Orange Downed by #22 Duke, 27-10

Saturday, November 8

Syracuse, N.Y.

12:30 pm

Syracuse University

3-7 , 1-5

Duke

8-1 , 4-1

1st

2nd

3rd

4th

Duke

Syracuse

Photo by: Charles Wainwright

11/8/2014 4:04:00 PM | Football

Box Score

SYRACUSE, N.Y. – After the Orange (3-7, 1-5 ACC) tied the game and held No. 22 Duke (8-1, 4-1 ACC) scoreless in the third quarter, the Blue Devils pulled ahead with 17 points in the fourth to down Syracuse, 27-10, Saturday Nov. 8 at the Carrier Dome.

It was a dual effort under center for the Orange with Austin Wilson getting the starting nod and finishing 11-of-19 with 68 yards through the air, while Mitch Kimble completed 6-of-13 passes for 37 yards. Ben Lewis was the top target for the two field generals. Lewis finished with a career-high six receptions for 30 yards. Jarrod West and Ervin Phillips each finished with four catches on the day with West leading the corps with 45 yards receiving.

Kimble added 42 yards on the ground, including an 8-yard, third-quarter touchdown run on a a team-high 10 carries. Prince-Tyson Gulley finished with nine carries for 42 yards to become the 22nd Orange runner to top 2,000 career yards. Philips chipped in with six rushes for 36 yards.

Durrell Eskridge and Darius Kelly led the secondary with seven tackles each, while Micah Robinson tied for the team tackle lead with seven stops up front for a defense that held the Blue Devils to 259 yards of offfense, 163 yards less than their season average of 422 coming into the game. True freshman Zaire Franklin added six tackles in his first collegiate start at middle linebacker.

Down 10-3 at the start of the second half, Kimble led the Orange on a nine-play, 67-yard touchdown drive to tie the game at 10 with 5:18 left in the third quarter. Kimble was 2-for-2 for 28 yards on the drive and rushed four times for 16 yards, including an 8-yard scurry into the end zone for his first career touchdown.

Following Kimble's score, the two sides exchanged punts until Brandon Reddish interecepted Duke QB Anthony Boone on the SU 2-yard line early in the fourth quarter. However, Syracuse couldn't get out of the shadow of its goal line and Riley Dixon was forced to punt the ball to Jamison Crowder who ran it back 52 yards for a touchdown and a 17-10 Duke advantage.

On Syracuse's next possession, the Blue Devils stopped the Orange on a fake punt and took over at the SU 32. Boone and Duke offense capitalized on the excellent field position as Ross Martin connected on a 34-yard field goal to push the Blue Devils' advantage to 20-10.

Duke put the game out of reach shortly thereafter. Breon Borders intercepted Wilson for the second time on the next series and Boone took advantage, connecting with Issac Blakeney for his second touchdown of the game, this time from 54 yards out, to close the scoring with 7:13 to play.

Crowder led the Blue Devils with a game-high nine catches for 58 yards in addition to his punt return touchdown. Blakeney finished with three catches for 92 yards and two scores. Shaquille Powell paced Duke on the ground with 17 carries for 68 yards.

Following a bye week, Syracuse will travel to Pittsburgh to take on the Panthers on Saturday, Nov. 22 at Heinz Field. Start time for the game will be announced by the Atlantic Coast Conference on Monday.