CBS SportsLine wire reports
Sept. 19, 1998

SYRACUSE, N.Y. -- If this had been a prizefight they would have stopped it in the first round.

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After playing two highly ranked teams the past two weeks, No. 13 Syracuse was ripe for a letdown against struggling Rutgers.

Instead, the Orangemen overwhelmed the mistake-prone Scarlet Knights 70-14 Saturday. It was the second-highest point total in Syracuse history and the most points scored against Rutgers since 1888.

"We wanted to come out and play our game and not lower our level at all. I think we did that," said Rob Konrad, who scored three first-half touchdowns as Syracuse built a 42-7 halftime lead.

RUTGERS COACH TERRY SHEA was left shaking his head after watching his team yield the most points by Rutgers since Princeton scored 82 in 1888. It also was the most points ever scored by a Big East team in a conference game.

Quarterback Donovan McNabb gets No. 13 Syracuse off to a runaway start against Rutgers. (AP)

"Seventy points, is that what it was?" Shea said. ``I wanted to lose count after a while. We never expected to get beaten that badly."

The defense and special teams set up three early scores and the Syracuse offense took over from there, matching a 39-year-old school record with 10 touchdowns.

The offensive outburst by Syracuse (2-1, 1-0 Big East) fell one point short of the school record of 71 points scored against Colgate in the Orangemen's 1959 national championship season.

Five of Syracuse's 10 touchdowns came on drives of two plays or less. The longest scoring drive was nine plays. It got so bad for Rutgers that Syracuse's third-string quarterback Dee Brown scored on a 47-yard run.

IT WAS SYRACUSE'S 12th consecutive victory over Rutgers -- the last three by a combined score of 162-17. Rutgers has now lost 16 in a row against Division I-A competition. Its one victory this year came against Richmond, a Division I-AA school, 7-6.

"They complained about us taking a knee last year," Syracuse offensive coordinator Kevin Rogers said, referring to last year's 50-3 victory. "This year, we didn't take a knee."

Donovan McNabb tied Glenn Foley's Big East career record of 61 touchdown passes with a 50-yarder to Kevin Johnson in the second quarter before sitting out most of the second half. McNabb was 8-for-12 for 119 yards and a touchdown.

Syracuse built a 28-0 lead by capitalizing on an errant punt snap, an interception and a fumble recovery. Each time, the Orangemen pushed the ball downfield unhindered .

Shaun O'Hara's snap over the head of punter Charlie Titus gave Syracuse possession at the Rutgers 25. Konrad scored from the 1.

Jason Poles' interception of Mike McMahon's pass and 26-yard return set up the Orangemen at the Rutgers 15. Konrad scored from the 4.

KONRAD'S 2-YARD RUN MADE IT 21-0 31/2 minutes into the second quarter. A minute later, Brian Coleman recovered a fumble at the 15, setting up Kyle McIntosh's 9-yard TD run.

Jacki Crooks' 3-yard run with 47 seconds left in the first half got Rutgers on the board. McNabb followed with a 50-yard scoring pass to Johnson.

Two plays after Rutgers fumbled away the second-half kickoff, McIntosh scored from 12 yards out to make it 49-7.