SYRACUSE, N.Y. — Kyle McCord passed for 381 yards and four touchdowns, two each to Trebor Pena and Oronde Gadsden II, and Syracuse held on to knock off newly ranked No. 23 Georgia Tech 31-28 on Saturday.
The Yellow Jackets (2-1, 1-1 ACC), ranked in the AP Top 25 last week for the first time since 2015, cut the lead to three with 2:31 to go on a 15-yard scoring run by Jamal Haynes.
The Orange made sure Georgia Tech never got the ball back, running out the clock for their first win against a ranked opponent since October 2022 against North Carolina State.
McCord was 32-of-46 passing, with career highs in attempts and completions.
Gadsden had six catches for 93 yards. Pena has five touchdowns on the young season.
Syracuse (2-0, 1-0 ACC) accumulated 515 yards in total offense.
Haynes King was 28-of-38 for 259 yards for Georgia Tech.
He passed for one score and ran for two.
King escaped the grasp of linebacker Derek McDonald and scrambled 21 yards for his first score.
He faked a pitch and scored from 26 yards out to get Georgia Tech to 21-14 with 4:39 to go in the first half.
The Orange defense held Haynes, the Yellow Jackets’ leading rusher, to just 35 yards on 11 carries. He had averaged 5.7yards a carry entering the game.
