Florida State Is Too Much for Syracuse, 41-10

Terrell Buckley returned a punt 69 yards for a touchdown, and LeRoy Butler scored on an 87-yard interception return three minutes later as No. 22 Florida State ended 17th-ranked Syracuse’s 16-game home winning streak Saturday with a 41-10 victory.

The Seminoles, one of college football’s top road teams during the past 14 years, improved their record to 3-2. The Orangemen (2-2) have lost two in a row.

It was Syracuse’s most lopsided loss in the Carrier Dome since losing to Maryland, 26-3, in 1982.

Florida State had 10 sacks and held Syracuse to 32 yards rushing in the first half. Syracuse quarterbacks were sacked eight times in a 30-23 loss to Pittsburgh two weeks ago.

Buckley, a freshman, gave the Seminoles a 27-3 lead in the third quarter with his punt return. He caught the ball at the 31-yard line, hesitated as if he had just made a fair catch, then took off.

“I really didn’t have that in mind,” Buckley said. “I just wanted to catch the ball and freeze them.”

Buckley, who returned 12 punts for touchdowns in high school, said the idea came to him during his senior season. He said he thought about doing it earlier this season against Louisiana State, but didn’t.

“The situation hasn’t been right,” he said.

Butler then intercepted Bill Scharr for the second time and scored to give Florida State a 34-3 lead.

Butler didn’t resort to deception. He just used his speed.

“I just made a pretty good read,” the senior cornerback said. “Once I got 10 yards, I said, ‘Damn, I might score.’ Then I kept saying it could, it could be.”

The Seminoles built a 10-0 lead in the first quarter on kicker Richie Andrews’ 43-yard field goal, which followed Butler’s first interception. Andrews kicked a 39-yarder in the third quarter.

John Biskup pulled Syracuse to 10-3 with a 44-yard field goal with 3:13 to play in the first half, but Florida State moved 73 yards in 74 seconds to push its lead to 17-3 on a 22-yard pass from Peter Tom Willis to Terry Anthony.