October 21, 2017 Week 8 · Regular Season Belt changed hands

Miami takes the belt, 27–19, at home over Syracuse.

Home · New Holder

Miami 27

Away · Defending Holder

Syracuse 19

AI-Written

Recap

Miami claimed the College Football Belt with a 27-19 victory over Syracuse, a win built on ball security and opportunistic scoring. The Hurricanes' defense was relentless, intercepting Eric Dungey four times throughout the contest, with Michael Jackson picking off two passes and converting one into a scoring drive that resulted in Christopher Herndon IV's 10-yard touchdown reception in the second quarter. Syracuse kept pace through the first half with Cole Murphy's field goals and strong rushing performances from Dontae Strickland, but Miami's Malik Rosier orchestrated crucial third-quarter drives, including a 48-yard touchdown pass to Jeff Thomas that extended the lead to 24-9. Though Syracuse rallied with a Moe Neal rushing touchdown and late field goals to make it close, the damage from Miami's four interceptions proved too much to overcome.

Michael Jackson's two interceptions of Dungey, with the first leading directly to Miami's touchdown drive
Jeff Thomas's 48-yard touchdown reception in the third quarter that pushed Miami's lead to 15 points
Syracuse's four total turnovers, which limited their offensive rhythm despite strong rushing stats
Malik Rosier's efficient passing to Ahmmon Richards and Christopher Herndon IV that sustained Miami's scoring drives

Written by Claude from the box score and play-by-play on this page — a plain-English recap of the numbers below, not a substitute for them.

Full Box Score

Team stats

CFBD box score

MiamiSyracuse

Total yards480399

Rushing yards136264

Passing yards344135

First downs2223

3rd down conv.3/139/23

Turnovers14

Penalties–yards5–423–22

Time of possession30:4129:19

Full team box score from CFBD’s /games/teams data. This section only appears for belt games from 2003 onward — CFBD doesn’t have team-level stats that far back.

Play By Play

Key plays

CFBD play-by-play

When	Team	Yards	Play
Q1 13:45	Syracuse	-4 yd	Eric Dungey pass intercepted Demetrius Jackson return for 4 yds to the Syrac 38 Demetrius Jackson fumbled, recovered by Syrac
Q1 14:30	Syracuse	+24 yd	Dontae Strickland run for 24 yds to the Syrac 46 for a 1ST down
Q1 7:25	Miami	+18 yd	Michael Badgley 18 yd FG GOOD
Q1 2:04	Syracuse	+0 yd	Eric Dungey pass intercepted Michael Jackson return for no gain to the MiaFl 16
Q2 14:22	Miami	+10 yd	Malik Rosier pass complete to Christopher Herndon IV for 10 yds for a TD, (Michael Badgley KICK)
Q1 0:45	Miami	+35 yd	Malik Rosier pass complete to Christopher Herndon IV for 35 yds to the Syrac 21 for a 1ST down
Q1 1:44	Miami	+24 yd	Malik Rosier pass complete to Travis Homer for 24 yds to the MiaFl 40 for a 1ST down
Q2 13:31	Syracuse	+0 yd	Eric Dungey pass intercepted Jaquan Johnson return for no gain to the MiaFl 38
Q2 10:41	Miami	+39 yd	Michael Badgley 39 yd FG GOOD
Q2 12:15	Miami	+21 yd	Malik Rosier pass complete to Ahmmon Richards for 21 yds to the Syrac 29 for a 1ST down
Q2 8:45	Syracuse	+27 yd	Eric Dungey pass complete to Ervin Philips for 27 yds to the MiaFl 39 for a 1ST down
Q2 6:19	Syracuse	+22 yd	Cole Murphy 22 yd FG GOOD
Q2 8:05	Syracuse	+20 yd	Dontae Strickland run for 20 yds to the MiaFl 16 for a 1ST down
Q2 5:37	Miami	+31 yd	Malik Rosier pass complete to Ahmmon Richards for 31 yds to the Syrac 46 for a 1ST down
Q2 1:27	Syracuse	+0 yd	Eric Dungey pass intercepted Michael Jackson return for no gain to the MiaFl 28
Q3 15:00	Syracuse	+27 yd	Cole Murphy kickoff for 65 yds , Jeff Thomas return for 27 yds to the MiaFl 27
Q3 10:30	Syracuse	+27 yd	Dontae Strickland run for 27 yds to the MiaFl 38 for a 1ST down
Q3 8:55	Syracuse	+40 yd	Cole Murphy 40 yd FG GOOD
Q3 8:55	Syracuse	+24 yd	Cole Murphy kickoff for 65 yds , Jeff Thomas return for 24 yds to the MiaFl 24
Q3 8:40	Miami	+22 yd	Malik Rosier pass complete to Dionte Mullins for 22 yds to the MiaFl 46 for a 1ST down
Q3 2:51	Miami	+48 yd	Malik Rosier pass complete to Jeff Thomas for 48 yds for a TD, (Michael Badgley KICK)
Q3 2:00	Syracuse	+28 yd	Eric Dungey run for 28 yds to the MiaFl 29 for a 1ST down
Q3 1:08	Syracuse	+15 yd	Moe Neal run for 15 yds for a TD, (Cole Murphy KICK)
Q3 1:08	Syracuse	+22 yd	Cole Murphy kickoff for 65 yds , Jeff Thomas return for 22 yds to the MIAMI 43 MIAMI FL Penalty, Illegal Block (11 Yards) to the MiaFl 11
Q4 9:52	Syracuse	+45 yd	Cole Murphy 45 yd FG GOOD
Q4 9:05	Miami	+26 yd	Malik Rosier pass complete to Ahmmon Richards for 26 yds to the Syrac 38 for a 1ST down
Q4 9:52	Syracuse	+34 yd	Cole Murphy kickoff for 65 yds , Jeff Thomas return for 34 yds to the MiaFl 34
Q4 6:35	Syracuse	+33 yd	Eric Dungey run for 33 yds to the MiaFl 37 for a 1ST down
Q4 5:23	Syracuse	+53 yd	Cole Murphy 53 yd FG GOOD
Q4 2:48	Miami	+33 yd	Travis Homer run for 33 yds for a TD, (Michael Badgley KICK)
Q4 2:35	Syracuse	+22 yd	Eric Dungey pass complete to Devin C. Butler for 22 yds to the Syrac 43 for a 1ST down

Scoring plays, turnovers, and gains of 20+ yards, pulled from CFBD’s play-by-play. This section only appears for belt games with play-by-play on file (2003 onward).

Box Score

Player stats

CFBD player stats

Passing

Player	C/ATT	YDS	AVG	TD	INT	QBR
Malik RosierMiami	26/43	344	8.0	2	0	62.5
Eric DungeySyracuse	13/41	137	3.3	0	4	24.0
Devin C. ButlerSyracuse	1/1	-2	-2.0	0	0	2.6

Rushing

Player	CAR	YDS	AVG	TD	LONG
Travis HomerMiami	20	95	4.8	1	33
Malik RosierMiami	9	45	5.0	0	9
TeamMiami	3	-4	-1.3	0	0
Dontae StricklandSyracuse	14	105	7.5	0	27
Eric DungeySyracuse	20	100	5.0	0	33
Moe NealSyracuse	14	46	3.3	1	15
Ervin PhilipsSyracuse	1	14	14.0	0	14
Devin C. ButlerSyracuse	1	8	8.0	0	8
TeamSyracuse	1	-9	-9.0	0	0

Receiving

Player	REC	YDS	AVG	TD	LONG
Ahmmon RichardsMiami	6	99	16.5	0	31
Christopher Herndon IVMiami	10	96	9.6	1	35
Jeff ThomasMiami	2	61	30.5	1	48
Travis HomerMiami	4	27	6.8	0	24
Dionte MullinsMiami	1	22	22.0	0	22
Darrell LanghamMiami	1	19	19.0	0	19
Braxton BerriosMiami	1	11	11.0	0	11
Mike HarleyMiami	1	9	9.0	0	9
Ervin PhilipsSyracuse	5	57	11.4	0	27
Steve IshmaelSyracuse	4	41	10.3	0	13
Devin C. ButlerSyracuse	3	39	13.0	0	22
Dontae StricklandSyracuse	1	0	0.0	0	0
Eric DungeySyracuse	1	-2	-2.0	0	0

Show more stats (7 more categories)

Defense

Player	TOT	SOLO	SACKS	TFL	PD	QB HUR
Michael PinckneyMiami	9	6	2.5	3.5	0	0
Sheldrick RedwineMiami	6	5	0	0	1	0
Jaquan JohnsonMiami	6	3	0	0	0	0
Joe JacksonMiami	5	4	0	1	0	0
RJ McIntoshMiami	5	3	0	0	5	1
Demetrius JacksonMiami	4	4	0	2	0	0
Shaquille QuartermanMiami	4	2	1	1	0	1
Derrick SmithMiami	3	3	0	0	0	0
Anthony MotenMiami	3	2	0	0	0	1
Michael JacksonMiami	3	2	0	0	1	0
Trent HarrisMiami	3	0	0.5	0.5	0	2
Kendrick NortonMiami	2	2	0	1	0	0
Pat BethelMiami	2	2	0	0	0	0
Malek YoungMiami	2	2	0	0	1	0
Amari CarterMiami	2	2	0	0	0	0
Jhavonte DeanMiami	2	2	0	0	0	0
Mike SmithMiami	2	1	0	0	0	0
Chad ThomasMiami	1	1	0	0	0	0
Trajan BandyMiami	1	1	0	0	2	0
De'Andre WilderMiami	1	1	0	0	0	0
Darrion OwensMiami	1	0	0	0	0	0
Zach McCloudMiami	1	0	0	0	0	1
Parris BennettSyracuse	10	8	0	1	0	1
Jonathan ThomasSyracuse	8	4	0	0	0	0
Brandon BerrySyracuse	7	5	0	0	0	0
Zaire FranklinSyracuse	6	2	0	1	1	0
Christopher FredrickSyracuse	4	4	0	0	1	0
Chris SlaytonSyracuse	4	3	0	1	0	0
Rodney WilliamsSyracuse	4	2	0	0	0	0
Devin M. ButlerSyracuse	3	3	0	0	0	0
Evan FosterSyracuse	3	3	0	0	0	0
Alton RobinsonSyracuse	3	2	0	0	0	1
Juwan DowelsSyracuse	2	2	0	0	0	0
Daivon EllisonSyracuse	2	2	0	0	0	0
Kielan WhitnerSyracuse	2	1	0	0	0	0
Austin ValdezSyracuse	1	1	0	0	0	0
Ervin PhilipsSyracuse	1	1	0	0	0	0
Jamal CustisSyracuse	1	1	0	0	0	0
Eric DungeySyracuse	1	1	0	0	0	0
Shyheim CullenSyracuse	1	1	0	0	0	0
Carl JonesSyracuse	1	1	0	1	0	0
Kyle Lawrence StricklandSyracuse	1	1	0	0	0	0
Ryan GuthrieSyracuse	1	1	0	0	0	0
Kayton SamuelsSyracuse	1	0	0	0	0	1
Kenneth RuffSyracuse	1	0	0	0	0	0
McKinley WilliamsSyracuse	1	0	0	0	0	0

Fumbles

Player	FUM	LOST	REC
Demetrius JacksonMiami	1	1	0
Eric DungeySyracuse	0	0	1

Interceptions

Player	INT	YDS
Michael JacksonMiami	2	0
Demetrius JacksonMiami	1	4
Jaquan JohnsonMiami	1	0

Kick Returns

Player	NO	YDS	AVG	LONG
Jeff ThomasMiami	5	122	24.4	34
Sean RileySyracuse	1	16	16.0	16
Chris ElmoreSyracuse	1	12	12.0	12

Kicking

Player	FG	PCT	LONG	XP	PTS
Michael BadgleyMiami	2/2	100.0	39	3/3	9
Cole MurphySyracuse	4/4	100.0	53	1/1	13

Punt Returns

Player	NO	YDS	AVG	LONG	TD
Braxton BerriosMiami	1	12	12.0	12	0

Punting

Player	NO	YDS	AVG	TB	In 20	LONG
Zach FeaglesMiami	6	231	38.5	0	0	52
Sterling HofrichterSyracuse	3	105	35.0	0	0	40

Full player stats from CFBD’s /games/players data. This section only appears for belt games from 2003 onward — CFBD doesn’t have player-level stats that far back.

← Clemson at Syracuse Miami at North Carolina →