SYRACUSE, N.Y. — Three second-half turnovers prevented the Syracuse Orange from capitalizing on promising offensive drives against the Louisville Cardinals. A record day from Umari Hatcher wasn’t enough to carry the Orange to victory as the Cardinals won 34-26. Hatcher’s 224 receiving yards was the fifth most in a single game in Syracuse history.
The Syracuse defense started the game off on the right foot. Linebacker Chris D’Appolonia immediately set the tone by dropping star Louisville running back Isaac
Brown in the backfield for a two-yard loss. Good coverage by Davien Kerr and Chris Peal, still playing safety, forced a three-and-out from the Cardinals.
Syracuse started the game with Malachi Nelson at quarterback. He was questionable throughout the week after a collarbone issue that forced him to miss the end of the Virginia game. He immediately connected down the right sideline to Umari Hatcher, who scampered down the field for a 65-yard reception that set up the Orange at the Cardinals 10-yard line.
However, red zone issues continued to plague the Orange. After a good rush from Tylik Hill, Syracuse elected to put true freshman QB Zaid Lott in to execute a QB run. The play went nowhere and Nelson couldn’t connect with Daunte Bacheyie on 3rd down. Shay Barker did hit the 33-yard field goal to give the Orange the first points of the game.
Momentum quickly shifted thanks to Kerr. After a Louisville first down, Kerr jumped a route in the middle of the field and picked off Cardinals quarterback Lincoln Kienholz. It was Kerr’s second interception of the season and sixth of his Syracuse career.
Nelson repaid Kerr’s work quickly. He, once again, found Hatcher behind the Louisville defense and unleashed his cannon down the right sideline. Hatcher caught the ball in stride and waltzed into the end zone, untouched for a 41-yard touchdown. Syracuse quickly took a 10-0 lead.
It took less than three minutes for Louisville to immediately respond. Cardinals wide receiver Treyshun Hurry found a huge soft spot in the Orange zone down the right sideline. He quickly found open space to scramble forward for 35 yards. Two plays later, Cardinals wide receiver Lawayne McCoy beat his man on a deep crossing route for a 40 yard catch to set up Louisville at the five. Cardinals backup running back Keyjuan Brown did the rest to get the touchdown back for Louisville.
Syracuse stalled at midfield on offense on its ensuing drive. The defense looked to shut down the Cardinals after an excellent punt backed up Louisville inside its own 20. However, on third down, Kienholz evaded Orange defenders and no one came up with a tackle as the Cardinals QB found daylight down the right sideline. He entered the end zone 82 yards later untouched as Louisville took a 14-10 lead.
The second quarter started with a bang. Former five-star recruit Calvin Russell III, playing his first game at the JMA Wireless Dome after Achilles surgery six-and-a-half months ago, injected life into the crowd. Nelson found him free in the right corner of the end zone after a switch route. Russell burned his defender for a 24-yard touchdown. It was Russell’s first touchdown of his college career. Barker missed the extra point after a penalty to make the score Syracuse 16-14 just seconds into the second quarter.
Another chunk play gave the Cardinals momentum and life to score. On third down, Cardinals receiver Tre Richardson got behind Kerr for a big 48-yard catch. Louisville marched down the field with good field position to find the end zone. Kienholz punched the ball in from the one for his second rushing touchdown of the game. Louisville led 21-16.
Syracuse continued to pile on the pressure with its most complete drive of the game. The Orange marched down the field on 15 plays, going 88 yards into the end zone. In a first half highlighted by offense and not much defense, Ahmad Miller was the latest player to taste the end zone with a 20-yard rushing score. Syracuse retook the lead, 23-21.
The Orange defense continued to struggle containing the big plays. On the next drive, Louisville converted multiple 3rd-and-longs to extend the drive. Then, Isaac Brown made Syracuse safety Ziyyon Bredell miss an open field tackle after a checkdown to the flat. Brown ran cleanly into the end zone for a 46-yard score and Louisville took a 28-23 lead.
That would be the score heading into halftime as neither team showed any sign of slowing down the opposing offense. Both teams combined for 669 yards of total offense in the first half, the most between ACC opponents since 2022. Louisville had 367 yards, while Syracuse had 302. Hatcher had five catches and caught 151 of Nelson’s 218 first-half passing yards. Keinholz had 237 passing yards on just 10 completions. Louisville converted six of its seven third down chances.
After the teams traded three-and-outs to start the second half, Syracuse built momentum through Hatcher. He caught three consecutive passes to help the Orange enter the red zone. However, on a third down from the Louisville 5-yard line, Nelson and Hill fumbled the transfer on a handoff. The Cardinals recovered to immediately end a 10 play, 58 yard drive that Syracuse built up.
Luckily for the Orange, the defense continued to show signs of life. After a false start put Louisville behind the chains, Kienholz tried to find Richardson behind the Orange defense again. This time, Kerr kept pace with Richardson and made an impressive mid-air adjustment to take the ball away. It was Kerr’s second interception of the game, his third of the season and seventh of his Orange career.
Unfortunately for Syracuse, Nelson gave the ball right back to Louisville. After a sack, Nelson wanted Justus Ross-Simmons on a corner route. However, Nelson badly overthrew him. The only player close to the ball was wearing white. Cardinals safety Kaleb Beasley easily tracked down the ball and recorded the pick to give the ball right back to Louisville.
Syracuse’s defense continued to hold strong. After hemorrhaging big plays in the first half, the Orange defense limited Louisville to 10 yards of offense in the second half. Syracuse prevented the Cardinals from converting all four of their third down attempts. The score remained Louisville 28-23 as the third quarter ended.
A familiar issue rose again for the Orange as the fourth quarter arrived. A nine play, 47 yard drive got Syracuse all the way to the Louisville six-yard line. However, the Orange couldn’t punch the ball in for a touchdown and faced 4th-and-5. Brown elected to kick the ball and Barker hit the 24-yard attempt to trim the deficit to two. Louisville still led 28-26.
The Syracuse defense continued to hold Louisville at bay, aided by a sack from Kerr to continue his impressive game. However, Nelson gave the ball right back to the Cardinals. In the middle of the field, Nelson failed to see Cardinals linebacker Stanquan Clark sitting in zone coverage. Clark tipped the ball and Cardinals linebacker Cam White snagged the loose ball out of the air. It was Nelson’s second interception of the game.
Another chunk play gave Louisville the momentum it needed to finally find the end zone in the second half. Nazir Ward wanted to jump a quick dig route on the outside. However, he missed Jackson Voth and he ran up the sideline for 27 yards. The Cardinals eventually gave the ball back to Keyjuan Brown, who ran around the outside of the tackles to the left for an easy score. Fortunately for Syracuse, Cardinals kicker Carson Hilbert missed the ensuing extra point to keep the game within one-possession. Louisville led 34-26 with 7:34 on the clock left, and some of the Dome faithful started to head for the exits.
Syracuse once again reached the red zone on the ensuing drive, but the Orange quickly stalled out afterwards. The rushing of Ahmad Miller did the brunt of the work to get Syracuse to the Louisville 19-yard line. However, a holding call on Trevion Mack allowed two straight sacks to occur, stalling out the Orange.
After Syracuse held Louisville to a three-and-out, Syracuse quarterback Danny Lauter entered the game to try and lead a game-saving drive with 1:50 left in the 4th quarter. However, Syracuse couldn’t convert a fourth down at midfield and turned the ball over on downs to end the game.
Hatcher finished the game with 13 catches for 224 yards and a touchdown. He became the seventh player in Syracuse history to record a 200-yard receiving game. Miller had 18 carries for 123 yards. Nelson had 315 yards of passing and two touchdowns but also had the two interceptions. Kienholz for Louisville had 310 yards of passing and two interceptions as well.
Syracuse’s next game is on the road at North Carolina on Saturday, October 24. Kick off at Chapel Hill is set for 7:30. The next Orange home game is on Saturday, October 31 as Syracuse hosts SMU.
