to Jackson Meeks with 23 seconds left. The only yards in that final drive McCord didn’t account for was an 11-yard rush by Allen and the roughing penalty. He paid off on all the hype yet again.
National exposure. Few people across the college football landscape have noticed just how different the vibe of SU football is this season until now. Wins over Ohio and Holy Cross were expected and the heart-breaking loss to Stanford washed away the goodwill of beating Georgia Tech. Now SU has its signature moment of the first half of the season with a thrilling win at an NFL stadium on national TV.
Syracuse fans. They traveled for this game and helped push the number to UNLV’s third-highest attendance at Allegiant Stadium. Videos circulated on social media of SU fans chanting “Let’s Go Orange” at the casinos after the game.
Zeroes:
The secondary. Hajj-Malik Williams threw 21-25 for 227 yards in the loss, good enough for 9.1 yards per pass attempt. Compare that with McCord’s 5.6 yards per attempt. Williams was efficient and helped lead a 21-0 UNLV run in the 2nd quarter, then gave the Rebels a 38-31 lead late.
Special teams. A blocked punt touchdown for UNLV allowed the Rebels to tie the game after SU led 31-24 late in the third. The coverage was a complete debacle. It looked like any one of three different Rebels players could have blocked it. That’s five blocked kicks in the first five games of the season. Completely unacceptable.
