EVANSTON, Ill. — Fifty-one seconds was all it took.

In less than a minute, Northwestern showed Syracuse who was boss and with how much utter dominance they would boss the Orange around Saturday night.

Wildcats quarterback Kain Colter completed his first four passes as the NU offense whizzed 75 yards down the field and scored on a Treyvon Green 8-yard reception. A 15-yard face-mask penalty sandwiched in the middle of the four completions didn’t help either.

From that point on everything was crystal clear. The No. 19 Wildcats (2-0) bullied the Orange (0-2) in all facets of the game, running away with a 48-27 victory in front of 38,033 at Ryan Field in Evanston, Ill.

The game’s first sequence set the tone for what would turn out to be a disastrous, painful night for the Orange.

On the very next drive, the script flipped. Well, sort of. This time the offense was anemic and the defense was good enough. But Syracuse was still on the wrong end of the exchange.

Drew Allen was sacked for a loss on the first play, just like he was in week one. This time he fumbled, too, but Syracuse guard Ivan Foy recovered it.

That lack of continuity and pure ugliness was a preview of what was to come all night. The Orange managed one first down on the drive, but only scrapped together three the entire first quarter.

Syracuse’s run game was nonexistent yet again. Thirty-five rush yards at the half. One-hundred and thirty three by the end of the game.

The passing game wasn’t much better. Drew Allen finished 27-of-41 for 279 yards, four interceptions and one touchdown before giving way to Terrel Hunt midway through the fourth quarter. Overall though, Syracuse struggled to generate any offensive fluidity all night.

Northwestern, meanwhile, looked every bit the part of a legit Top 25 team. This wasn’t the same team that eked by the Orange a year ago in the final seconds. Rejuvenated and stacked with new and improved weapons, the Wildcats pummeled SU all night.

The scariest part is that they didn’t have arguably their best player in Venric Mark. Mark bludgeoned Syracuse last year in the season opener, compiling a video game-esque 67 yards per punt return.

On Saturday, with Mark out of the picture – and mercifully so for SU – Tony Jones emerged as an unstoppable weapon.

Just like Penn State’s Allen Robinson thrashed the Orange last week, Jones took advantage of Syracuse’s incredibly inconsistent secondary, finishing with nine receptions for 185 yards and a touchdown.

In the second quarter, Colter rushed for a 16-yard touchdown, Colton Jones caught a touchdown pass from Northwestern’s second quarterback Trevor Siemann, and SU found itself in an irreversible ditch.

Syracuse trailed 34-7 at halftime. The second half was merely a formality. Colter, Jones and Green had done all the damage they would need to in the first half.

The Orange chopped away at the lead bit-by-bit. A Prince-Tyson Gulley 9-yard touchdown rush made the score 41-20 Northwestern with 10:22 remaining.

But Treyvon Green and the Wildcats responded to officially crush any miniscule change the Orange had at a comeback. Northwestern’s offensive firepower, combined with a woeful effort from Syracuse, paved the way for a Wildcat win, as the Orange remains winless.

Published on September 7, 2013 at 9:52 pm

Contact Trevor: tbhass@syr.edu | @TrevorHass