Syracuse: Kyle McCord passes his way into Orange history books

With never-before-seen numbers from an SU QB

Photo by Gregory Fisher/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images

Syracuse Orange fans knew that getting quarterback Kyle McCord could drastically change the scope of their offense this season... but perhaps not to this extent.

With a career-high 385 passing yards in Saturday’s 42-14 win over Holy Cross, McCord became the first Syracuse QB to ever throw for 300+ yards in four straight games. For comparison, Donovan McNabb had three 300+ yard games in his entire college career.

Kyle surpasses Ryan Nassib and Eric Dungey, who both had three consecutive 300+ yard performances once in their SU careers. Additionally, the 385-yard mark ties both Nassib and Dungey for 10th-most passing yards in a single game. Nassib did so in 2012 against Missouri, while Dungey matched him at NC State in 2017.

Four games into the season, McCord is 114/177 (64.4%) for 1,459 yards, 14 TDs and five INTs. He’s also spread the ball around well, with five different targets up to double-digit receptions on the season, and six having found the endzone at least once.

“I feel like that’s one of the benefits of how deep the receiver room is,” McCord said following the Holy Cross game. “Every single play, we can get five guys out that are good options and just get the ball in their hands.”

McCord is just three touchdown passes away from also entering into the Top 10 in that single-season category. Several other marks, including single-season passing yards, are also within reach at his current pace.

SU likely needs #6 to keep slinging it at a high pace, starting with their second Friday Night matchup next week at UNLV. While the Orange offense has the second-highest passing yards per game in the ACC, trailing only Miami, they’re running the ball at the second-lowest clip, ahead of FSU.