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Garrett Williams knew what he was facing.

When asked about how he and the rest of Syracuse’s secondary was preparing to battle Louisville’s Malik Cunningham, Williams acknowledged him as the “best dual threat quarterback now in the conference, but probably in the country.”

And on a Louisville 1st-and-10 at Syracuse’s 35-yard line, Cunningham collected the ball off the snap, shuffled backwards and looked deep. Wide receiver Dee Wiggins made a play for the end zone, and Williams a few yards back.

But as the ball was set to fall into the hands of a backpedaling Wiggins, Williams snatched it in the end zone, canceling what would’ve become a four-point game and maintaining the Orange’s 10-point lead over the Cardinals midway through the third quarter.

Syracuse (1-0, 1-0 Atlantic Coast), who had only beaten Louisville (0-1, 0-1 ACC) twice in the past decade, won its season-opener 31-7. The Orange’s defense, highlighted by two interceptions and a fumble recovery, held Cunningham to 34 rushing yards and a 73% completion percentage. The Cardinals had scored at least 23 points against the Orange in 11 straight meetings.

Syracuse head coach Dino Babers remembered Louisville scoring a similarly designed touchdown against Syracuse on separate occasions within the last five seasons. When Cunningham released the ball, Babers immediately shifted his focal point to the end zone and toward Williams. And when the catch was made, Babers knew it solidified the win.

“It was just one of those plays that we said, we can’t let this play beat us again,” Babers said. “This has been deja vu too many times.”

The Orange went three-and-out after Williams’ interception and punted to send Louisville back to its own 20-yard line. Then after a three-yard sack and a short gain, Cunningham opted to go deep and looked for Wiggins again to move the Cardinals past the 50-yard line. But his pass was short again. It was intercepted by Derek McDonald, who ran the ball back to Louisville’s 13-yard line as the third quarter clock expired.

“The defense did an amazing job,” Babers said. “They really played a complete game.”

Syracuse’s defense showed immediate pressure on Cunningham, forcing a quick 3-and-out on the Cardinals’ opening drive.

Syracuse led by 10 at the half and held Cunningham to 18 rushing yards and 55 passing yards. Williams said that to handle a dual-threat quarterback like Cunningham, the Orange had to “make (him) dump, make (him) work down the field, instead of chuck plays.”

The Orange’s defense also helped keep Cunningham and the rest of Louisville’s offense relatively quiet. The Cardinals were held to 334 yards while SU managed 449, with 242 coming from passes.

Babers called his sixth run against Cunningham a “new approach,” one that was completely unique because “all the approaches did not work.”

But the key factor for Syracuse were the three consecutive second half turnovers. The third came right after Syracuse scored its 24th point of the game. Cunningham had just run the ball three yards, giving the Cardinals a 2nd-and-7 at their own 28-yard line. Cunningham was sacked by Steve Linton, popping the ball loose. Linton collected the fumble, falling on top of the loose ball in prime scoring position for the Orange.

And to finish off the game, Mikel Jones collected Syracuse’s third sack, pushing Cunningham back seven yards.

Syracuse also held Louisville to 5-of-11 on third down. One of its most crucial defensive stops came when the Cardinals were just seven yards away from pulling within three points of the Orange. On 2nd-and-goal, Cunningham was forced to chuck the ball out of bounds as he was quickly hurried by Caleb Okechukwu.

On Louisville’s third down attempt, Cunningham ran for five yards to the 2-yard line. Cunningham and the Cardinals went for the fourth down conversion, but five Orange defenders, led by Marlowe Wax, collapsed on Cunningham. The Orange took over on downs, halting Cunningham once again.

Published on September 3, 2022 at 11:33 pm

Contact Alex: ahcirino@syr.edu