SYRACUSE (AP) -- Just before Syracuse was about to go out for the second half against Colgate, head coach Doug Marrone left the Orange to themselves in the locker room.
Syracuse had been held to a near standoff for most of the first half by a team from Division I's second tier and it was time for one of those gut checks.
"I told them, 'This is your football team. I may be the head coach and I may have the direction and we may have a lot of assistant coaches, but it's your football team,' " Marrone said. "I said, 'You need to stay in here and you need to get yourself ready to go out for the second half and come out strong.' "
Message delivered.
A week after gaining just 65 yards on 15 carries against Maine, another Football Championship Subdivision team, Delone Carter came alive against Colgate. He rushed for a career-high 172 yards and matched his career high with four touchdowns in a 42-7 Syracuse victory on Saturday.
Carter, whose 24-yard run staked Syracuse to a 7-0 lead late in the first quarter, scored on runs of 9 and 12 yards in the third to break open the game.
"It's still hitting me a little bit," said Carter, who was suspended from school in the spring semester after being charged with assault after an on-campus fight. He was reinstated at the start of preseason camp. "It's what we should be used to. I can't wait to do it again.
"I go out with the same motivation on every play," said Carter, who added an 18-yard TD run early in the fourth. "As soon as I see an opportunity, I capitalize."
It was Syracuse's first meeting against Colgate since a 52-6 Orange win at home in 1987 and its 15th straight win in the long series, which Colgate still leads 31-30-5.
The Orange (3-1), who beat Maine 38-14, haven't started a season this well since 2003 under former coach Paul Pasqualoni.
Colgate (1-2) had players that could measure up in 6-foot-6, 302-pound left tackle Ryan Risch, 6-foot, 277-pound defensive tackle Greg Kafaf, and 6-1, 283-pound nose tackle Tyler Danielsen. But the Raiders, who do not offer athletic scholarships, were hurt early by penalties and later by the superior athleticism of the Orange.
Syracuse needed just 272 seconds to score four of its touchdowns and its longest drive lasted just 3:01.
A week after setting a school record with five touchdown passes, Ryan Nassib was 8-for-15 for 169 yards, one touchdown and one turnover for Syracuse as Carter took over.
Nate Eachus gained 147 yards on 35 carries and scored once, and quarterback Greg Sullivan was 20-for-31 for 146 yards with two interceptions for Colgate, which gained 376 yards to the Orange's 437.
Colgate coach Dick Biddle figured that for his Raiders to have a chance they would have to keep the ball away from the Orange. They did - Colgate held the ball for nearly 44 minutes overall - and the strategy worked for most of the first half as Eachus carried much of the load, rushing 20 times for 62 yards.
The Raiders gambled three times on fourth down in the opening half, converting twice, held the ball for 23:39, and forced a turnover when free safety Mike Barry blindsided Nassib and Kafaf recovered at the Syracuse 20. But Colgate was called for seven penalties for 60 yards in the opening half and that helped disrupt the offense.
"I think one of the reasons we didn't finish is that we had a penalty here or there," Biddle said. "That's what we talked about. We've got to iron those things out."
Still, the Raiders were poised to enter the locker room at halftime in great shape. Then Mike Holmes returned a Colgate punt 22 yards to near midfield with time winding down to give the Orange a big break, and they capitalized quickly.
Nassib hit Van Chew for 6 yards, gained 9 yards on a keeper, and then hit tailback Antwon Bailey with a 10-yard pass over the middle. Bailey turned the throw into a 37-yard touchdown pass, weaving through the middle and somersaulting into the end zone to give Syracuse a 14-0 halftime lead.
The Orange rode the momentum into the third quarter. After Carter scored on the first possession for a 21-0 lead, Colgate took the ensuing kick and an 18-yard run by Eachus helped move the Raiders deep into Syracuse territory. But a 14-yard touchdown pass on fourth down from Sullivan to Doug Rosnick was negated after a review by the Big East officials calling the game. They ruled that Rosnick did not have possession of the ball before going out of bounds.
"It was a pretty close game in the first half," said Eachus, a bruising tailback who turned down a wrestling scholarship to Michigan. "I think the penalties killed us. That touchdown that got called back, that hurt us a lot. I thought we hung in there, but I mean, Syracuse, they're a tough team. They're big and strong."
Da'Mon Merkerson's interception set up Carter's third touchdown before the Raiders finally broke through early in the fourth with a 13-play, 69-yard drive, and another gamble kept the drive alive.
Rosnick, who had 10 catches for 84 yards, had an 11-yard catch along the right sideline on a fourth-and-2 play and Eachus scored on a 12-yard run.
(Copyright ©2010 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
