Kyle McCord passed for 385 yards and four touchdowns as Syracuse beat Holy Cross 42-14 on Saturday in Syracuse, N.Y.
It’s the fourth straight 300-yard passing game to open the season for McCord, who was 28 of 50 and also threw two interceptions. Jackson Meeks had 10 catches for a career-high 161 yards and a touchdown.
KingJoseph Edwards recorded three sacks for the Orange.
Joe Pesansky was 12-for-22 passing for 167 yards, a touchdown and an interception for Holy Cross. Max Mosey made five catches for 105 yards and a touchdown. Jacob Peterson added 48 receiving yards and a touchdown.
The Orange (3-1) have won 14 straight games against Holy Cross (1-4) for a 25-5 series record and are 22-0 all-time against FCS teams.
Holy Cross went three-and-out on its first three drives, while Syracuse scored touchdowns on its first three.
On its opening drive, Syracuse scored when McCord scrambled to his left and found a sliding Umari Hatcher in the end zone for a 7-yard touchdown catch and a 7-0 Syracuse lead.
McCord, an Ohio State transfer, hit Darrell Gill Jr. for a 23-yard touchdown and a 14-0 lead on the second Syracuse drive. And a 38-yard pass from McCord to Meeks gave Syracuse a 21-0 lead on the first play of the second quarter.
Holy Cross then rallied to score on consecutive possessions. Pesansky found Mosey wide open out of the slot for a 63-yard touchdown pass to make the score 21-7. After the Crusaders’ defense forced a three-and-out, Holy Cross reached into its bag of trick plays to make the score 21-14 in the second quarter.
Pesansky tossed the ball backward to running back Sam Slade, who drew in the Syracuse defense. Before he crossed the line of scrimmage, Slade threw a 28-yard touchdown pass to Peterson with 6:45 left in the second quarter.
After Syracuse forced Holy Cross to punt from its end zone, the Orange covered 54 yards in six plays and scored on a 4-yard touchdown pass from McCord to Trebor Pena for a 28-14 lead with 32 seconds left in the first half.
LeQuint Allen added a 1-yard touchdown run as time expired in the third quarter to give the Orange a 35-14 lead.
Syracuse took its largest lead of the day in the fourth quarter when defensive back Jayden Bellamy intercepted a Pesansky pass and returned it 33 yards for a touchdown and a 42-14 lead.
After four straight home games to open the season, the Orange will be away from the JMA Dome for the entire month of October and play three road games.
–Field Level Media
