BLACKSBURG, Va. -- Syracuse forgot its humiliations of the past, and No. 5 Virginia Tech can forget all about the Rose Bowl.

Doing what they have seen Virginia Tech do to others so many times before, the Orangemen scored on a punt return and after a turnover in the first quarter and beat the Hokies 22-14 on Saturday for their seventh straight victory.

Syracuse's Jamel Riddle returns a punt for a 51-yard touchdown.(AP)

"Every time we've played Virginia Tech, it seemed like it was their day," said Syracuse quarterback R.J. Anderson, who completed just six passes, but rushed for 63 yards. "For once maybe it was our day."

The Orangemen (7-2, 4-0 Big East) ended the Hokies' 16-game home winning streak, and avenged their last three visits to Lane Stadium, which ended with Virginia Tech winning by a combined scored of 124-10.

Syracuse also made itself part of the biggest conference game yet to come, a matchup with top-ranked Miami at the Orange Bowl on Nov. 17.

"I don't think you can look past Syracuse any more the way we are playing," David Tyree said. "Seven wins in a row speaks for itself."

Virginia Tech plays the Hurricanes here on Dec. 1, but the loss means that game will now be more about rivalry and pride for the Hokies.

"It's tough," senior defensive tackle Chad Beasley said. "We had high expectations for this season. We've just got to come back, regroup."

The Hokies had chances Saturday, even after falling behind 14-0 in the first 7:25, but each time the Syracuse defense or a continuing rash of uncharacteristic Virginia Tech mistakes derailed any comeback hopes.

The Orangemen allowed Virginia Tech just 90 yards rushing, well below its average of 234, recovered two fumbles and blocked a punt. One of the fumbles and the blocked punt turned into 10 critical first-half points.

The Hokies also lost another fumble in the first half, had a kickoff go out of bounds at their own 3 and gave up five sacks.

"They played our game against us," Ronyell Whitaker said. "Their defense was sharp, special teams were sharp. They turned it around on us."

Even so, the Hokies still had a chance.

Trailing 20-7, the Hokies drove 65 yards, Grant Noel hitting Shawn Witten from 17 yards with 5:19 left to cut the lead to six.

Virginia Tech forced the Orangemen to punt, but only got the ball at its 4 with 2:31 to play after Mike Shafer's kick from his 49 was downed.

After an incomplete pass, Noel slipped in the end zone ducking under a pass rush on the second play, the safety giving Syracuse a 22-14 lead and much to look forward to after a disappointing 0-2 start to the season.

"The hottest fire makes the strongest steel," coach Paul Pasqualoni said, "and we were in some hot fires early on" after a 13-7 loss to No. 21 Georgia Tech and a 33-9 loss to No. 9 Tennessee that was much closer.

Virginia Tech (6-1, 3-1), by contrast, had won its first six by a combined 248-44, beating up on the likes of Connecticut, Rutgers, Central Florida and Western Michigan. Syracuse plays at a different level.

"I don't want to say we took them lightly, but you can't make mistakes against a team like Syracuse," defensive end Jim Davis said.

Trailing 17-0 at halftime, the Hokies drove 79 yards in 14 plays on their first possession of the second half to get within 17-7, but their top-ranked defense couldn't stop Syracuse when it mattered the most.

Getting help from a pass interference call against Whitaker on a poorly thrown third-and-20 pass, and then making three third-down conversions, the Orangemen burned 7:11 off the clock as they drove 52 yards to Colin Barber's 45-yard field goal with 12:25 left.

"Big, big, big, big part of the game," Pasqualoni said of the 15-play drive, which forced the Hokies to go into the wind in the final quarter.

Syracuse won despite being outgained 252-220, and getting just six completions in 17 tries from Anderson. Several times in the first half, the quarterback missed receivers open behind the secondary.

The Hokies, though, were having their own problems.

Noel was sacked by Clifton Smith on the second play from scrimmage, and Jamel Riddle returned Vinnie Burns' punt 51 yards for a touchdown two plays later, streaking almost untouched up the middle of the field.

Two series later, Kevin Jones mishandled Noel's pitch on an option run and Quentin Harris recovered for Syracuse at the Virginia Tech 17. Four plays later, James Mungro dove in from the 1 for a 14-0 lead.

Mungro finished with 102 yards on 23 carries, and the touchdown was the 24th of his career, moving him ahead of Jim Brown and into fourth on the Orangemen's career touchdown list.

The Hokies avoided any further damage until the final minute of the half, when Burns dropped the snap before a punt from his own 20. Tyree blocked the kick and Walter Reyes recovered at the Hokies' 9 with 7 seconds left in the half. Barber's 26-yard field goal made it 17-0 at the half.

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