College Football
BOXSCORE | RECAP
Pittsburgh 17, Syracuse 16
When: 12:30 PM ET, Saturday, November 23, 2013
Where: Carrier Dome, Syracuse, New York
Temperature: Dome
Head Official: Brad Allen
Attendance: 35317

Pittsburgh 17, Syracuse 16:
Isaac Bennett rushed for the go-ahead score and Tom Savage passed for 218 yards and a touchdown as the visiting Panthers edged the Orange.

Savage went 28-for-41 and hit Manasseh Garner with a touchdown pass for Pittsburgh (6-5, 3-4 ACC), which reached bowl eligibility. Tyler Boyd caught 10 passes for 82 yards and Garner finished with 61 yards on seven catches to lead the receiving corps.

Terrel Hunt completed 18-of-28 passes for 159 yards and a score for Syracuse (5-6, 3-4), which will get one more chance to gain bowl eligibility in its regular-season finale against Boston College next week. Jerome Smith ran for 88 yards and a score but a failed extra point haunted the Orange.

Syracuse jumped on top early when Smith took a draw play straight up the middle and broke for a 36-yard touchdown less than four minutes into the game, but the extra point was blocked. The Panthers got on the board with a 43-yard field goal early in the second and took a 10-6 lead on Savage’s 7-yard TD pass to Garner.

The Orange cut it to 10-9 at the half and took the lead back on Hunt’s 42-yard pass to Alvin Cornelius with 6:25 left in the third. Pittsburgh put together its longest drive of the day later in the third, marching 88 yards before Bennett’s 5-yard go-ahead score, and Syracuse had a last gasp fall short when Hunt failed to complete a fourth-and-8 pass on the Panthers' 36 with just over a minute remaining.

GAME NOTEBOOK: Syracuse still has not allowed a 100-yard rusher. Bennett led Pittsburgh with 28 yards on 11 carries. … Boyd's 68 receptions are one shy of Larry Fitzgerald’s mark for the most by a freshman in school history. … Pittsburgh has taken eight of the last nine between the schools, which have met in every season since 1955.
Top Game Performances
Rushing
Pittsburgh   Syracuse
Isaac Bennett Player Jerome Smith
11 Attempts 17
28 Yards 88
2.6 Avg Yards 5.2
1 Touchdowns 1
0 Long 0
Receiving
Pittsburgh   Syracuse
Tyler Boyd Player Alvin Cornelius
10 Receptions 2
82 Yards 53
8.2 Avg Yards 26.5
0 Touchdowns 1
0 Long 0
Team Stats Summary
 
  Yards Scoring Defense
Team Tot Rus Pas TD FG INT Sck FF
Pittsburgh 239 21 218 2 1 0 1.0 0
Syracuse 307 148 159 2 1 1 3.0 2