Syracuse, N.Y. — Sean Tucker’s performance against Wagner catapulted him into the thick of the Top 10 on Syracuse football’s career rushing yardage list.
He’d been creeping up the list through the first four weeks of the season. After starting the season at No. 20, Tucker achieved his first big milestone by passing Ernie Davis at No. 12.
On Saturday, Tucker launched five spots up the list with a career-best 232-yard performance in SU’s 59-0 win. He passed quarterback Bill Hurley, Moe Neal, Dee Brown and David Walker to land at seventh with half a season still ahead of him.
For just the second time all season, Tucker was pleased with his performance.
Joe Morris stands at No. 1 with 4,299 career rushing yards. The gap from him to No. 2 is significant, as Walter Reyes finished his time at SU with 3,424 yards.
To jump another spot and pass Floyd Little, Tucker will need another 201 yards, which will likely take him at least two games based on his ACC-leading average of 109.2 yards per game. The Orange’s next two opponents, N.C. State and Clemson, own two of the top-three rush defenses in the conference.
It’s no secret Tucker was hoping to break another record Saturday — Morris’ single-game rushing record of 252 yards. He would have passed it had it not been for a minor injury on the first snap of the second half before SU coach Dino Babers pulled his offensive starters for the game.
Even though Tucker likely won’t have another chance to shatter that this year, there are a couple others he has a chance to top in the remaining games.
If he can pass 100 rushing yards in each of the remaining seven games, he’d tie Morris for most career 100-plus yard games. A bowl game could push him into the No. 1 spot.
Tucker’s current career average yards per attempt is 5.4, a bit lower than he ended last season but still in range of passing Jim Brown (5.79) and potentially Davis (6.63).
Tucker is also within the Top 3 for average rushing yards per game in his career.
But it wasn’t just Tucker who had a historic game.
Second-string running back LeQuint Allen, who played the remainder of the second half following Tucker’s departure, passed the century mark for the first time in his career with 112 yards, 90 of which came on a near full-field rush that set up Syracuse’s final points of the game.
It was the first 90-yard rush by an Orange player since George Davis fired off 95 yards against Fordham in 1949, according to the school.
Here’s a look at where Tucker stands in ACC and national rankings, as well as in the Syracuse record book.
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