The 1997 Syracuse Orange entered their game at the Pittsburgh Panthers with a six-game winning streak. They were nearly twenty-point favorites heading into the game and early on that large spread made a lot of sense.
Even with starting running back Kyle McIntosh leaving after one carry, and joining his backfield mate Rob Konrad on the sideline, the Syracuse rushing attack was strong early. Dee Brown stepped into the lead back role and he scored two first-quarter touchdowns. Syracuse missed an extra point and failed to get the two-point conversion on Brown’s 2nd td so it was 12-0 at the end of the first.