Syracuse Looks Out for No. 1 in 24-0 Victory Over Tulane

It appeared that 10th-ranked Syracuse started thinking about its game next week against top-ranked Florida State about 30 minutes early.

Syracuse (4-0) beat Tulane, 24-0, Saturday behind two big plays by Qadry Ismail, who scored on a 45-yard reverse and a 64-yard pass play from Marvin Graves.

It was the second consecutive shutout of Tulane (0-5), which had gone 152 consecutive games without being blanked until it was beaten, 48-0, by Mississippi State in its last game.

“Against Florida State, we can’t make mistakes and turn the ball over the way we did in the second half tonight,” Graves said.

Syracuse scored on two of its first three possessions but failed to score in the second half.

“We wanted to come out fast, and we did,” Graves said. “We wanted to come out fast for the second half, too, but we came out sluggish. Thankfully, the defense kept the pressure on.”