Ashton Broyld hadn’t played in close to a month. Questions about when he would play a significant role for Syracuse arose. Some of them might have been answered Friday night.

The freshman running back earned a good chunk of playing time against Connecticut, finishing with 58 yards on 11 carries. His performance was good enough to make him the Orange’s second-leading rusher on the day. It was the most he’s run for since Sept. 15 against Stony Brook when he rushed for 61 yards.

Head coach Doug Marrone said Broyld has worked hard in practice to see time on the field after being relegated to the sideline since Syracuse’s game against Minnesota on Sept. 22, when he made a critical, drive-killing fumble.

“I thought he did a nice job when he went in there. He carried the ball well, he had some nice reads. He had some bad reads,” Marrone said. “He’s worked hard. An opportunity presented itself, we just didn’t put him in in the end, we had him in a package.”

Broyld rushed for no gain on his first carry of the game, which came on the Orange’s first drive of the second half. He wouldn’t get another chance until the third quarter, but he made the most of it.

Up 37-10, Syracuse had a second-and-11 at its own 49. Broyld took the handoff and exploded for 18 yards, and he took another carry to help move the Orange down to the Huskies’ 33. It set up a 47-yard field goal from Ross Krautman to make the score 40-10 SU.

In a game where the Orange’s rushing game provided the bulk of the team’s offense, Broyld’s contributions were key.

On Syracuse’s next drive in the fourth quarter, he picked up 47 yards on eight plays. Marrone said it was a good chance to give Broyld some time on the field.

“I give him credit because he worked hard during practice and earned the right to get back on that field to do a good job,” Marrone said. “And I thought he did a nice job tonight.”

Back in action

Syracuse tight end Beckett Wales had his biggest game of the season on Friday. He hauled in four catches for 69 yards to go with his first career touchdown.

Wales caught his first pass in the second quarter and went 18 yards to move Syracuse from the Huskies’ 46 to their 28. After Connecticut stuffed Adonis Ameen-Moore for a loss of 1 yard, quarterback Ryan Nassib found Wales wide open in the right side of the end zone for an easy 3-yard touchdown.

His biggest catch, though, came at the end of the third quarter.

SU had a third-and-4 at the UConn 45, and Nassib found Wales open near the right sideline. Wales took the pass for a 30-yard gain to move Syracuse down to the 15.

After not playing in the entire second half against Rutgers and seeing his backup, David Stevens, provide most of the production, Wales returned to his role as being a dependable receiver for Nassib.

“For me, it was a big game. I was able to help the team a lot, which is great,” Wales said. “It was a big game for us.”

Return of Coach P.

Paul Pasqualoni made his return to the Carrier Dome, eight years after being fired as Syracuse head coach by athletic director Daryl Gross.

Pasqualoni was the Orange’s head coach from 1991 to 2004, and left with a 107-59-1 record. He presided over some of the best years in Syracuse’s football history, including trips to the Fiesta, Gator and Orange Bowls.

After stints as a defensive coordinator with the Miami Dolphins and Dallas Cowboys, Pasqualoni is in his second year as the Huskies head coach. He said during the week that his trip back to Syracuse was strictly about the game, void of any sentimentality.

The way his team played, it wasn’t a happy homecoming for Pasqualoni.

“The people were great, the people were awfully nice. We just felt we could’ve done a lot better tonight,” Pasqualoni said. “We’ve played a lot of years of football and it was good to be here tonight.”

Published on October 21, 2012 at 11:33 pm

Contact Chris: cjiseman@syr.edu | @chris_iseman