Kyle McCord leads Syracuse to first eight-win regular season in six years with win over UConn

Updated Nov. 23, 2024 5:32 p.m. ET

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SYRACUSE, N.Y. (AP) — Kyle McCord threw for a career-high 470 yards with two touchdowns to lead Syracuse to a 31-24 win over UConn on Saturday.

The win gives the Orange (8-3) their first eight-win regular season since 2018, and third since 2000.

“We knew they would play all the way through the fourth quarter, and we thought it’d be a fourth-quarter game,” Syracuse coach Fran Brown said. “So, it’s just what we talked about the entire week and we didn’t take it lightly.”

McCord completed 37-of-47 passes for his first 400-yard game this season. He opened the game with a 77-yard touchdown drive, spanning two plays in 50 seconds. The touchdown came on a 22-yard pass to Oronde Gadsden.

McCord broke Syracuse’s all-time record for single-season passing yards with 4:12 remaining in the first half. He needed 273 yards to pass Nassib, and finished the game against the Huskies with 3,946 passing yards. The former quarterback set his record in 2012, recording 3,749 passing yards during his senior year.

McCord also tied Nassib’s record for single-season touchdown passes with 26, with his second touchdown pass on the same play as the yardage record.

“I got a standard of what the quarterback needs to look like being here,” Brown said. "Not necessarily statistically and all those things, because that’s hard, but just in reference to how you prepare.”

The Orange missed two field goals and had two touchdowns called back that allowed the Huskies offense a chance to tie the game in the fourth quarter. After a 2-yard passing touchdown by quarterback Joe Fagnano left UConn trailing back one score, Syracuse recovered the Huskies’ onside kick attempt to end the game.

UConn (7-4) will finish its season without a Power Four win after staying within two touchdowns of the Orange for all 60 minutes. The Huskies have ended each of their four Power Four games within one score of their opponent.

“They’re disappointed as hell, and they should be,” UConn coach Jim Mora said. “But we have to get over that, and we have to figure out what we can do better and apply those lessons going forward and prepare to get a win next week.”

Cam Edwards led UConn on the ground with 87 rushing yards, including a 71-yard touchdown dash in the first quarter. Fagnano finished the game with 228 passing yards and two touchdowns.

The takeaway

UConn: Linebacker Jayden McDonald recorded a second-best 12 tackles, including a sack and tackle-for-loss. McDonald was the one of three Huskies to reach McCord for a sack.

Syracuse: Eight receivers caught passes, with three recording over 100 yards each. Wide receivers Darrell Gill Jr. (177 yards) and Jackson Meeks (110) and tight end Oronde Gadsden (103 and a touchdown) combined for 390 receiving yards. Syracuse had 540 total yards to UConn’s 352.

Didn’t move the chains

UConn’s offense was 5-of-15 on third down conversions against the Orange defense. The Huskies didn’t get their first third down conversion until the second quarter, after the Orange had already taken a 14-7 lead.

A battle of the quarterbacks ahead

McCord faces off against Miami’s Cameron Ward for Syracuse’s final game of the regular season. They are the two leading passers in FBS and sit atop the ACC in total offense.

Up next

UConn: Visits Massachusetts on Saturday

Syracuse: Hosts No. 11 Miami on Saturday

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