EAST ROUNDUP : Syracuse’s Walker Turns Tables on Pitt

Syracuse kept turning the ball over, but Pittsburgh could not keep David Walker out of the end zone, especially when it counted most.

Walker’s fourth touchdown run, a one-yarder with nine seconds left, enabled No. 24 Syracuse to overcome six turnovers and an early 13-point deficit to beat No. 20 Pittsburgh, 31-27, in a Big East Conference game Saturday at Pittsburgh.

Alex Van Pelt passed for two touchdowns, including an eight-yarder to Eric Seaman, as Pitt (5-2) took a 27-17 lead in the fourth quarter. But Syracuse (5-2) rallied with two touchdown runs by Walker in the final 5:59 to end a two-game losing streak.

The victory was the first for Syracuse over Pittsburgh since 1988 and followed consecutive losses to No. 1 Florida State and East Carolina. Pitt has lost two in a row after beginning the season 5-0.

“How can you not win when you get six turnovers?” Pitt Coach Paul Hackett said. “It all came down to a few seconds to go and we couldn’t keep them out of the end zone. They had a lot of turnovers . . . but we just had too many things get away from us.”

Syracuse lost four fumbles and had two passes intercepted, but Walker’s running and a series of big plays by Qadry Ismail, who had 192 all-purpose yards, fueled a comeback.

“We wanted to hammer the ball at them because we’ve been relying on the big play too much,” said Walker, who gained 138 yards in 25 carries.

Walker completed a 70-yard Syracuse scoring drive with his third touchdown run, a four-yarder that made it 27-24 and gave the Orangemen a chance to win.

After forcing Pitt to punt, Syracuse overcame three potentially drive-wrecking penalties on a 10-play, 73-yard game-winning march that featured two big plays by Ismail.

Marvin Graves, who completed 20 of 30 passes for 268 yards, connected with Ismail on a 29-yard pass play to Pitt’s 43, and Walker gained 17 yards to the 26. Two penalties later, Graves hooked up with Ismail for a 13-yard gain to set up Walker’s go-ahead touchdown.

“After that (sixth) turnover, I just came off the field and said, ‘Oh, damn,’ but we stuck together and kept playing and didn’t let it get us down,” Graves said. “We wanted a touchdown on that last drive. There was no way we would settle for a field goal and a tie. We were going to score.”

Syracuse outrushed Pitt, 238-69. Pitt was playing without its top rusher, freshman Curtis Martin, who injured a toe in a 42-7 loss to Notre Dame on Oct. 12.

Van Pelt completed 18 of 31 passes for 267 yards. He had one pass intercepted.

Syracuse turned the ball over three times in a five-play span as Pitt took a 13-0 lead early in second quarter on Jermaine Williams’ 12-yard touchdown run and two field goals by Don Silvestri.

The Orangemen rebounded to take a 14-13 lead on Walker scoring runs of two and three yards, the second touchdown capping a 93-yard, six-play drive with 1:18 left in the first half.

However, the Orangemen might have scored too quickly as Van Pelt connected with Chris Bouyer for 21 yards, then hooked up with Bouyer on a 37-yard touchdown pass play with 1:00 left to give Pitt a 20-14 halftime lead.

Syracuse cut the margin to 20-17 on John Biskup’s 35-yard field goal early in the third quarter.

No. 10 Penn State 37, Rutgers 17--Tony Sacca threw for more than 200 yards for the fourth consecutive game and he also ran 20 yards for a touchdown at State College, Pa., as the Nittany Lions ended Rutgers’ four-game winning streak.

O.J. McDuffie scored on a 55-yard punt return for Penn State (6-2), which rallied from a 14-7 deficit to lead 21-14 at halftime.

Sacca completed 13 of 28 passes for 220 yards and gained 40 yards on six carries in a game slowed by 31 penalties for 314 yards. Penn State was assessed 15 for 151 and Rutgers 16 for 163.

Tom Tarver completed 21 of 47 passes for 220 yards and scored a touchdown for Rutgers (5-2).

West Virginia 31, Boston College 24--Darren Studstill passed for three touchdowns, the last one a 40-yard desperation heave to Michael Beasley in the end zone with 24 seconds left to give the Mountaineers a Big East victory at Newton, Mass.

Boston College (1-5) came within a foot of a touchdown on the final play on Glenn Foley’s 46-yard pass to Michael Campbell, who was kept out of the end zone by three West Virginia defenders.

Studstill completed 15 of 24 passes for 166 yards and pulled West Virginia (5-2) into a 17-17 tie with an 11-yard scoring pass to Alex Shook in the third quarter.

Temple 21, Navy 14--Leon Brown rushed for a career-high 158 yards and scored the go-ahead touchdown as Temple rallied in the second half for a victory at Philadelphia.

Navy (0-6) is off to its poorest start since 1948, when the Midshipmen lost their first eight games.

Brown, who gained 96 yards in the first half, ran around the left end for an 11-yard touchdown with 10:11 left to give the Owls (2-5) their first lead at 21-14.

Princeton 31, Bucknell 7--Tailback Keith Elias ran for two touchdowns and set up another, and defensive end Brian Kazan led the Princeton defense with 3 1/2 sacks at Princeton, N.J.

Princeton (5-0) is off to its best start since the Tigers started 8-0 in 1965. Bucknell is 1-6.

Dartmouth 28, Yale 24--Mike Bobo caught a 10-yard touchdown pass from Jay Fiedler with 23 seconds left at New Haven, Conn., to give Dartmouth (3-2, 2-0) an Ivy League victory over Yale (3-2, 1-1).

Quarterback Nick Crawford, who rushed 19 times for 122 yards, scored one of his two touchdowns with 1:48 left to give Yale a 24-21 lead.

Holy Cross 42, Brown 28--Tom Ciaccio led his team back from a 14-0 deficit and Mark Roman caught 11 passes for 216 yards as Holy Cross (6-0) beat Brown (0-5) at Worcester, Mass., extending its winning streak to 15 games, the longest in Division I-AA.

The Crusaders have 22 consecutive victories over Ivy League schools since losing to Harvard in 1985.

Cornell 22, Harvard 17--Backup kicker Mike Cochrane tied a school record with three field goals, all in the second half, as Cornell (2-3, 1-1) rallied for an Ivy League victory over the Crimson (1-4, 1-1) at Ithaca, N.Y.

Lehigh 28, Pennsylvania 17--Glenn Kempa passed for 297 yards and two touchdowns as Lehigh (6-0) needed a 22-point fourth quarter beat the Quakers (0-5) at Bethlehem, Pa.