CHAMPAIGN, Ill. - Taj Smith made his first start count for Syracuse Saturday.
The junior receiver picked up a dropped ball and ran 41 yards for a touchdown and scored again on a 65-yard pass as the Orange ended an 11-game losing streak with a 31-21 win over Illinois.
“We needed it in the worst way and we found a way to pull it off,” said Syracuse coach Greg Robinson.
The Orange led 31-7 after three quarters as they also ended a seven-game road losing streak with their first win since beating Buffalo 31-0 the second game of last season.
“It feels fantastic. It's very addictive,” said linebacker Jerry Mackey, who ran an Illinois fumble back 15 yards for a TD. “I'm ready to go back to Syracuse, hit the film room and study for our next opponent right now.”
Illinois (1-2) hurt itself with 12 penalties for 106 yards, including three that stopped a second-quarter drive. After moving 50 yards to the Syracuse 30, the Illini were flagged for an illegal block, holding and a personal foul that left them facing third-and-30.
Tim Brasic threw downfield, but A.J. Brown intercepted at the 17.
“Those penalties are ridiculous,” Illinois coach Ron Zook said.
The Illini fell behind 31-7 before coming to life late in the game behind the throwing arm of freshman quarterback Juice Williams. He threw TD passes of 76 yards to Rashard Mendenhall and 69 yards to Kyle Hudson and finished 9-of-16 for 227 yards after replacing starter Tim Brasic early in the third quarter.
That fueled talk that Williams could be the starter next week against Iowa.
“I'm not ready to say he's the guy, but I am ready to say he deserves the playing time that he's been getting,” Zook said.
“Each time he steps on the field he gets better and better. It's exciting to watch him improve.”
Syracuse went up 7-0 in the first quarter after Smith picked up quarterback Perry Patterson's fumble.
On third-and-5 at the Illini 48, Patterson dropped back to pass but was forced to scramble. Illini safety Kevin Mitchell hit him at the 43 where the ball popped out, and Smith picked it up at the 41 and ran untouched to the end zone.
“I was trying to block and I saw him get hit. I saw the ball out and I picked it up,” Smith said. “When the opportunity was there I didn't look back. I did what Coach told me to do and ran it in.”
Patterson threw the 65-yarder to Smith on the next Orange possession.
He also threw a 16-yard TD pass to Tom Ferron and Patrick Schadel added a 36-yard field goal.
Patterson finished 9-of-18 for 167 yards, Curtis Brinkley carried 18 times for 69 yards and Delone Carter had 19 carries for 63 yards as the Orange totaled 369 yards of offense.
“No one thing is the key to it,” Robinson said of the win. “All in all it was a mindset that we were going to go out and execute and win.”
Brasic, starting his 14th consecutive game for the Illini, completed 8-of-16 passes for 61 yards and rushed for 38 more, including a 5-yard touchdown to cap a 15-play, 80-yard drive. Mendenhall carried five times for 32 yards and had two catches for 78 as the Illini put up 398 yards of offense.
“We needed it in the worst way and we found a way to pull it off,” said Syracuse coach Greg Robinson.
The Orange led 31-7 after three quarters as they also ended a seven-game road losing streak with their first win since beating Buffalo 31-0 the second game of last season.
“It feels fantastic. It's very addictive,” said linebacker Jerry Mackey, who ran an Illinois fumble back 15 yards for a TD. “I'm ready to go back to Syracuse, hit the film room and study for our next opponent right now.”
Illinois (1-2) hurt itself with 12 penalties for 106 yards, including three that stopped a second-quarter drive. After moving 50 yards to the Syracuse 30, the Illini were flagged for an illegal block, holding and a personal foul that left them facing third-and-30.
Tim Brasic threw downfield, but A.J. Brown intercepted at the 17.
“Those penalties are ridiculous,” Illinois coach Ron Zook said.
The Illini fell behind 31-7 before coming to life late in the game behind the throwing arm of freshman quarterback Juice Williams. He threw TD passes of 76 yards to Rashard Mendenhall and 69 yards to Kyle Hudson and finished 9-of-16 for 227 yards after replacing starter Tim Brasic early in the third quarter.
That fueled talk that Williams could be the starter next week against Iowa.
“I'm not ready to say he's the guy, but I am ready to say he deserves the playing time that he's been getting,” Zook said.
“Each time he steps on the field he gets better and better. It's exciting to watch him improve.”
Syracuse went up 7-0 in the first quarter after Smith picked up quarterback Perry Patterson's fumble.
On third-and-5 at the Illini 48, Patterson dropped back to pass but was forced to scramble. Illini safety Kevin Mitchell hit him at the 43 where the ball popped out, and Smith picked it up at the 41 and ran untouched to the end zone.
“I was trying to block and I saw him get hit. I saw the ball out and I picked it up,” Smith said. “When the opportunity was there I didn't look back. I did what Coach told me to do and ran it in.”
Patterson threw the 65-yarder to Smith on the next Orange possession.
He also threw a 16-yard TD pass to Tom Ferron and Patrick Schadel added a 36-yard field goal.
Patterson finished 9-of-18 for 167 yards, Curtis Brinkley carried 18 times for 69 yards and Delone Carter had 19 carries for 63 yards as the Orange totaled 369 yards of offense.
“No one thing is the key to it,” Robinson said of the win. “All in all it was a mindset that we were going to go out and execute and win.”
Brasic, starting his 14th consecutive game for the Illini, completed 8-of-16 passes for 61 yards and rushed for 38 more, including a 5-yard touchdown to cap a 15-play, 80-yard drive. Mendenhall carried five times for 32 yards and had two catches for 78 as the Illini put up 398 yards of offense.
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