The Huskies kept it close despite letting the Syracuse offense run wild most of the way.
The UConn Huskies traveled to Syracuse and kept it close but ended up falling, 31-24, to drop to 7-4 on the season.
Syracuse got on the board in two plays after a 53-yard bomb from Kyle McCord, who followed it up with a 22-yard fade to Oronde Gadsen in the end zone to quickly make it 7-0.
After UConn went three-and-out on its first drive, the Orange moved the ball with ease on their second drive, marching 54 yards before a field goal attempt sailed wide right. On the ensuing drive, UConn was going for it on 4th and 1 and Cam Edwards spun off a tackle and sprinted 71 yards down the field to tie the game with 1:37 left in the first quarter.
The Husky offense continued to sputter as Syracuse mounted two long touchdown drives to build up its largest lead of the game, 21-7. It was only a matter of time before the hosts broke through. They were outgaining UConn 216-86 after the first quarter and 384-194 by halftime on their way to finishing with a 538-352 advantage.
McCord finished with 470 passing yards with two TDs while completing 79 percent of his 47 attempts and three Orange receivers finished with over 100 receiving yards, led by 177 from Darrell Gibb Jr.
UConn was starting Joseph Fagnano at QB after Nick Evers left the UAB game with an injury and Fagnano finished the comeback victory effort. He completed 27 of 48 attempts for 228 yards. He tossed a play-action pass to Louis Hansen for a touchdown at the end of the half to make it 21-14 at the break.
Syracuse pulled ahead for good after the two teams traded field goals in the third quarter as the Husky defense held strong, relatively speaking. McCord threw a touchdown pass in the first drive of the fourth quarter to make it 31-17. The Huskies couldn’t close in until it was too little, too late.
Fagnano found TJ Sheffield in the end zone to make it 31-24 with 1:29 left. The Huskies couldn’t recover the onside kick, leading to the end of the game. Sheffield finished with 10 receptions, as did Skyler Bell, who led UConn with 113 receiving yards. Mel Brown finished with 41 yards on five carries.
Next up, the Huskies wrap up their regular season at UMass. The Minutemen are down to 2-9 after the eventual loss to Georgia they’re about to take and have already fired head coach Don Brown. Kick-off is at noon from McGuirk Stadium and the game will be televised on ESPN+.