Syracuse beats Louisville — perfect in dome
SYRACUSE, N.Y. >> Moe Neal rushed for a career-best 159 yards and two touchdowns, quarterback Eric Dungey ran for two more scores and passed for another, and No. 13 Syracuse took advantage of five Louisville miscues to rout the Cardinals 54-23 on Friday night.
The Orange (8-2, 5-2 ACC, No. 13 CFP) scored 27 points off five Louisville (2-8, 0-7 ACC) errors, rushed for 292 yards and accumulated 518 yards of total offense. Syracuse finished the season unbeaten in six games in the Carrier Dome for the fourth time since the building opened in 1980.
The Cardinals were penalized 17 times for 125 yards, and Syracuse picked off two Louisville passes. Louisville also lost two fumbles and their quarterbacks, under pressure most of the game, were sacked five times.
The win sets up a showdown for the Orange next Saturday against No. 3 Notre Dame at Yankee Stadium.
Syracuse has scored 50 or more points in five games this season and tallied 30 points in the second quarter alone to put the game out of reach with a 37-7 halftime lead.
Jarveon Howard gave the Orange a 7-0 lead, scoring on a 1-yard run following a 50yard field goal attempt by Blanton Creque that was blocked by nose tackle Josh Black.
An interception by Andre Cisco, his fifth pick of the season, set up a 2-yard touchdown run by Dungey.
Neal scored from two yards out following an interception by linebacker Kielan Whitner.
Andre Szmyt hit field goals of 39 and 35 yards following two more Cardinal mistakes.
The win was the fourth straight for the surging Orange while Louisville lost its seventh straight. The eight wins tied the most victories for Syracuse in a regular season since 1998.