1997 Syracuse football rewind: Orange continue rolling with a 60-7 win over Temple

The 1997 Syracuse Orange football team returned to the Carrier Dome riding a three-game winning streak as they welcomed the Temple Owls to town. Like they’ve been doing during this streak, it was a game that was never in doubt as Syracuse rolled 60-7.

Donovan McNabb threw touchdown passes of 11 yards to Kyle McIntosh and 16 yards to Quinton Spotwood to give Syracuse a 14-0 lead at the end of the first quarter. In the second quarter, the Orange extended the lead on a Dee Brown 2-yard run, a safety off a bad snap on a Temple punt and a Nate Trout field goal. They weren’t done yet though as McIntosh and Spotwood scored again to make it 40-0 at the half.

Temple scored first in the third quarter but Syracuse responded with a Kyle Johnson touchdown run. The Parents Weekend crowd got to enjoy seeing a NCAA record when Spotwood provided his fourth punt return touchdown on the season, this one was 71 yards. Brown capped the scoring with another run.

Even without Rob Konrad, the Syracuse offense didn’t miss a beat. McNabb was 10-17 for 197 yards and 3 touchdowns. McIntosh had 88 yards rushing and Spotwood led the way with 92 yards receiving. This was the first time Syracuse had hit 60 points since a 1971 win over Holy Cross.

Syracuse moves to 5-3 on the season, 2-1 in the Big East as next week they will face off against the #17 West Virginia Mountaineers.