The Orange come home to CNY with a victory from CMU.

By Lizzy Gomez

Fans at Kelly/Shorts Stadium in the first quarter.

More than half the fans who nearly filled Kelly/Shorts Stadium on Saturday prior to the noon kickoff between the Syracuse Orange and the Central Michigan Chippewas left their seats before the end of the third quarter. The first 15 minutes of the second half saw the visiting Orange offense and defense combine to score 16 points , bringing its lead to 33-3.

Chippewa fans continued to funnel out of the stadium just seconds after the start of the fourth quarter when the Syracuse defense batted down a CMU pass on 1st-and-10. Chants of, "Let's go Orange, let's go!" could be heard coming from the far west end of the stadium from fans clad in SU gear. The only action bringing Chippewa fans to their feet at this point in the game was a man on the field with a T-shirt cannon. He overshot his target a number of times and several T-shirts flew over the fans and out of the stadium to a chorus of boos.

Similar themes made up the majority of the afternoon for Chippewa fans in a game where not much went right for CMU. The Orange took home the victory, 40-3.

SU Head Coach Scott Shafer said he challenged the Orange defense to show what it could really do against the run after nearly losing to Villanova in double-overtime two weeks ago in the Carrier Dome.

“A physical football team that our fan base can say, ‘Ok, they’re back,'’” Shafer said. “‘They’re playing physical, tough, hard-nosed football, the way Syracuse kids should.’”

Players and coaches look on from the sidelines as the SU offense takes the field.

The only points the Chippewas put on the scoreboard on Saturday happened during CMU’s opening drive of the game, in which the Orange defense forced a field goal.

The CMU offense was missing wide receiver Titus Davis and leading rusher Thomas Rawls, who ran for 276 yards in his first two games of the season. Rawls was held out of the game because of an undisclosed "issue."

Syracuse failed to score during the first 15 minutes of play, but tied the game with a field goal by junior kicker Ryan Norton just 54 seconds into the second quarter.

The SU defense scored the first touchdown of the game after Eric Crume, senior defensive tackle originally from Detroit, sacked CMU quarterback Cooper Rush. The ball came loose and Syracuse freshman linebacker Marqez Hodge recovered it, hesitated, and then ran the ball back for a 36-yard touchdown.  

“I didn’t know he fumbled until I saw Hodge with the ball and he stopped for a second,” Crume said. “I thought it was an incomplete [pass]. Then he took off.”

Quarterback Terrel Hunt and the SU offense continued adding to SU’s 10-3 lead during the second quarter, while the Chippewas continued to struggle to find scoring opportunities.

Estime catches a 4-yard touchdown pass from Hunt before halftime.

Hunt connected with sophomore wide receiver Brisly Estime on a 4-yard touchdown pass to end a 13-play drive with less than two minutes remaining in the first half.

The Orange added to its 17-3 halftime lead early in the third quarter when senior linebacker Cameron Lynch forced an intentional grounding call against CMU after pressuring Rush in his own end zone. The play resulted in a safety for Syracuse, making the score 19-3.

The Orange went on to score two more touchdowns in the third quarter on the legs of Hunt, one of which came as the result of a fumble recovery by freshman free safety Rodney Williams. The two scores occurred just 33 seconds apart.

Hunt ran the ball into the end zone again in the final minute of the fourth quarter, resulting in the final score of 40-3 in favor of the Orange.

The SU quarterback ended the game making 20 of 30 passing attempts for 175 yards and one touchdown. He ran for 92 yards on 13 carries with three touchdowns, a career high.

“I wasn’t making moves more, I was just worried about getting a first down, moving the chains,” said Hunt before making a joke at his own expense. “Last time I made a move, I got kicked out.”

Hunt was ejected from SU’s game against Villanova two weeks ago for punching a wildcat player. He says CMU defensive lineman Louis Palmer taunted him about the incident during Saturday’s game, but Hunt maintained his composure and pointed at the scoreboard.

“That’s the easiest way to talk to them - look at the scoreboard,” Hunt said.

Kelly/Shorts Stadium in the second half of the game.

Senior running back Adonis Ameen-Moore rushed for 106 yards on nine carries, a career high.

“Adonis - I was so proud of him,” Hunt said. “I couldn’t wait for him to get out there.”

The Orange finished the day with 289 yards rushing and 175 yards through the air. Crume says the team managed to stay on track despite taking a flight and a 70-mile bus ride to Mount Pleasant, Mich., for the game.

“The hotel has sleep-number beds, so I think we were very focused,” Crume joked.

The Orange (2-0) hosts the Maryland Terrapins (2-1), formerly of the ACC and now in the Big Ten,  on September 20 in the Carrier Dome. The Terrapins lost at home on Saturday to the West Virginia Mountaineers, 40-37.

“We have to be a tough football team,” Shafer said. “I think at times we showed that today. We’re going to have to take it to a new level to reach our goals as we go week in, week out.”