Saturday, when Syracuse football Garrett Shrader and Sean Tucker were smothered, the Orange needed a supernova to fuel a comeback victory. Follow stoptechy
Oronde Gadsden II was responsible for the explosion of the big-play generator.
Gadsden was Shrader’s target along the left side of the field with 7 seconds remaining in the game. The quarterback threw the ball up and into the front left corner of the end zone, where Gadsden in coverage snagged it on the move.
Syracuse (3-0, 1-0 ACC) eked out a 32-29 victory against Purdue at the JMA Wireless Dome on Saturday afternoon to stay unblemished.
All four of SU’s touchdowns were in the last 18 minutes of the game: two by Gadsden, one by Isaiah Jones, and one by defensive lineman Caleb Okechukwu on an interception return for a score.
Syracuse football
The Orange concluded the game with 306 total offensive yards, with more than half coming in the second half. While Shrader did not perform as well as he had in Syracuse’s previous two games, he still completed 13 passes for 181 yards and three touchdowns.
Throughout the most of the game, Syracuse seemed unrecognizable on both sides of the ball, but notably on offense. Its first touchdown was equally the result of two terrible penalties by Purdue as it was of Shrader and Jones catching a 3-yard pass.
Overall, the game’s momentum seemed odd, with neither side able to build on early triumphs. Devin Mackobee punched in a 15-yard touchdown after the SU defense committed a critical error that created a wide-open hole.
Until the fourth quarter, when Gadsden provided the spark that SU head coach Dino Babers had been waiting for to reinvigorate the Syracuse offense and Dome crowd.
