Syracuse Orange quarterback Kyle McCord had been in the midst of a redemption tour this season after being ushered out at Ohio State. But unfortunately, that stretch of impressive play came to a crashing halt in their Week 9 game on Thursday night against the Pittsburgh Panthers.
Coming into the game, McCord has largely changed life for the Syracuse Orange offensively. In each game this season, McCord has thrown for over 300 yards, which had him ranked inside the top 10 in all of college football in passing yards.
McCord was able to move the ball on Thursday night against Pittsburgh. But unfortunately, turnovers absolutely ruined his night in a rather embarrassing way.
The Panthers were able to force McCord into five interceptions, three of which were returned for touchdowns. By halftime, the game was largely out of reach for Syracuse, falling to Pittsburgh 41-13.
Throwing three interceptions for touchdowns in a single game has to be a tough pill to swallow for McCord considering how well the season has gone for him to this point. And as you may expect, criticism also followed him on social media following the blowout loss.
“Kyle McCord is playing CFB25 for the first time on the Heisman difficulty setting,” one fan joked.
“Kyle McCord is trying to squeeze in picks like it’s the last five minutes of College Gameday,” another wrote.
“Pitt has broken Kyle McCord. He is no longer the best pocket quarterback in college football,” wrote another fan.
Just as fast as McCord’s rise was at Syracuse, he seems to have completely lost his confidence. So it will be interesting to see whether he can bounce back from this moving forward given just how crushing of a game it was for him.