EAST ROUNDUP : East Carolina Gains Upset Over Syracuse, 23-20

Syracuse was making things too hot for East Carolina quarterback Jeff Blake, but it was the Orangemen who ended up getting burned.

“I felt somebody at my heels, that’s what made me run,” said Blake, who turned a broken pass play into a 43-yard touchdown run in the fourth quarter to lift East Carolina to a 23-20 upset of No. 15 Syracuse Saturday at Syracuse, N.Y.

John Biskup, the most accurate kicker in Syracuse history, missed field-goal attempts of 27 and 42 yards in the fourth quarter as the Orangemen (4-2) lost for the second consecutive week.

Blake completed 23 of 43 passes for 324 yards to guide the Pirates (5-1) to their fifth consecutive victory. East Carolina scored on three of its first four possessions in the second half to overcome a 20-10 deficit. Kicker Anthony Brenner missed a 23-yard field goal on the other possession.

Flanker Dion Johnson, who caught seven passes for 136 yards, had a 102-yard kickoff touchdown return called back in the first quarter when the Pirates were flagged for holding and clipping. Linebacker Chris Hall had a 45-yard interception touchdown return nullified in the last two minutes on a holding penalty.

East Carolina pulled to within 20-16 with 2:49 left in the third quarter on Brenner’s third field goal, a 51-yarder.

The Pirates were driving again on their next possession when Blake was forced to step up in the pocket.

Seeing an open field ahead, Blake broke outside down the left sideline and lunged into the end zone with a Syracuse defender hanging onto him for a 23-20 lead with 12:45 to play.

The Orangemen went ahead 20-10 with 47 seconds to play in the first half on a 40-yard touchdown pass play from quarterback Marvin Graves to Antonio Johnson.

Syracuse hurt itself on its first four possessions of the game with penalties and misfired plays. Twice the Orangemen drove to first downs inside the 20 only to be denied the end zone.

Biskup finished the first drive with a 19-yard field goal after the Orangemen, who recovered a fumble at their own 16, had pushed inside the one but couldn’t score. He saved the second drive with a 48-yarder after Syracuse lost 14 yards on an errant pitch by Graves.

After East Carolina botched a double reverse, Syracuse finally converted an opportunity when reserve fullback Marcus Lee scored five plays later on an eight-yard run up the middle.

Air Force 46, Navy 6--Air Force scored 39 points in the second half for the nonconference victory at Annapolis, Md..

Jason Jones scored on touchdown runs of seven and 12 yards for Air Force (6-1), which defeated Navy by the the widest margin in the history of the service academy rivalry.

Navy (0-5) led 7-6 at halftime.

The Citadel 20, Army 14--Jack Douglas scored a touchdown and set up another with a 47-yard pass to Damond Boatright at West Point, N.Y., as The Citadel (3-2) got its first victory over Army (2-3).

Boston College 33, Louisville 3--Dwight Shirley ran for 110 yards and two touchdowns and Glenn Foley passed for two touchdowns at Newton, Mass., giving Tom Coughlin his first victory as coach of the Eagles.

Boston College is 1-4, Louisville 2-4.

West Virginia 10, Temple 9--Mark Johnson’s 21-yard field goal capped a fourth-quarter comeback that gave the Mountaineers (4-2) the victory over Temple (1-5) at Morgantown, W.Va.

Rutgers 40, Maine 17--Tom Tarver of Rutgers (5-1) completed a 65-yard touchdown pass play and Marshall Roberts scored on a 27-yard interception return during a 17-second first-quarter span at Piscataway, N.J., as the Scarlet Knights beat Maine (1-5) to continue their best start since 1981.

Columbia 20, Pennsylvania 14--Greg Abbruzzese gained 83 yards in 23 carries to help the Lions (1-3, 1-1) beat the Quakers (0-4, 0-2) in an Ivy League game at New York.

Fordham 14, Harvard 7--Gary Brennan threw two fourth-quarter touchdown passes to Tom Garlick at New York as Fordham (2-3) beat the Crimson (1-3) in a nonconference game.