Syracuse, NY (Sports Network) - Ryan Nassib threw a pair of touchdown passes and Syracuse rolled to a 40-10 win over Connecticut Friday, spoiling the return of Paul Pasqualoni to the Carrier Dome.
Nassib ended 14-of-20 for 251 yards and Ross Krautman kicked four field goals. Alec Lemon caught eight passes for 166 yards and a TD as the Orange rolled up 502 yards of offense.
Jerome Smith rushed for 133 yards for the Orange (3-4, 2-1 Big East), who snapped a five-game skid against UConn. Prince-Tyson Gulley and Adonis Ameen- Moore rushed for a score.
Chandler Whitmer connected on 23-of-41 passes for 296 yards with a TD and an interception for the Huskies (3-5, 0-3), who lost their third straight contest. UConn netted minus-6 yards rushing, while giving up 251 yards.
The all-time winningest coach in Big East Conference league play and the current head coach at UConn, Pasqualoni was at the helm of the Orange from 1991-2004. He was fired despite compiling a 107-59-1 mark and four Big East titles at Syracuse.
Krautman kicked field goals of 22 and 33 yards in the first quarter before Chad Christen countered with a 23-yard boot with 65 seconds left in the same period.
Early in the second quarter, Whitmer was hit hard on consecutive plays and lost the ball on both occasions. The first time a fumble call was overturned on replay to an incomplete pass, but then Durell Eskridge surged up the middle on a blitz and the Orange came up with the turnover.
That led to Ameen-Moore's 1-yard TD plunge up the middle with 8 1/2 minutes left in the half for a 13-3 difference.
Whitmer hit a wide open Ryan Griffin down the left sideline on a 32-yard touchdown connection, but Nassib countered by finding tight end Beckett Wales for a 3-yard scoring toss with 1:19 to go before the break.
The Orange needed only five plays to open the scoring in the second half. Nassib found Lemon for 68 yards, and Gulley went into the end zone on the next play from four yards out for a 27-10 advantage.
Krautman kicked a 42-yard field goal midway through the third and Nassib connected with Lemon on an 11-yard pass over the middle for another TD with two minutes remaining in the same quarter.
Krautman split the uprights from 47 yards in the early stages of the final stanza.
Game Notes
