No. 18 Louisville Shocked at Home by Syracuse, 38-35

Andrew Robinson's 423 yards passing were just two shy of the school record set by Marvin Graves against Rutgers in 1992.

Photo courtesy: suathletics.com

LOUISVILLE, Ky. - Sophomore quarterback Andrew Robinson threw for a career-best 423 yards, completing 17-of-26 passes and four touchdowns as the Syracuse Orange took a 38-35 victory from the 18th-ranked Louisville Cardinals in the Big East opener for both squads.

The Orange offense racked up 474 yards and had scoring plays of 79 yards, 42 yards, 60 yards and 12 yards.

Syracuse’s special team returned a kick 93 yards for Syracuse’s other touchdown and SU’s defense forced four turnovers.

Robinson’s 423 yards passing were just two shy of the school record set by Marvin Graves against Rutgers in 1992.

Junior Taj Smith made a career-best four receptions for 173 yards and two scores, senior tight end Jawad Nesheiwat had three catches for a career-best 85 yards and sophomore Mike Williams made five receptions for 83 yards.

Syracuse (1-3, 1-0 Big East) put points on the board 16 seconds into the contest with Robinson throwing a 79-yard touchdown strike to Smith on the very first play of the game. Robinson faked a toss sweep to Brinkley, bootlegged right and fired to a wide open Smith.

The play was a career-long for both Robinson and Smith. It was the longest pass play by Syracuse since R.J. Anderson hit Jamel Riddle for an 87-yard touchdown against Rhode Island in 2002.

Louisville’s (2-2, 0-1 Big East) opening drive was halted by a Jameel McClain sack and the Cardinals second possession was stopped after Brandon Gilbeaux and Jake Flaherty hit Louisville running back Anthony Allen for a six-yard loss.

Robinson tossed a 48-yard pass to Nesheiwat to open SU’s third drive, but the Orange was unable to advance the ball any further down field. The play was a career-best for Nesheiwat.

The Cardinals scored on their next possession, going 80 yards on eight plays, capped off by a five-yard Brian Brohm crossing pass to Scott Kuhn.

Freshman kick return specialist Max Suter and the Orange responded very quickly taking the following kickoff 93 yards to put SU back in front 14-7 with 12:46 remaining in the first half.

Suter bounced off a block, broke left and scored. It's Syracuse's first kickoff return for a touchdown since Kevin Johnson returned one 100 yards against Miami in 1998.

The Orange had great field position for its next drive after freshman defensive end Jared Kimmel forced and junior linebacker Ben Maljovec recovered a Louisville fumble at midfield. Syracuse made one first down, but was forced to punt four plays later.

Robinson threw a 43-yard touchdown pass to freshman receiver Da’Mon Merkerson who was open behind the Louisville defense after a superb play-fake to Brinkley by Robinson with 3:57 remaining in the half. The touchdown reception was the first of Merkerson's career.

The drive stated after Syracuse’s defense held UofL on fourth-and-10 from the Syracuse 31. The big play in the drive was a 21-yard completion from Robinson to Nesheiwat on third-and-5 two plays prior to the score.

Robinson completed 7-of-12 passes for 221 yards in the first half and the Syracuse defense was very tuff on third downs, limiting Louisville to just one first down in six attempts.

The Cardinals got the ball to begin the second half, but McClain forced and Maljovec recovered a Louisville fumble at midfield. The Orange did not advance the ball and punted four plays later.

After punts by both teams Louisville put the score at 21-14 when Brohm connected with Harry Douglas for a 35-yard touchdown with 6:27 left in the third. It was a three-play 65-yard drive.

The resilient Orange answered as Robinson tossed a screen pass to Smith, who spun out of a tackle and went the distance. The 60-yard play capped a two play drive.

McClain intercepted a Brohm pass on the third play of UofL’s next drive. The senior returned the pick to the 13, were junior Patrick Shadle kicked a 26-yard field goal with 3:08 left in the third quarter to make the score 31-14.

Louisville took its next possession 66 yards on 12 plays to close the gap to 31-21 with 12:58 remaining in the game. Brohm hit Gary Barnidge for a two-yard touchdown to end the drive.

Robinson answered again tossing his fourth touchdown pass of the game.

On third-and-5 from the Louisville 17, Robinson hit Williams on a slant to put the Orange up 38-21 with 10:13 left in the game. The Syracuse drive took eight plays and covered 72 yards.

Louisville turned the ball over the fourth time in the game on its next possession. Brohm’s pass was intercepted by junior strong safety A.J. Brown.

Syracuse put another drive together, but a fumble gave the ball back to the Cardinals.

UofL marched 73 yards on six plays in just 1:06 to make the score 38-28 with just 3:41 remaining.

The Orange recovered the onside-kick and moved the ball to the Louisville 10 when SU fumbled, giving the ball back UofL with just over two minutes left.

The Cardinals scored again with 56 seconds remaining, but failed to execute the onside-kick. SU ran out the clock, sealing the 38-35 victory.

Syracuse steps out of Big East play on Saturday, Sept. 29 when it visits Miami (Ohio). Game time is 3:00 p.m.

Story courtesy: suathletics.com

Adding comments to these stories has been disabled. View the current sports stories Salem-News Sports