Kyle McCord, Syracuse pass way past Holy Cross

Kyle McCord passed for 385 yards and four touchdowns as Syracuse beat Holy Cross 42-14 on Saturday in Syracuse, N.Y. It's the fourth straight 300-yard passing game to open the season for McCord, who was 28 of 50 and also threw two interceptions. Jackson Meeks had 10 catches for a career-high 161 yards and a touchdown. KingJoseph Edwards recorded three sacks for the Orange. Joe Pesansky was 14-for-25 passing for 167 yards, a touchdown and an interception for Holy Cross. Max Mosey made five catches for 105 yards and a touchdown. Jacob Peterson added 48 receiving yards and a touchdown. The Orange (3-1) have won 14 straight games against Holy Cross (1-4) for a 25-5 series record and are 20-0 all-time against FCS teams. Holy Cross went three-and-out on its first three drives, while Syracuse scored touchdowns on its first three. On its opening drive, Syracuse scored when McCord scrambled to his left and found a sliding Umari Hatcher in the end zone for a 7-yard touchdown catch and a 7-0 Syracuse lead. McCord, an Ohio State transfer, hit Darrell Gill Jr. for a 23-yard touchdown and a 14-0 lead on the second Syracuse drive. And a 38-yard pass from McCord to Meeks gave Syracuse a 21-0 lead on the first play of the second quarter. Holy Cross then rallied to score on consecutive possessions. Pesansky found Mosey wide open out of the slot for a 63-yard touchdown pass to make the score 21-7. After the Crusaders' defense forced a three-and-out, Holy Cross reached into its bag of trick plays to make the score 21-14 in the second quarter. Pesansky tossed the ball backward to running back Sam Slade, who drew in the Syracuse defense. Before he crossed the line of scrimmage, Slade threw a 28-yard touchdown pass to Peterson with 6:45 left in the second quarter. After Syracuse forced Holy Cross to punt from its end zone, the Orange covered 54 yards in six plays and scored on a 4-yard touchdown pass from McCord to Trebor Pena for a 28-14 lead with 32 seconds left in the first half. LeQuint Allen added a 1-yard touchdown run as time expired in the third quarter to give the Orange a 35-14 lead. Syracuse took its largest lead of the day in the fourth quarter when defensive back Jayden Bellamy intercepted a Pesansky pass and returned it 33 yards for a touchdown and a 42-14 lead. After four straight home games to open the season, the Orange will be away from the JMA Dome for the entire month of October and play three road games. --Field Level Media