SYRACUSE, N.Y. — Kyle McCord and Syracuse knocked No. 6 Miami out of Atlantic Coast Conference title contention — and possibly ended the Hurricanes’ College Football Playoff hopes — by rallying from a 21-0 deficit for a 42-38 win on Saturday.
McCord threw for 380 yards and three touchdowns for the Orange (9-3, 5-3 ACC). LeQuint Allen ran for two scores and picked up two critical first downs on Syracuse’s final, clock-killing drive, and Devin Grant forced a fumble that he returned 56 yards for a touchdown to help the Orange beat a ranked foe for the third time this season.
Cam Ward had 349 yards passing with two touchdowns for the Hurricanes (10-2, 6-2 ACC, No. 6 CFP), who will be off next week while Clemson faces SMU in the ACC championship game. The Canes will have to hope for an at-large bid into the 12-team playoff.
Miami had little trouble scoring against the Orange but settled for a field goal on what turned out to be its final possession when coach Mario Cristobal declined to go for it on fourth-and-goal from the 10-yard line.
“We came up short, and that’s on all of us, starting with myself,” Cristobal said. “We don’t shy away from it. We’re not in any way, shape or form anything but hard workers and accountable people. And it’s brutally difficult.”
Miami had defeated Syracuse six straight times before this shootout, in which the teams combined for 983 yards of offense and 51 first downs. The Hurricanes began the season 9-0, but they have lost two of three after falling three weeks ago at Georgia Tech.
“We’re committed. We love each other. We truly love each other. It’s amazing,” Syracuse coach Fran Brown said in his on-field interview on ESPN after the game. “I’m just very thankful for these fans. Syracuse is back. We’re back. I just love it.”
The Hurricanes sat in first place in the ACC standings for most of the season but fizzled at the end, losing two of their final three league games. That followed a 9-0 run to open the season for a program that has never won an ACC crown.
“Both sides didn’t get the job done,” Ward said on Miami’s postgame radio show. “Our main goal wasn’t accomplished. But, I mean, we’re blessed. We won 10 games this year. Not a lot of teams can do that.”
Ward, considered a Heisman Trophy front-runner most of the season, will not have the conference title game to pad his statistics.
“If we get a chance to go into the playoff,” he said, “we’re going to make the most of it.”
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
