Syracuse sneaks past UConn 42-41 in overtime thriller
Get the latest Syracuse news delivered right to your inbox. Subscribe to our sports newsletter here.
EAST HARTFORD, Conn. — Shay Barker hunched toward the ground, and for a moment on Saturday afternoon, it felt like Syracuse’s whole sideline did, too.
The freshman’s 44-yard game-winning field goal attempt had just sailed wide, and with it, Syracuse’s best remaining chance to escape Rentschler Field with a win did, too. The miss sent the Orange and Huskies to overtime, but there wasn’t a hint of momentum tailing SU.
At one point Saturday afternoon, the Orange offense looked its best since the season opener. Amari Odom — in his first Syracuse start — totaled four touchdowns in the first half. The Orange had a 20-point lead at multiple points in the game. But UConn preceded Barker’s game-winning attempt with 20 unanswered points. The 44-yarder felt like the last gasp for Syracuse.
Even when it sailed right, the Orange found a way to muscle out a win.
Despite Syracuse (2-2, 0-2 Atlantic Coast) conceding 20 unanswered points in the second half, a game-winning touchdown and two-point conversion pushed the Orange to a 42-41 overtime win over UConn (2-3, Independent) on the road. Odom totaled six touchdowns and 335 passing yards in his first start. Although he threw two interceptions in the second half that gave the Huskies offense life, he completed a miraculous touchdown pass to Umari Hatcher on fourth-and-17, then ran in the game-winning two-point conversion in overtime.
For SU head coach Fran Brown, who’s fallen under some scrutiny after losing nine consecutive ACC contests, it’s a major momentum builder entering an October stretch with four season-defining conference matchups.
SU and UConn always seem to play close, but it really should’ve been a tune-up game for the Orange. And for a while, that’s exactly what it looked like. Odom — who Brown publicly announced as the starter Saturday morning — looked like the missing piece in the Orange offense, instantly igniting it with a 40-yard touchdown pass to Hatcher on SU’s first drive.
UConn had an early answer, marching 75 yards in just over two minutes to take a 7-6 lead. The Huskies then got back in striking distance on their next drive, but doinked a 40-yard field goal off the left post.
Odom and the Orange took over at their own 22-yard line and picked up chunk plays on a David Clement 25-yard screen pass and an acrobatic 28-yard grab from Cole Weaver down the sideline. Back in the red zone, Odom lofted a short pass to a diving Noah Meyers at the front pylon to put Syracuse up 13-7.
Odom’s rhythm looked unbreakable from there. He connected with Darius Johnson for 27 yards before punching in a six-yard touchdown run himself. After a forced fumble, he took the top off the Huskies’ defense with another bomb to Hatcher, this time a 41-yard touchdown to go up 27-7.
The halftime break couldn’t slow him, either. SU received the second-half kickoff and Odom marched the Orange on their longest drive of the day.
He quickly found Hatcher twice before pirouetting around defenders in the backfield and dumping off a 13-yard pass to Justus Ross-Simmons. SU momentarily stalled in UConn territory, but elected to go for it on fourth-and-23 at the 34-yard line. Odom found a wide-open Daunte Bachieye over the middle for his fourth touchdown pass of the day.
Yet the Huskies began quietly chipping away. UConn marched down the field and capped a 13-play drive with a 10-yard Cyncir Bowers touchdown run. Then, Odom had his first real hiccup when a free blitzer got in his face and forced him into a rushed throw that sailed well left of Calvin Russell III. UConn defensive back Renick Dorilas sprawled out to intercept it at the Syracuse 31-yard line.
Behind Amari Odom’s 335 passing yards and six total touchdowns, Syracuse snuck past UConn 42-41 in overtime Saturday after blowing a 20-point lead. Avery Magee | Development Editor
After the Odom interception, the Huskies cut the lead to seven with a Xavier Watson touchdown grab from Kalieb Osborne. The Orange offense stalled again on their first drive of the fourth, and a Jimmy Gregg punt set the Huskies up at their own 16-yard line.
It took two plays for UConn to flip the game upside down. Osborne ran for 13 yards before Bowers gashed the SU defense up the middle, rumbling 71 yards for the game-tying score.
Odom and the SU offense settled down on a potential game-winning drive. Tylik Hill took most of the workload as the Orange worked down to the Huskies’ seven-yard line. But on a first-down snap, Odom rolled left, threw across his body and was picked off by UConn’s Jayden Price at the goal line.
SU’s defense had a stop to give, though, and halted the Huskies on a fourth-down attempt at the Syracuse 38-yard line. The Orange worked into field goal range at the buzzer, but Barker’s 44-yard attempt sailed wide right.
UConn got the ball first in overtime and only needed two plays to take the lead. Osborne found Trey Cornist in the end zone to go up 41-34. Odom and the Orange were backed into a corner after the SU quarterback was sacked on second down.
With 17 yards between him and the end zone, he rolled left and threw a prayer across his body. There was Hatcher, leaping through the painted grass to answer it.
Brown elected to go for two, calling a QB power up the gut for Odom. UConn met him at the goal line. SU’s new hero still pushed through.
At last, relief.
