Recap: Orange Clip UNC in Overtime, 40-37

Saturday, October 20

Syracuse, NY

12:20 PM

Syracuse University

5-2 , 2-2

North Carolina

1-5 , 1-3

1st

2nd

3rd

4th

North Carolina

Syracuse

10/20/2018 3:42:00 PM | Football

Box Score Highlights Visual Recap Photo Gallery Dino Babers Press Conference Players Press Conference Postgame Notes Quotes

SYRACUSE, N.Y. – Redshirt freshman quarterback Tommy DeVito came off the bench to throw three touchdown passes, including two in overtime, to lead Syracuse (5-2, 2-2 ACC) to a 40-37 win against North Carolina (1-5, 1-3 ACC) on Saturday, Oct. 20 at the Carrier Dome.

DeVito, who entered the game with Syracuse down 27-20 late in the fourth quarter, completed 11-of-19 passes for 181 yards. His 4-yard touchdown strike to tight end Ravian Pierce in the second overtime provided the winning points.

DeVITO RELIEF JOB EXTENDS CONTEST
With North Carolina ahead 27-20 and 5:07 left to play, Syracuse head coach Dino Babers called DeVito's number. The Cedar Grove, N.J. native energized the Dome crowd with a 50-yard pass to Jamal Custis on his first play. Another completion to Custis and back-to-back connections with Taj Harris gave Syracuse a first down at the Tar Heel 11-yard line.

A penalty stalled the series and DeVito threw incomplete on fourth down from the 10.

Following a North Carolina punt, DeVito got another chance. This time he hit Sean Riley for 16 yards and then connected with Nykeim Johnson for a 42-yard, game-tying touchdown. The drive took three plays and lasted 58 seconds. Andre Szmyt's extra point made it 27-27 with 1:39 left in regulation.

Remarkably, the Orange got the ball back again, this time at their own 28 with 1:07 remaining. DeVito's Cinderella slipper almost fell off when his second-down pass was intercepted by Patrick Rene.

The Tar Heels started from the Syracuse 39 with 54 seconds to go after the interception. The Orange defense came up big as North Carolina threw three straight incomplete passes and was stopped for no gain on a rushing attempt.

Syracuse ran one more play, as DeVito heaved the ball deep. The pass fell incomplete and sent the game to overtime.

THE FIRST OVERTIME
Syracuse had the ball first and immediately went to work. After DeVito was unable to connect on an end-zone pass to Johnson, he threw deep again and Custis for a 25-yard touchdown. Szmyt made the extra point to give Syracuse a 34-27 advantage.

The Tar Heels answered the touchdown with one of their own. An 18-yard run by Antonio Williams put the ball at the Syracuse 12-yard line, and two plays later, Nathan Elliott zipped a throw to Beau Corrales for a 9-yard touchdown. Freeman Jones kicked the extra point to knot the score and force a second extra session.

THE SECOND OVERTIME
North Carolina began the second overtime with the ball. Elliott misfired twice and was sacked on third down for a loss of six yards by Kendall Coleman. Jones kicked a 46-yard field goal, his third make of the day, to give the Tar Heels the lead.

Needing three points to tie and a touchdown to win, DeVito immediately rifled a 9-yard completion to Johnson. After an incomplete pass, DeVito optioned to Dontae Strickland, who picked up 10 yards. DeVito kept the ball for a 2-yard gain on the next play, then off of play action, he found Pierce wide open for the game-winning touchdown.

SECOND-QUARTER MOMENTUM SHIFT
Two big defensive stops and a special teams play turned the momentum of the game in the second quarter.

Carolina led 7-3 and started off on an 11-play drive. Faced with a fourth-and-1 at the Orange 21, the Tar Heels went for the first down. Chris Slayton stopped UNC quarterback Nathan Elliott for a 1-yard loss and the Orange took over.

Although Syracuse was unable to advance the ball, redshirt junior Sterling Hofrichter flipped the field with a 58-yard punt. Linebacker Shyheim Cullen covered the return perfectly, tackling Dazz Newsome at the UNC 30. A holding penalty against the Tar Heels moved the ball to the 20-yard line.

The Orange forced a three-and-out on UNC's subsequent series and punter Hunter Lent shanked a punt just 10 yards to give Syracuse the ball at the Tar Heel 32. Orange quarterback Eric Dungey directed a quick scoring drive that was finished by fullback Chris Elmore's 1-yard plunge into the end zone. The extra point extended the Orange advantage to 10-7.

Syracuse added a 46-yard Szmyt field goal as time expired in the second quarter to open up a 13-7 lead at the half.

DUNGEY HEATS UP
After completing just two of his first six throws, Dungey found his rhythm. He went 9-of-14 to finish the first half and then teamed with Custis on a 68-yard bomb to start the third quarter. Dungey
capped the drive with a 16-yard run for Syracuse's second touchdown. His rushing score put Syracuse up, 20-7.

TAR HEELS REGAIN THE ADVANTAGE
North Carolina shook off the deficit relatively quickly. On its second possession of the third quarter, Elliott flipped the ball to Newsome on a jet sweep that went 55 yards. On the next play, Williams ran it in from 12 yards out, and the extra point trimmed the Orange margin to 20-14.

The Tar Heels added a special-teams touchdown later in the third quarter. Hofrichter launched another 58-yard punt, but Newsome fielded it at the Syracuse 25 and ran it back for a 75-yard touchdown. The score put North Carolina ahead for the first time since the beginning of the second quarter, 21-20.

North Carolina tacked on three more points on a 34-yard Jones field goal with six seconds left in the third to extend its lead to 24-20.

A 56-yard, fourth-quarter run by Williams, put a blemish on Syracuse's otherwise strong effort against the Tar Heel ground game. It led to another Jones field goal, this time from 25 yards out, to make the score 27-20 and led to the game-ending dramatics.

BABERS BITE
"I thought that was one heck of a football game. I'm glad we won, but it just goes to show you how good that North Carolina football team was," Babers said. "We had to win on Homecoming. We are 5-2 with a couple more games left. Yeah, we're banged up, but other people are banged up, too. It's going to be exciting, it's going to be fun."

OF NOTE

The victory was Babers' 50th as a collegiate head coach. He owns an overall record of 50-34 (.595) in his seven seasons.
It marked the first time in the Syracuse-North Carolina series that the home team won. The Orange are now 3-2 against the Tar Heels with a pair of overtime victories.
The game was the Orange's second straight overtime contest and Syracuse's first OT win since defeating Central Michigan 30-27 on Sept. 19, 2015.
Linebacker Ryan Guthrie led the Orange with 12 total tackles.
Custis finished with seven catches for 162 yards to record the second 100-yard receiving game of his career.
Johnson logged his first 100-yard receiving game with five receptions for a career-best 102 yards.
The Orange remained perfect at home this season, improving to 4-0.
Szmyt had made 11 consecutive field-goal tries before missing a 44-yard attempt in the first quarter. He bounced back by hitting from 25 and 46 yards out.
Szmyt has 18 field goals in seven games, tying him for second on Syracuse's single-season list with Ross Krautman (2010) and Gary Anderson (1981). Cole Murphy owns the school record with 20 made field goals last season.
Sterling Hofrichter had another stellar outing. He punted eight times for an average of 45.1 yards. Three of his boots traveled 50+ yards. He also kicked off five times for a 65-yard average. Four of his kickoffs resulted in touchbacks.

UP NEXT
Syracuse is back in action at the Dome against Atlantic Division rival NC State on Saturday, Oct. 27. The game time and television assignment will be announced after today's games.

Tickets to watch the Orange and Wolfpack start at $35 and are available online (Cuse.com/tickets), by phone (888-DOME-TIX) and at the Carrier Dome Box Office (Gate B).

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