Syracuse Orange vs West Virginia Mountaineers Box Score on Oct 23, 2010

SportsDirect Inc. staff
Oct 23, 2010

Syracuse’s defense delivered a stalwart performance, as the Orange upset 19th-ranked West Virginia 19-14 Saturday, spoiling the Mountaineers’ homecoming.

The win also ended West Virginia's 12-game home winning streak and handed the Mountaineers their first Big East loss this season. Syracuse had not beaten WVU in their previous eight meetings and beat the Mountaineers on their home turf for the first time in 10 years.

Syracuse put constant pressure on West Virginia sophomore quarterback Geno Smith, who was limited to 178 yards passing and was intercepted three times. With less than a minute to play, Smith was sacked on a fourth-down play deep in Syracuse territory to seal the victory for the Orange. It was the fifth sack of Smith by the Orange in the game.

Noel Devine had 122 yards rushing on 24 carries for WVU but was held out of the end zone. Antwon Bailey led the Syracuse rushing attack with 94 yards on 19 carries.

The game began as if it might be an offensive shootout between the Big East rivals, but became a defensive battle after a high-scoring first quarter as Syracuse held the Mountaineers scoreless for the final three quarters.

Syracuse capitalized on a West Virginia turnover on the Mountaineers’ first possession after Smith threw only his third interception of the season and Ross Krautman kicked a 28-yard field goal to give the Orange a 3-0 lead less than 3 minutes into the game.

The Mountaineers answered with a nine-play 71-yard scoring drive culminated by a 6-yard touchdown pass from Smith to Tavon Austin that gave WVU a 7-3 lead. Syracuse responded with a scoring drive on its ensuing possession as Ryan Nassib connected with Van Chew on a 29-yard touchdown pass to regain the lead at 10-7.

West Virginia struck again on its next possession with a 67-yard scoring drive. Ryan Clarke scored on a 1-yard plunge up the middle to give the Mountaineers a 14-10 lead. Smith was intercepted for the second time late in the first quarter that thwarted another WVU scoring opportunity after the Mountaineers had recovered a Syracuse fumble deep in Orange territory. The teams combined for 239 yards total offense, 24 points and three turnovers in the first quarter.

A 19-yard field goal by Krautman a minute into the second quarter narrowed WVU’s lead to 14-13 and Kruatman added two more field goals of 33 and 22 yards before halftime to give Syracuse a 19-14 lead at the intermission as the Orange had three takeaways in the first half, all interceptions.