Syracuse goes for two in overtime and beats North Carolina 31-30 for its first ACC win
Calvin Russell III caught the overtime touchdown and the two-point pass as Syracuse rallied from 10 down to beat North Carolina 31-30 in Chapel Hill.
Syracuse went for two in overtime, and Calvin Russell III caught both the touchdown and the conversion. His 4-yard scoring catch and the two-point pass that followed gave the Orange a 31-30 win at North Carolina on Saturday night. It was Syracuse's first conference win of the season, and The Daily Orange reported that it ended an 11-game ACC losing streak.
North Carolina had the ball first in overtime and scored on Demon June's 3-yard touchdown catch to go up 30-23. Syracuse answered, then decided to finish the game on one play. According to the ESPN recap, Russell had eight catches for 86 yards.
The Orange should not have needed overtime. They trailed 20-10 going into the fourth quarter, and Umari Hatcher's 76-yard touchdown catch cut the gap to 20-17 with 11:01 left. North Carolina drove to the Syracuse 4 on its next possession but settled for a 22-yard Rece Verhoff field goal. Tylik Hill's 3-yard run with 1:54 left would have put Syracuse ahead, but Shay Barker missed the extra point and the game stayed tied at 23.
Steve Angeli had the biggest night of any Syracuse quarterback this season. Injuries to Amari Odom and Malachi Nelson put him back in the lineup for his first start since the Sept. 17 loss at Pittsburgh. He went 20 of 34 for 256 yards and two touchdowns, and he is the fifth quarterback to play for the Orange this season. Ahmad Miller carried 30 times for 125 yards and a score, and Hatcher finished with 103 receiving yards on four catches. "We've got a weight lifted off our shoulders," coach Fran Brown said, per ESPN.
North Carolina scored on its first two drives, and Billy Edwards completed his first 11 passes. He finished 27 of 44 for a season-high 271 yards and two touchdowns, and Jordan Shipp caught eight passes for 102 yards. June's 25-yard run on fourth-and-1 early in the third quarter was the Tar Heels' longest run of the season. Bill Belichick's team still came away with only a field goal from that late trip to the 4, and that cost it the game.
What it means for next Saturday
The Orange are 3-4 and 1-4 in the ACC. They had lost three straight before Saturday, with defeats to California, Virginia and Louisville by a combined 14 points. Now they host No. 23 SMU, which is 6-1 and 4-1 in league play. SMU is favored on the board. Novig lists the Mustangs at -376 and Syracuse at +300, and DraftKings has the best SMU moneyline at -340. Across the four venues the spread runs from SMU -8.5 at FanDuel to Syracuse +10 at Fanatics. The total sits between 56.5 and 57.5.
The Tar Heels came in on a two-game winning streak after road wins at Pittsburgh and Duke. At 4-3 and 2-2 in the ACC, they are two wins short of bowl eligibility, and the schedule doesn't get easier. Unbeaten No. 1 Miami (7-0, 5-0) comes to Kenan Stadium next, and the prices show how wide the gap is. Miami is favored at -733 on Novig. North Carolina is +413 there, and bet365 has the best price on the Tar Heels at +600. Novig has the spread at 13.5, while FanDuel gives North Carolina +16.5, a three-point difference between venues. Sportsbook hold on that game runs as high as 7 percent. The total is 50.5 to 51.5.
