Syracuse football: three takeaways from SU’s 31-24 win over UConn

It’s like Coach Dick MacPherson said, ‘a win is a win is a win’

On a record-setting day for QB Kyle McCord throwing the football, the Syracuse Orange edged the UConn Huskies 31-24 on Saturday inside the JMA Wireless Dome.

It wasn’t pretty but the win gave the Orange their first eight-win regular season since 2018, and the third since 2000. Here are our three three takeaways from SU’s win over UConn:

QB Kyle McCord, that’s it, that’s the takeaway

McCord didn’t miss a beat against the Huskies, almost everything seemed to go the Ohio State transfer’s way over the 60 minutes. McCord set a career-long in passing yards last weekend at Cal, and seven days later, he did it again – 470 yards in the air on 34 completed passes (two passing touchdowns), his first 400-yard passing game this season.

Before the game started, former Syracuse QB Ryan Nassib held both Syracuse’s single-season passing yards and passing touchdowns record, but when the game ended, the same couldn’t be said. McCord’s 470 passing yards was more than enough to surpass the single-season passing yards record, now set at 3,946 (and counting), and his two passing touchdowns moved him into a tie for the single-season passing touchdowns set at 26 TDs.

McCord nearly surpassed Nassib’s single-game passing yards record (482), but he ended up just shy of that mark.

Gill, Meeks, and Gadsden combine for monster day

Fran Brown said after the game, ‘Our offense, and what Jeff Nixon does, gives us an opportunity to spread it around, where everyone has a chance to touch the ball’.

And, Brown could not have been more spot on. In all but two of SU’s games this season, McCord’s completed passes to seven receivers or more, and in those two outliers, he completed passes to six. Eight different Syracuse receivers caught a pass against UConn. It’s also the eighth game this season where at least one Orange receiver had 100 yards or more — Gill (177 yards), Meeks (110 yards), and Gadsden (103 yards).

“I feel like [we have] six or seven guys that are legit power-four starters on our team,” McCord added. “It’s been a lot of fun playing quarterback for them.”

Photo by Gregory Fisher/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images

Gill’s 177 receiving yards shattered his previous career-best of 55, which he set earlier this year in SU’s game against Stanford (his nine catches was also a personal best). Coming into Saturday’s game, the sophomore had only 17 catches and 235 yards all season long. Gill may take on a larger role in the receiving game moving forward after Brown said WR Umari Hatcher could miss some time with a potential sprained MCL.

SU’s defensive front played well

Take away Cam Edwards’s 71-yard touchdown run, and Syracuse would’ve allowed only 53 rushing yards on 16 attempts (3.3 yards/carry). The Orange have looked much improved defending against the run since it gave up 313 yards on the ground against BC. Pro Football Focus rated SU’s run defense an 81.7 — its second-highest grade against the run since it earned a 92.1 vs. Holy Cross.

Now, it’s easy to argue that ‘it’s UConn’, but it’s also easy to overlook that the Huskies run the football for, typically, over 200 yards per game (the 21st-best mark in college football). Are the Huskies world beaters? No. But, you’ll take any positive momentum before SU’s final game of the regular season against No. 11 Miami (FL) next Saturday, Nov. 30 at the JMA Wireless Dome. Kickoff is set for 3:30 p.m. on ESPN.