Akron loses season opener to Syracuse

AKRON, Ohio - Drawing motivation from Pro Football Hall of Famer Floyd Little, Syracuse beat Akron 29-3 for its biggest win in five years.

Mike Holmes returned a blocked field goal 57 yards for one touchdown and Ryan Nassib passed for 229 yards and two more Saturday night as the Orange won their season opener for the first time since 2003.

"We're starting a new tradition," running back Delone Carter said after Syracuse's largest margin of victory since beating Buffalo 31-0 in 2005. "It was nice to see so many happy faces in the locker room," Carter said. "We were so inspired by a Hall of Famer. Floyd Little is one reason I came to Syracuse."

Carter gained 91 yards on 26 carries. His 1-yard touchdown run made it 29-3 midway through the fourth quarter.

Syracuse had a 22-10 record behind Little's running in 1964-66. He went on to excel for the Denver Broncos, was enshrined in the Pro Hall last month and spoke to the team Friday night.

"Floyd's speech was very moving," said second-year coach Doug Marrone. "I can't see how anyone would not be ready to play after that."

Marrone believes a strong defense, which limited the Zips to 48 yards in the first half, can get the Orange rolling again.

"We have room to grow on offense," Marrone said. "Three turnovers, we have to correct that, but we made big plays on defense all night."

Chandler Jones blocked Igor Iveljic's attempt at the Syracuse 39 and Holmes picked it up at the 43, going untouched to make it 23-3 in the third quarter.

"We practice that all the time and Mike always scoops them up and scores," Jones said. "I got some good penetration, threw my arms up and the ball hit my elbow. He did the rest."

Nassib connected with Aaron Weaver for a 23-yard score on the game's first series and found Van Chew for a 26-yard touchdown five seconds before halftime for a 17-3 lead.
Akron's Rob Ianello, who took over for J.D. Brookhart, lost his head coaching debut after five years as a Notre Dame assistant. Brookhart went 30-42 in six seasons with the Zips.

"Obviously, we're bitterly disappointed," Ianello said, "not only in the outcome, but that we didn't do the things a good football team should do. We never seemed quite on schedule on offense."

Chew had two impressive catches in the first half, including a 45-yarder to the Akron 25 on the first play of the second quarter. The Orange settled for a 47-yard field goal by Ross Krautman to go up 10-0.

Chew then scored on a diving catch in the right corner of the end zone on the sixth play of a 65-yard drive.

"We worked on that play all summer," Chew said. "We finally perfected it. He threw it right where it should be."

That came after Iveljic's 40-yard field goal got Akron within 10-3.

The Zips' score was set up by defensive end Shawn Lemon, who scooped up a fumble by Nassib and went 29 yards to the Syracuse 18 with 1:39 left in the first half. Bryan Wagner forced the fumble.

Patrick Nicely threw three incompletions including a low, errant toss to a wide-open Gary Pride in the end zone. Nicely finished with 111 yards on 12-for-35 passing.