Syracuse victim of tough schedule

The Orange fell to a ranked team for the third straight week.
SYRACUSE, N.Y. (AP) -- Leon Washington rushed for a career-high 164 yards and scored on runs of 21 and 45 yards in the second half, and No. 8 Florida State survived a major scare, rallying past Syracuse 17-13 on Saturday night.
It was the third game against a ranked team for Syracuse (3-3), and unlike the previous two -- a 51-0 loss at No. 9 Purdue and a 31-10 loss at No. 10 Virginia -- the Orange made it difficult for the Seminoles (4-1) and quarterback Wyatt Sexton, who was making his first road start.
Diamond defense
Syracuse wasted two brilliant plays by safety Diamond Ferri. He put the Orange in terrific scoring position twice -- with a fumble return and an interception -- and they failed to score both times.
Against Florida State, that is a recipe for disaster, and the tide began to turn late in the third quarter with Syracuse clinging to a 10-3 lead.
Last week Sexton was 20-for-31 for 193 yards and three TDs in a win over North Carolina in his first career start. Against the Orange, he was 15-for-26 for 169 yards and maintained his poise in the face of a raucous Carrier Dome crowd.
Sexton kept his passes short for most of the game. But he opened up with time winding down in the third, putting Syracuse on its heels with a 24-yard completion to Craphonso Thorpe and a 12-yarder to Chauncey Stovall.
Facing a third-and-2 at the Syracuse 21, Washington scored on a run around the right side to tie it 10 with 2:41 left. It was the only third-down conversion of the game for the Seminoles.
The Orange went nowhere after the ensuing kickoff and the Seminoles struck again in only 34 seconds. Sexton hit Thorpe with a 15-yard sideline pass and on the next play Washington made a nifty cut between two blocks and scored untouched on a 45-yard run down the left side with 13:29 left in the game to make it 17-10.
Syracuse closed to 17-13 on a 39-yard field goal by Collin Barber with 10 minutes left and drove to the Florida State 30 in the final minute. But linebacker Sam McGrew intercepted Perry Patterson's pass with 5 seconds left to end it.
Patterson, who was brilliant in the first half, sputtered in the second and finished 19-for-28 for a career-high 207 yards. And with his passes not connecting, the Orange couldn't come back against the Seminoles defense.
Florida State held Syracuse to only 58 yards rushing a week after the Orange ran for 360 yards against Rutgers. Walter Reyes, who rushed for 237 yards last week, was held to 27 on 14 carries.
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