Kevin Deutsch 

 Knightsnews Staff Writer

If I told you the Golden Knights set a season high on Saturday vs. Syracuse  with 539 yards of total offense, and that quarterback Ryan Schneider threw for a school-record  440 yards passing, would you think UCF came away with a win? What if I also said that the Knights would lead the Orangemen by as many as 18 points. Would you chalk up the victory to the Orlando school? 

If you said yes, you were wrong.  

Syracuse defeated UCF 38-35 at the Citrus Bowl, in a game where the teams combined for 935 yards of total offense and 73 points. The shootout looked like it would be one-sided in the first-half, after UCF marched into the end-zone on a six-play, 69 yard opening drive. 

Later in the first quarter, UCF went on a 10-play, 80-yard drive that was capped off by a two-yard touchdown run by Andreal Curry. After a Syracuse field-goal, the Knights increased their lead to 21-3 on a one-yard touchdown run by Doug Gabriel. 

With the UCF offense clicking the way it was, it looked like there was a better chance of it snowing at the Citrus Bowl then there was of Syracuse getting back in the game. Unfortunately for the Knights, the flakes never fell, and Syracuse scored their first touchdown of the game at 2:21 in the second quarter on a 40-yard touchdown pass from Troy Nunes to David Tyree, cutting the lead to 21-10. 

The Orangemen went into the locker-room at halftime with a little momentum, but when they came back onto the field for the second-half, it seemed like an awful lot. Syracuse opened the third-quarter with a six-play, 70-yard drive. Walter Reyes evaded would-be UCF tacklers, scampering for a 38-yard touchdown run, and making the score 21-16 after Syracuse missed the extra-point. 

Instead of getting flustered as their lead slipped away, the Knights offense responded. An eight-play, 65-yard drive was capped off by a 32-yard field goal by Matt Prater. The kick gave UCF a 24-16 lead with 9:41 left in the third, and it looked like the door may have finally been closed on Syracuse. 

But this wasn’t your typical college football game, and the team with the orange pants from upstate New York wasn't ready to pack it up just yet. 

Nunes threw a 12-yard touchdown pass to Jared Jones, and tailback Walter Reyes ran in the two-point attempt to tie the score at 24. 

With the game on the line, Ryan Schneider continued to impress. In a game where he broke Dante Culpepper's single-game school passing record,  a composed Schneider marched the Knights deep into Syracuse territory. After an 11-play, 64-yard drive, Matt Prater took back the lead for the Knights with a 34-yard field goal. 

Despite the fact that Syracuse had been nipping at their heels for three quarters, the Knights had never trailed in the contest as the fourth quarter began. Walter Reyes changed that when he ran in it in from four yards out, giving the Orangemen a 31-27 lead, their first of the game. 

With Schneider picking apart the Syracuse defense the way he had all day, it seemed that UCF would get the lead back just as quickly as they’d lost it. Anything but a turnover would have put the ball right back into Schneider’s hands, but in a game where it seemed anything could happen, anything did. 

Asante Samuel muffed a punt and the Orangemen recovered the ball on the UCF 16-yard line. Walter Reyes made the Knights pay, rushing for his third touchdown of the game from 5-yards out, and increasing the Syracuse lead to 38-27. 

With just 9:50 remaining, the Knights needed a scoring drive from their offense and a big stop from their defense. And wouldn’t you know it, they got both. 

It took just 58 seconds for UCF to drive 66-yards, and Sean Gaudion caught a 4-yard touchdown pass to bring the Knights within five. Schneider then connected with Tavaris Capers on the two-point try, making the score 38-35. 

Needing to stop Syracuse and get the ball back, the UCF defense did their part, holding the Orangemen to a three-and-out series. 

With time running out and his team trailing by three, Schneider looked to get the Knights within field-goal range. He took UCF all the way to the Syracuse 30, and then it was up to kicker Matt Prater. His 47-yard field goal would have tied the game and given the Knights new life. Instead, he watched as Steve Gregory knocked his kick down with 2:55 remaining, and took the breath out of the Knights charge.  

In a game where there were more ups-and-downs than you could count, Syracuse came away with the last-up, and went back to upstate New York with many bronzed Orlando tans, and one hard fought win.

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