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FOOTBALL

Before Their Game Saturday In Raleigh NC State, Syracuse Were On The Same End Of Spectrum! After They Were On Opposite Ends Of The Spectrum!

Before their game Saturday in North Carolina’s state capital NC State, Syracuse were on the same end of the spectrum!

Why?

Because heading into the game NC State, Syracuse were looking to bounce back when they opposed one another yesterday in North Carolina’s state capital!

Why?

Because they lost their previous games to Wake Forest, Louisville!

Where?

Winston-Salem North Carolina, Louisville Kentucky on the gridiron!

NC State lost to Wake Forest 45-42!

Syracuse lost Lousville 41-3!

When?

A week ago Saturday!

NC State, Syracuse are both members of the Atlantic Division of the Atlantic Coast Conference!

This week NC State is ranked 20th in this weeks AP Top 25 poll while Syracuse isn’t ranked!

NC State comes into the game with a record of 7-3 while they’re 4-2 in the Atlantic Coast Conference, third in the standings!

Why?

Because as NC State lost to Wake Forest 45-42 in Winston -Salem!

In NC State’s loss to Wake Forest who like them is a member of the Atlantic Division of the Atlantic Coast Conference Devin Leary threw for a career-high 408 yards with four TD passes, while WRs Emeka Emezie (133) and Devin Carter (132) both went over 100 yards and both had a pair of TD grabs. After the Pack defense forced a Wake three-and-out on the opening possession, the Pack went 67 yards and Christopher Dunn's 28-yard field goal was the first score of the game. The highlight of the drive was a Leary to Carter 54-yard pass down the sideline. Wake struck with the first TD of the game, from 24 yards out midway through the first quarter. A 47-yard field goal made the score 7-6 after the first quarter. On the second play of the second quarter, Wake added a 1-yard TD rush. The Demon Deacons struck again after taking over at the Pack five-yard line after a fumble recovery to push the lead to 21-6. On the ensuing kickoff, Zonovan Knight returned the kickoff 72 yards to set up the Pack deep in Wake territory. On the very next play, Leary found Emezie from 28 yards out. Just 1:19 later, the Pack struck again with a late drive. With no timeouts, the Pack went 58 yards in five plays as Leary found Devin Carter from 21 yards out. A 45-yard Wake field goal as the half expired gave the Demon Deacons a 24-20 halftime lead. On the opening kickoff of the second half, Knight took the ball out from his own end zone and went 100 yards for a special teams score to give the Pack its first lead since its opening drive, 27-24. The lead didn't last long, as Wake had a five yard TD run to retake the lead. The 31-27 score line led the teams into the fourth quarter. Wake added another score early in the fourth with a four-yard TD pass. The Pack made it a one-score game midway through the fourth quarter, as Leary found Emezie from 13 yards out. After a two-point conversion, the lead was trimmed to 38-35 with 8:07 left. A 4-yard Wake TD pushed the game back to a two-score game, but NC State once again answered with a second Leary to Carter TD to make it 45-42 with 45 seconds left, but the Pack could not recover the onside kick.

“according to an article on gopack.com”

Syracuse lost Louisville 41-3 in Louisville Kentucky!

In Syracuse’s 41-3 loss to Louisville Syracuse (5-5, 2-4 ACC) was held without a touchdown for the first time this season while host Louisville (5-5, 3-4 ACC) found the end zone on each of its first four possession in an eventual, 41-3 victory, for the Cards on Saturday.

Louisville quarterback Malik Cunningham completed 13-of-18 passes for 209 yards and four touchdowns and ran seven times for 19 yards and another touchdown to lead the Cardinals past 'Cuse.Orange running back Sean Tucker surpassed 1,300 yards rushing on the season after carrying 19 times for 95 yards. Tucker passed Walter Reyes (1,347) on the Syracuse season rushing yards list and now trails only school record-holder Joe Morris (1,372). Tucker finished the afternoon with 1,362 yards on the campaign.Cunningham got the Cards on the board first with a six-yard scamper into the end zone to cap the host's first possession. Syracuse retaliated on its next drive, advancing 50 yards to the Louisville 25 before settling for a 43-yard field goal by Andre Szmyt. The 3-pointer was the 64th of Szmyt's career and extended his school standard.Cunningham went right to work, engineering three consecutive drives that ended with touchdown passes. He connected with Tyrell Harrell for 33 yards, Ahmari Huggins-Bruce for six yards and with Jordan Watkins for 41 yards on scoring throws that upped the Cardinal advantage to 28-3 with 8:19 to go in the first half.After the Orange and the Cardinals traded scoreless possessions, Cunningham threw a 17-yard touchdown pass to Huggins-Bruce that put Louisville ahead 35-3 heading into the intermission.Louisville padded its lead on the first drive of the second half. The Syracuse halted a Cardinal advance that reached the Orange 16 and James Turner kicked a 33-yard field goal. Syracuse put together its longest march of the contest when it had its first chance of the second half. Quarterback Garrett Shrader had a 20 yard run and Tucker had back-to-back rushes of four and 10 yards that provided Syracuse with a first-and-goal from the Louisville nine. Shrader completed a six-yard pass to Devaughn Cooper and then kept for one yard. Facing third-and-two at the Cardinal two, Shrader tried back-to-back keepers that were thwarted.Turner finished off the game scoring with a 27-yard field goal with 2:25 left in the contest.Shrader completed 10-of-18 passes for 46 yards and ran 20 times for 43 yards. Cooper led the team with four receptions for 19 yards.Syracuse's defense was led by linebacker Stefon Thomas and cornerback Garrett Williams, who each finished with five tackles.

“according to an article on cuse.com”

After the their game NC, Syracuse were on opposite ends of the spectrum!

Why?

Because NC State who is ranked 20th in the AP Poll bounced back after losing to Wake Forest in Winston-Salem!

How?

NC State beat Syracuse by a score of 41-17!

NC State scored four touchdowns in the final six minutes of the second quarter to grab the lead, and went on to defeat Syracuse 41-17 at Carter-Finley Stadium. The Wolfpack (8-3, 5-2 ACC) also scored a touchdown in all three phases of the game: offense, defense and special teams.

Neither team moved the ball much in the first quarter, as the teams combined for just 68 yards and neither team scored. The game was scoreless over the first 24 minutes, then the two teams combined for 35 points over the final six minutes of the first half.

The scoring opened up late in the second quarter with a total of five touchdowns. The Pack got a pair of offensive TDs and also one defensive and then special teams TD to grab a 28-7 halftime lead.

NC State started the scoring with a Ricky Person, Jr. 15-yard TD run midway through the quater. Only two plays later, MLB Drake Thomas picked off a Syracuse pass and returned it 38 yards for the score, the Pack's first defensive TD of the season. The Orange cut the lead in half on its next drive with a 55-yard TD run.

On the ensuing kickoff, Zonovan Knight took the kickoff back 97 yards, the second straight week Knight has returned a kickoff for a touchdown. The Pack struck again just eight seconds before halftime, going 80 yards in just five plays capped by a Devin Leary to Christopher Toudle 14-yard score. The team's traded field goals on each of their opening possessions of the second half, Christopher Dunn for 37 yards followed by Syracuse's for 45.

A second Thomas brother scored a TD, this on the offensive end, as Thayer Thomas caught an 8-yard pass to put the Pack up 38-10 going into the fourth quarter.

In the fourth, Syracuse added another long rushing TD (48 yards) and Dunn connected on a 21-yard field goal for his second of the game.

“according to an article on gopack.com”

Despite the loss Sean Tucker broke a record that stood for 42 years, becoming the Orange's single-season rushing leader, but it wasn't enough to take down No. 25 NC State. The Wolfpack came away victorious in the team's road finale 41-17.

Tucker finished the day with 13 carries for 105 yards, his ninth 100-yard game through 11 weeks this season. But it was a 17-yard run up the right side in the second quarter that etched his name into record books at a school known for its running back pedigree. Joe Morris' 1979 season of 1,372 was surpassed by Tucker – who now sits at (1,467).

Garrett Shrader ran 17 times for 70 yards, while Mikel Jones led the Orange defense with 12 tackles and 2.5 tackles for loss. Offensively NC State out-gained the Orange 399 to 265, adding a defensive score and a kick return touchdown to win all phases.

Neither team got much going offensively in the first quarter. Each team had a drive that stalled just outside of field goal range. The teams combined for 68 yards of total offense through 15 minutes.

Things escalated in the second quarter though. After the Wolfpack scored the game's first points on a 15-yard run by Ricky Person with 6:14 to go in the half, they notched a pick-six by Drake Thomas less than a minute later to open a 14-0 lead.

Tucker broke off a 55-yard touchdown run down the sideline with 3:01 remaining left before halftime to pull within one score, but Zonovan Knight took the ensuing kickoff 97 yards to the house to put the Pack back up 21-7.

After an Orange punt, Devin Leary connected on a 14-yard pass on the run to Christopher Toudle to give NC State a 28-7 lead at the break.

The Orange got the ball out of the intermission, but following a three-and-out, NC State connected on a 37-yard field goal by Christopher Dunn to bring their lead to 31-7.

On the following drive, Andre Szmyt's field goal attempt from 45 yards out was true to put the Orange into double digits on the day.

The Wolfpack extended the lead to 38-10 with 2:15 remaining in the third after Thayer Thomas found the endzone on an 8-yard touchdown reception.

Garrett Shrader ran 45-yards down the sideline for the score midway through the fourth quarter. The Wolfpack added one more field goal late to give the final result.

NC State closes out the regular season with tobacco road rival North Carolina on Friday in North Carolina’s state capital!

Syracuse will look to become bowl eligible when they host Pittsburgh on Saturday!

Kick off for NC State’s game verses North Carolina is set for 7:00pm from Carter Finley Stadium!

Kick off for Syracuse’s game verses Pittsburgh is set for 7:30pm from the Carrier Dome!

The NC State, North Carolina game is going to be televised on ESPN!

The Syracuse, Pittsburgh game is going to be televised on ACC Network!