Syracuse 21, Minnesota 17 December 27, 2013 - Reliant Stadium - Houston, TX

NCAAF   FINAL               1ST  2ND  3RD  4TH   TOTAL
                            ---  ---  ---  ---   -----
        SYRACUSE              0    7    7    7    21
        MINNESOTA             0    3    0   14    17   FINAL

        SCORING SUMMARY
     
        2ND QTR: CUSE - TD, JEROME SMITH 1 YD RUN (RYAN NORTON KICK), 10:04
                 MINN - FG, CHRIS HAWTHORNE 41 YD, :00
        3RD QTR: CUSE - TD, TERRELL HUNT 5 YD RUN (RYAN NORTON KICK), 2:57
        4TH QTR: MINN - TD, MAXX WILLIAMS 20 YD PASS FROM MITCH LEIDNER
                        (PASS FAILED), 14:55
                 MINN - TD, DREW WOLITARSKY 55 YD PASS FROM MITCH LEIDNER
                        (MIKE HENRY PASS FROM MITCH LEIDNER), 12:34
                 CUSE - TD, TERRELL HUNT 12 YD RUN (RYAN NORTON KICK), 1:14
                                                                                

Extended Box

NCAAF                 1  2  3  4   F 
                      -  -  -  -   -- 
Syracuse              0  7  7  7   21
Minnesota             0  3  0 14   17  FINAL

 Syracuse-J Smith 1 run (Norton kick)
 Minnesota-FG Hawthorne 41
 Syracuse-Hunt 5 run (Norton kick)
 Minnesota-M Williams 20 pass from Leidner (pass failed)
 Minnesota-Wolitarsky 55 pass from Leidner (Henry pass from Leidner)
 Syracuse-Hunt 12 run (Norton kick)

                       Syracuse   Minnesota
First downs                  23          19 
Rushed-yards             46-208      38-127 
Passing yards               188         223 
Sacked-yards lost          1-15        4-33 
Return yards                 83          -2 
Passes                  19-29-0     13-30-0 
Punts                    4-43.0      6-47.7 
Fumbles-lost                2-1         2-1 
Penalties-yards            9-53        8-65 
Time of possession        29:47       30:13 

Individual Statistics 
RUSHING: Syracuse-J Smith 16-74, Hunt 15-74, Morris 8-33, Gulley 4-16,
Estime 1-9, Loeb 1-5, McFarlane 1-(-3). Minnesota-Cobb 18-91,
Leidner 13-34, Nelson 2-14, Kirkwood 4-6, Fruechte 1-(-8).

PASSING: Syracuse-Hunt 19-29-0-188. Minnesota-Leidner 11-22-0-205,
Nelson 2-7-0-18.

RECEIVING: Syracuse-Estime 5-47, Broyld 4-41, West 5-38, Clark 3-36,
J Smith 1-18, Gulley 1-8. Minnesota-Wolitarsky 4-94, M Williams 5-76,
Fruechte 3-41, Cobb 1-12.

Att: 32,327
                                                                        

Game Story

HOUSTON (AP) -- Syracuse coach Scott Shafer wishes his team could
have held its big lead over Minnesota and cruised to an easy win in
the Texas Bowl on Friday night.

But he found it fitting that the Orange had to eke out the victory
considering the number of close games they played this season.

Terrel Hunt scrambled 12 yards for a touchdown with 1:14 remaining
to lift Syracuse to a 21-17 victory over the Golden Gophers.

"It would have nice if we could have just knocked them out and won
by 17 or something," Shafer said. "That's kind of not our way this
year. I think it was appropriate that we won in that fashion."

Brisly Estime set up Hunt's touchdown with a 70-yard punt return.
Estime would have scored if not for a tackle by punter Peter Mortell.

"Brisly is quick as a jitterbug," Shafer said. "We felt that he could
give us something."

It was the second-longest punt return in Texas Bowl history.

"We probably out-punted our coverage," Minnesota coach Jerry Kill said.

Syracuse (7-6) led 14-3 entering the fourth quarter before Mitch
Leidner threw two touchdown passes and a 2-point conversion to put
the Gophers up 17-14.

After the Orange regained the lead, Minnesota attempted two long
passes to the end zone on the final plays. The first slipped through
Drew Wolitarsky's arms and the second, as time expired, was knocked
down near the end zone.

Minnesota (8-5) got a boost to start the second half when Kill returned
to the sideline for the first time since Sept. 28 before Syracuse came
back to send the Gophers to their sixth consecutive bowl loss and second
straight in this bowl.

Kill began the game in the press box, where he has observed his team
since returning from a leave of absence because of epilepsy. Kill has
had five seizures on game day in two-plus seasons at Minnesota. He took
the leave of absence in October and returned a couple of weeks later.

"I felt I would do anything I can to help," Kill said about joining his
team on the sideline. "I'm not sure if it helped or not. Evidently, it
didn't because we didn't win the game."

Hunt finished with 188 yards passing and 74 rushing with two scores to
earn Most Valuable Player honors and a 10-gallon cowboy hat.

Leidner finished with 205 yards passing, Maxx Williams had five catches
for 76 yards and a touchdown and Wolitarsky had 94 yards receiving and
a score.

Syracuse attempted a 45-yard field goal with about 3― minutes left, but
it sailed wide right. Robert Welsh sacked Leidner on third down on the
next drive to force a punt and set up the winning drive.

The Gophers took their first lead when SU bit on a play-action fake
that left Wolitarsky wide open for a 55-yard touchdown pass that made
it 15-14 early in the fourth quarter. Leidner then hit Mike Henry for
the 2-point conversion to push the lead to 17-14.

Players and coaches on the sideline jumped around wildly after the
touchdown, while Kill smiled and stood nearly still amid the chaos.