Garrett Shrader and Oronde Gadsden II hooked up for two touchdowns in front of a raucous home crowd Saturday as No. 18 Syracuse defeated 15th-ranked North Carolina State 24-9 to remain undefeated.
Sean Tucker ran for 98 yards and a touchdown for the Orange (6-0, 3-0 ACC), while Shrader finished 16 of 25 with two TDs and two INTs. Gadsden racked up 141 yards on eight catches as Syracuse outgained NC State 389-255.
Jack Chambers went 18 of 30 for 160 yards without a touchdown or an interception for NC State (5-2, 1-2). The Wolfpack played without starting quarterback Devin Leary, who suffered a season-ending injury during last week’s game against Florida State.
Chambers also led the visitors with 58 rushing yards in this one, while teammate Jordan Houston had 44 rushing yards on 12 attempts.
The first touchdown pass from Shrader to Gadsden was a 12-yard strike just over two minutes into the game. The teams then exchanged punts before the Wolfpack got on the board on a 20-yard field goal by Christopher Dunn.
The offenses quieted down for a while from there, as the only scoring of the second quarter was a 22-yard field goal by Syracuse’s Andre Szmyt.
The third quarter featured a 42-yard field goal by Dunn to get NC State within 10-6 midway through the period. But the Orange answered on the following possession, marching 78 yards in 13 plays, capped by a 17-yard TD connection from Shrader to Gadsden.
The Wolfpack then took 9 1/2 minutes off the clock, bridging the final two quarters, in a marathon 18-play drive that ended with Dunn’s 36-yard field goal. That made it a 17-9 game with 6:58 to go.
However, the hosts sealed the outcome with a 25-yard rushing touchdown by Tucker, who sprinted untouched down the left sideline to keep the Orange unblemished on the season.
Chambers drove the Wolfpack into the red zone on the game’s final possession, but his fourth-down pass was incomplete as the final buzzer sounded.
–Field Level Media