No. 20 Northwestern 48, Syracuse 27: Trevor Siemian and Kain Colter combined for five touchdowns while completing 81 percent of their passes as the Wildcats dissected the Orange defense in their home opener.

Siemian was 15-of-19 for 259 yards and three touchdowns, while Colter finished 15-of-18 for 116 yards with one touchdown, in addition to a team-high 87 yards and one score on the ground. Neither of the Wildcats' quarterbacks committed a turnover, while Syracuse's Drew Allen was intercepted four times by the Northwestern defense, which has seven picks in two games.

The Wildcats (2-0) racked up 581 yards of total offense and surpassed 40 points for the second straight contest. Northwestern's Tony Jones led all receivers with 185 yards and a touchdown on nine receptions.

Colter and Siemian each went 11-of-12 in the first half for a combined 277 yards and three touchdowns, not to mention Colter's 67 first-half rushing yards and one TD. Colter opened the scoring 51 seconds into the game with an 8-yard TD pass to Treyvon Green, and Siemian closed out the half with a 5-yard TD pass to Christian Jones with two seconds to go, making it 34-7.

Allen, making his second start for Syracuse after transferring from Oklahoma, was 27-of-41 for 279 yards. He did throw a third-quarter touchdown to Kendall Moore, while Jerome Smith, Prince-Tyson Gulley and Terrel Hunt also had TD runs for the Orange (0-2).

GAME NOTEBOOK: Hunt, a sophomore quarterback, got some fourth-quarter action for Syracuse and finished 2-of-4 for 22 yards with 30 rushing yards. ... Northwestern has not lost a home game to a non-conference opponent since 2007, a run of 14 straight victories. ... The Wildcats only have home games with Western Michigan and Maine standing between them and an undefeated record for their home showdown with No. 2 Ohio State on Oct. 5.