Final Score: Washington 41, Syracuse 20
Seattle, WA (Sports Network) – Jake Locker threw for 289 yards and four touchdowns as he guided the Washington Huskies to a 41-20 win over the Syracuse Orange in non-conference action at Husky Stadium.
Locker converted 22-of-33 passing for the Huskies (1-1) as they rebounded from their season-opening loss to BYU last week on the road. Jermaine Kearse reeled in nine passes for 179 yards and three touchdowns, while Chris Polk handled the action on the ground for Washington with his game-high 117 yards on 20 carries, leading to another score as well.
Syracuse (1-1) was paced by quarterback Ryan Nassib who converted 17-of-35 passing for 202 yards and a score and also posted a touchdown on the ground in the road loss.
Nassib began the game’s scoring by capping a six-play, 50-yard drive early in the first quarter with a 28-yard TD run. The Orange extended the lead to 10-0 on a 29-yard field goal by Ross Krautman, but from there Washington scored 27 straight points and pretty much put the game out of reach.
Field goals of 37 and 24 yards by Erik Folk were followed by a five-yard scoring pass from Locker to Kearse to provide the home team with a 13-10 edge at the break.
In the third Locker and Kearse hooked up for touchdown passes of 57 and 28 yards, pushing the advantage to 27-10 for the Huskies.
Early in the fourth frame Krautman broke the Syracuse scoring drought with a 37-yard field goal, but Washington responded quickly thereafter with a 52-yard TD scamper by Polk.
Midway through the final period Nassib managed to connect with Alec Lemon on a 19-yard TD pass, but a mere 30 seconds later Locker and Devin Aguilar matched up for a 14-yard TD pass to put the game out of reach and provide the hometown fans with a 21-point margin of victory.
Washington, which finished the contest 9-of-18 on third down, generated 467 yards of total offense.