University of Louisville
Syracuse
LeFors Passes Cardinals Past Syracuse, 30-20
September 13, 2003 | Football
Sept 13, 2003
By JOHN KEKIS
AP Sports Writer
SYRACUSE, N.Y. - Stefan LeFors threw for 266 yards and three touchdowns as Louisville beat Syracuse 30-20 on Saturday.
Louisville (2-0), coming off a bye week after a season-opening victory at Kentucky, built a big lead and withstood a second-half rally.
Behind LeFors, who was 16-for-25 with one interception, the Cardinals took the lead on their first possession and never relinquished it.
LeFors had scoring passes of 40 yards to J.R. Russell, 1 yard to D.J. Kamer and 24 yards to Michael Bush. Russell caught six passes for 133 yards and Eric Shelton ran for 135 yards on 24 carries.
Syracuse (1-1) trailed North Carolina by 17 points last week before rallying for a 49-47 triple-overtime victory. The Orangemen seemed poised to duplicate the feat against the Cardinals.
After LeFors connected with Bush out of the backfield to give Louisville a 27-10 lead on the first possession of the second half, Syracuse rallied quickly.
R.J. Anderson hit Johnnie Morant on a 42-yard pass, and Walter Reyes scored on a 35-yard run to make it 27-17 in the third. Collin Barber added a 37-yard field goal as Syracuse closed to 27-20 going into the fourth.
The Orangemen then pinned the Cardinals at their own 6, but Louisville escaped when LeFors hit Russell for 7 yards on third-and-6. Russell then made a 40-yard diving reception on the next play and Smith kicked a 37-yard field goal with 6:58 left to quash any hopes of a Syracuse victory.
Morant had eight catches for 141 yards, while Anderson was 19-for-30 for 229 yards and Walter Reyes had 16 carries for 87 yards.
The Syracuse defense entered the game riding a forgettable streak, having allowed more than 500 yards in five straight games. So it wasn't too surprising that Louisville came out throwing.
LeFors completed his first six passes for 109 yards, putting the Cardinals ahead 7-0 with the TD pass to Russell just six minutes into the game.
Anderson guided Syracuse right back to tie it, hitting Morant on passes of 28 and 12 yards to set up Darryl Kennedy's 2-yard scoring run.
Smith's 48-yard field goal gave the Cardinals the lead again, but Barber knotted the score at 10-10 with a 42-yard field goal early in the second quarter.
Broderick Clark had a 50-yard return on the ensuing kickoff, giving the Cardinals possession at the Syracuse 47. LeFors took over from there, hitting Joshua Tinch over the middle for 25 yards, running for 16 yards after fumbling the snap on a third-and-10 play, then completing a 1-yard scoring pass to Kamer for a 17-10 lead.
Smith kicked a 19-yard field goal to give Louisville a 20-10 halftime lead.
Some of the loudest cheers of the day came at halftime, when coach Jim Boeheim and his basketball team from last season received their national championship rings. The Orangemen, led by freshman forward Carmelo Anthony, defeated Kansas in the NCAA title game in New Orleans in April.
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