No. 18 Syracuse Remains Unbeaten, Beats No. 15 NC State 24-9

Football
October 15, 2022

SYRACUSE, N.Y. (AP) Garrett Shrader hit Oronde Gadsden II with a pair of touchdown passes, Sean Tucker scored on a 25-yard run late, and No. 18 Syracuse beat No. 15 NC State 24-9 on Saturday to remain unbeaten and become eligible for the postseason.

Syracuse (6-0, 3-0 Atlantic Coast Conference) started a season with six wins for just the third time since 1935, taking advantage of the absence of the Wolfpack’s injured star quarterback, Devin Leary. Hurt last week in a win over Florida State, Leary was declared out for the rest of the season before the game. The preseason conference player of the year suffered a torn pectoral muscle and will undergo surgery next week in Florida. He’s expected to make a full recovery.

The Orange took the opening kickoff and scored in short fashion, driving 65 yards in five plays in just 2:04. Tucker’s 38-yard run set up Shrader’s 12-yard touchdown pass to Gadsden, his fourth scoring catch of the season.

NC State (5-2, 1-2), with Charleston Southern graduate transfer Jack Chambers making his first start at quarterback, struggled on offense. Syracuse outgained NC State 113-55 in the first half and the Orange’s 10-3 lead at the break almost seemed too much to overcome in front of a raucous sellout crowd in the newly renamed JMA Wireless Dome.

Still, Chambers got the Wolfpack rolling on the first possession of the second half. He hit Christopher Toudle for 21 yards on a third-and-10 play and an 8-yard completion to Thayer Thomas moved the ball to the Syracuse 12. But a bad…