SYRACUSE, N.Y. (AP) — Steve Angeli passed for three touchdowns in his first game action following a season-ending injury nearly a year ago, freshman Shavane Anderson ran for three more, and Syracuse routed New Hampshire 66-3 Saturday in the Orange’s season opener.
Angeli, who suffered a torn Achilles in Syracuse’s fourth game last season, was sharp in his return. He completed 20 of 29 passes for 263 yards and touchdown strikes of 19 and 18 yards to Umari Hatcher and 27 yards to David Clement.
“I think it was solid. I think there’s some things we left out there,” Angeli said. “Really happy for some guys getting involved and, you know, putting up the points we did, but I think there’s a lot left out there that we’re going to clean up this weekend and the next week.”
The quarterback threw a scare into the Orange faithful when he appeared to injure his right knee midway through the second quarter, but he ran off the field and missed just one play.
“Just got a little banged up. All good. There’s no injury,” said Angeli, who left the field in a foot race with coach Fran Brown.
Brown was a bit more concerned.
“I started talking to God before I went to him,” Brown said. “As he moved his leg and got up to walk I was like, ‘race me.’ He’s a competitor, That’s why I ended up doing that. Once he was able to do that I was very thankful.”
Despite the scare and Syracuse up by an insurmountable margin, Angeli played until 10 minutes were left in the game.
“Our team’s a young football team,” said Brown, who graded Angeli a 75 for the afternoon. “Steve started I think five games, maybe, before this game so he hasn’t had a lot of reps, and hasn’t been able to play with the line. They don’t have much experience. The best way to get better is to continue to play.”
Syracuse came out sluggish but then scored on six consecutive drives. The Orange amassed 513 yards of total offense to 155 for New Hampshire (0-2).
Anderson ran for 102 yards in his Syracuse debut. Tylik Hill ran for 90 more and a 2-yard score. Ten Syracuse players caught passes, led by Hatcher who had eight for 147 yards.
The Orange led 41-0 at the break.
New Hampshire’s Brooks Bentley played just the first half and finished 11-of-18 passing for 75 yards and one interception. The Syracuse defense shut down the ground game, holding the Wildcats to 51 yards, and just 99 through the air. Running back Myles Thomason had seven receptions for 53 yards out of the backfield.
“A tough, tough day today,” New Hampshire coach Sean Goldrich said. “We got to be better just overall at the quarterback spot and be able to run the ball. I mean, we netted no yards today and the run game, I mean, the focus all week was be able to establish the run. If you can’t do that, then you put too much pressure on your system.”
Oh, Those Penalties
Syracuse was penalized 12 times for 130 yards, but Brown didn’t seem overly concerned, saying they happened due to aggressiveness, not laziness.
The Takeaway
New Hampshire: Things looked encouraging after the Wildcats forced the Orange to punt on Syracuse’s opening series but then it was all downhill from there. New Hampshire, quite simply, was overmatched on both sides of the ball.
Syracuse: The big story was how Angeli would fare after his injury and whether he’d come out of the game with no ill effects. He answered those questions resoundingly with his passing and his ability to withstand some big hits. The challenge increases next week.
Up Next
New Hampshire: Home against Stonehill Sept. 12.
Syracuse: Hosts Cal Sept. 12 in an Atlantic Coast Conference season opener.
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