By John Kekis

AP Sports Writer

SYRACUSE, N.Y.  — Garrett Shrader hit Oronde Gadsden II with a pair of touchdown passes, Sean Tucker scored on a 25-yard run late and No. 18 Syracuse beat No. 15 North Carolina State 24-9 on Saturday to remain unbeaten.

Syracuse (6-0, 3-0 Atlantic Coast Conference) started a season with six wins for just the third time since 1935, taking advantage of the absence of the Wolfpack’s injured star quarterback, Devin Leary. Hurt last week in a win over Florida State, Leary was declared out for the rest of the season before the game. The preseason conference player of the year suffered a torn pectoral muscle and will undergo surgery next week in Florida. He’s expected to make a full recovery.

The Orange took the opening kickoff and scored in short fashion, driving 65 yards in five plays in just 2:04. Tucker’s 38-yard run set up Shrader’s 12-yard touchdown pass to Gadsden, his fourth scoring catch of the season.

North Carolina State (5-2, 1-2), with Charleston Southern graduate transfer Jack Chambers making his first start at quarterback, struggled on offense. Syracuse outgained N.C. State 113-55 in the first half.  Chambers got the Wolfpack rolling in the second half but they had to settle for field goals instead of getting into the end zone.

Tucker had a touchdown run with just over 2 minutes left to ice the game.

Chambers finished 18-of-29 passing for 160 yards, rushed for 68 yards on 19 carries and was sacked three times.

North Carolina State has a bye before hosting Virginia Tech on Thursday night, Oct. 27.

Davidson hangs on against Morehead State 28-26

DAVIDSON (AP) — Mark McCurdy rushed for a pair of touchdowns and Davidson beat Morehead State 28-26 after the Eagles missed a field-goal attempt as time ran out Saturday.

Davidson (5-2, 3-1 Pioneer Football League) led 28-17 at halftime before the Eagles got within two points early in the fourth quarter following Grady Cramer’s 2-yard rushing touchdown. But Nathan Hazlett, who kicked a 33-yard field goal in the third quarter, missed a game-winner from 43 yards out.

Davidson, with the nation’s leading rushing offense, ran for 467 yards. That included McCurdy’s 59-yard score and touchdowns by Mason Sheron and Coy Williams. Dylan Sparks and Williams both went over 2,000 career rushing yards. The Wildcats survived four lost fumbles, three by quarterback Jayden Waddell.

Cramer was 22-of-43 passing for 304 yards, two touchdowns and an interception for the Eagles (2-4, 1-2).

Rhode Island 17, Elon 10

KINGSTON, R.I. (AP) — Kasim Hill dove into the end zone on a 7-yard run in the closing seconds of the third quarter to tie the game and Jarrett Martin picked off a Matthew McKay pass at the 16 and scored the go-ahead touchdown midway through the fourth to give Rhode Island a 17-10, come-from-behind win to knock Elon out of a share of first place in the Colonial Athletic Association on Saturday.

Jalen Hampton scored on a 4-yard run, capping a 12-play, 75-yard drive to give Elon a 10-3 lead at intermission.

The Phoenix stopped the Rams at the Elon 15 with 6:30 to go in the third quarter then blocked a 32-yard field goal attempt by Harrison Leonard. Rhode Island forced a three-and-out and Hill engineered a seven-play, 57-yard drive to tie the score, squirting between pass rushers in the backfield and diving over for the tying score.

The teams traded punts. McKay threw incomplete from the Elon 11 and his third-down throw was picked off by Martin, who had dropped into coverage and ran untouched into the end zone for the game-winning score.

Hill finished 17 of 29 for 201 yards passing and added 73 yards on 13 carries for Rhode Island (4-2, 2-1). Marques DeShields led the Rams with 127 yards rushing on 18 carries.

McKay completed half of his 28 pass attempts and Hampton carried 20 times for 81 yards for Elon (5-2, 3-1).

Campbell routs Robert Morris 41-10

BUIES CREEK (AP) — Hajj-Malik Williams threw three touchdown passes and Campbell rode a 27-point second quarter to a 41-10 victory over Robert Morris on Saturday.

The Fighting Camels’ second-quarter explosion came on two TD passes by Williams, a 34-yard run by Lamagea McDowell and a couple of Caleb Dowden field goals.

Robert Morris led 10-7 after wide receiver Jamal Hill hit Parker Fetterman with a 64-yard touchdown pass in the first quarter. The play accounted for roughly 1/3 of the Colonials’ 188 total yards.

Williams completed 26 of 35 passes for 249 yards and Chad Mascoe added 5 completions in 8 attempts for 78 yards with a touchdown for a team total of 327 yards. The Fighting Camels (4-2, 2-0 Big South) had 171 yards on the ground, led by the 54 yards of McDowell.

Robert Morris quarterbacks Zach Tanner and Corbin LaFrance were a combined 10 of 27 for 104 yards. The Colonials had eight yards rushing.

Robert Morris (0-6, 0-2) has been outscored 89-10 in two conference games.

NC A&T 45 Edward Waters 7

GREENSBORO (AP) — Bhayshul Tuten ran for two touchdowns and Jalen Fowler threw for two more as North Carolina A&T rolled to a 45-7 win over Division II-level Edward Waters Saturday to earn its third win.

Tuten sandwiched two short scoring runs around a 28-yard field goal by Andrew Brown to stake the Aggies to a 17-0 after one quarter and took a 31-0 lead into intermission.

Edward Waters, an HBCU from Jacksonville, Fla., got on the board in the closing minutes of the third quarter when David Johnson hit Damaris August from seven yards out.

Fowler completed 20 of 26 pass attempts for 243 yards to lead NC A&T (3-3). Tuten finished with 103 yards on 14 carries to lead an Aggies ground game that picked up 241 yards on 44 carries.

Three quarterbacks combined to complete 8 of 17 pass attempts for 63 yards for Edward Waters, and the Tigers ran for 55 yards on 24 carries.

 

UAB tops Charlotte 34-20

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (AP) — DeWayne McBride and quarterback Dylan Hopkins combined to rush for 240 yards on 39 carries and three touchdowns and UAB downed upset-minded Charlotte 34-20.

McBride’s 13-yard scoring run with 12:24 to play put the Blazers (4-2, 2-1 Conference USA) back in front 27-20 after the 2-point conversion. After forcing the 49ers (1-6, 0-3) to punt on consecutive possessions, Hopkins sealed it with a 61-yard scoring jaunt with 1:01 left.

McBride had 29 carries for 137 and two scores. Hopkins ran it 10 times for 103 yards and a score in addition to completing 15 of 23 passes for 231 yards, a touchdown and an interception.

Elijah Spencer had four catches for 103 yards and a touchdown for Charlotte.

The Blazers and 49ers met for the third time in program history and for the last time as Conference USA affiliates as both schools make the switch to the American Athletic Conference on July 1, 2023.

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