WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. — Apart from the kicking game, the Syracuse defense was on the field every time the Orange scored on Saturday.

While Cole Murphy’s nine points from field goals would have been enough to beat Wake Forest on Saturday, the SU defense put the game out of reach.

Syracuse’s defensive linemen, linebackers and defensive backs played the Demon Deacons (2-5, 0-3 Atlantic Coast) off the field and home fans out of the stadium at BB&T Field on Saturday. They scored two touchdowns of their own and blocked for another. They sucked the life out of an already-sputtering Wake Forest offense and pushed SU (3-4, 1-2) past the only team in the conference struggling more than it. They won, 30-7, in front of 25,107.

“One thing we pride ourselves on defense is winning the game,” Syracuse defensive end Robert Welsh said. “No matter how we have to do it.”

Dyshawn Davis crushed Wake Forest quarterback John Wolford as he threw the ball to his right. Welsh caught it and ran 42 yards down the left sideline and into the end zone.

He kept running, away from the outstretched arms of teammates Durell Eskridge and Isaiah Johnson, all the way to the end of the Syracuse bench on the opposite side of the field. Welsh needed air and Gatorade. He had put the Orange up 17-7 with 5:05 left in the second quarter and he was tired.

Davis’ hit left Wolford lying on the field. He was out of the game with a suspected concussion and Wake Forest was finished with its first of three quarterbacks for the day.

“Then Tyler (Cameron) got in there and struggled, then you have your third-string quarterback, Kevin (Sousa) in there and he is running scout team all week,” WFU head coach Dave Clawson said. “There is about half a dozen plays in the offense that he knows how to run. It is not fair to him.”

With about three and a half minutes left in the first half it was SU on defense calling back-to-back timeouts, trying to prolong the half. The Orange left the field for halftime up 10.

An offense that wouldn’t score again sat in the Wake Forest locker room while Micah Robinson sat in SU’s. He had already helped Syracuse score, taking the field with Welsh and fellow defensive lineman Ron Thompson for the Orange’s jumbo package as AJ Long ran in a 4-yard touchdown in the first quarter.

On first-and-10 at the SU 32 with just less than 10 minutes left in the third quarter, Brandon Reddish lit into Cameron, popping the ball loose. Robinson scooped it up for a 51-yard touchdown to give SU a 27-7 lead.

“I scoop the ball, I’m running and then I’m noticing there’s nobody really around so I’m just like ‘I’m getting a touchdown,’” Robinson said.

There weren’t many Wake Forest fans at BB&T Field to begin with. The Demon Deacons averaged just 31 rushing yards per game before playing SU. They got 71 rushing yards Saturday and 99 in the air.

With 8:36 left in the game, a WFU assistant pumped his fists and yelled, celebrating a tackle that limited the Orange’s fifth-string running back, Ervin Philips to 4 yards on the play. But Philips didn’t need any. SU had a 23-point lead.

Wake Forest had more female cheerleaders standing on platforms behind the Syracuse bench than points on the scoreboard. And for the first time in 36 days, SU had a win.

“We came out here ready to play, ready to hit people,” Robinson said. “We’ve been hurting for the last few weeks, losing and stuff like that.

“We didn’t like it.”

Published on October 18, 2014 at 3:08 pm

Contact Jacob: jmklinge@syr.edu | @Jacob_Klinger_