SYRACUSE, N.Y. – Anthony Tyus III and Coleman Owen had huge debuts, but Ohio could not finish enough drives or get enough stops on defense and dropped a 38-22 decision to Syracuse in its season opener Saturday afternoon at the JMA Wireless Dome.

A pair of long first-quarter drives resulted in only six total points, and Syracuse eventually proved too explosive, led by Ohio State transfer quarterback Kyle McCord, who completed 27-of-39 passes for 354 yards and four touchdowns.

Tyus, a transfer from Northwestern, posted 203 yards rushing on just 16 carries to lead the Bobcats, while Owen, who transferred from Northern Arizona, made 10 catches for 137 yards.

Tyus brought Ohio to within a point at 17-16 with a 13-yard touchdown run early in the third quarter, but Syracuse took over for a while, scoring three straight times to stretch its advantage to 38-16.

As they needed to, the Bobcats answered quickly, getting a 27-yard catch from Owen and then a 46-yard touchdown run from Tyus to make it 38-22. Parker Navarro’s quarterback run on the two-point conversion attempt was stuff with 12:17 remaining.

Ohio forced a quick punt and neared the red zone with a chance to make it a one-score game when James Heard Jr. intercepted Navarro with 6:49 to go.

Tank Pearson’s interception of McCord on a third-and-17 play gave the Bobcats one last chance, but that drive was stopped on downs in the red zone with less than a minute remaining.

From the beginning and throughout most of the game, Ohio’s offense moved the ball well against Syracuse. The game’s opening drive ended with Gianni Spetic kicking a 43-yard field goal.

McCord had a rough start with three incompletions on Syracuse’s first possession, and the Bobcats followed with another long drive that ate up nearly all of the remaining first-quarter clock. Tyus had a 17-yard run to the Syracuse 6, but from there, Ohio went backward with losses on three straight plays and settled for a Spetic 37-yard field goal to make it 6-0.

Oronde Gadsden II capped the Orange’s second drive with a 28-yard touchdown catch from McCord. Brady Denaburg added a 26-yard field goal on the next possession with 2:02 left, making it 10-6.

Tyus began the next drive with a 44-yard run to give Ohio a chance to answer, and the Bobcats eventually had a first-and-goal from the 3-yard-line. A Navarro run lost 4 yards, and once more, Ohio settled for a short field goal, a 20-yarder from Spetic.

Syracuse used two timeouts to maintain 49 seconds on the clock, and it turned out useful. McCord had completions of 18, 21 and 8 yards to Gadsden before throwing a 20-yard touchdown pass to Trebor Pena with just five seconds left before halftime, making it 17-9.

Later, with the Orange leading by just one in the third quarter, McCord led three straight touchdown drives. He completed a third-and-goal 5-yard touchdown pass to LeQuint Allen, who made a nice driving grab. Pena made a 14-yard touchdown catch, and then Pena added a 1-yard rushing touchdown.

Navarro was 18-of-30 passing for 181 yards with one interception and rushed 16 times for 33 yards. Rickey Hunt Jr., who broke out while forced into action in the Myrtle Beach Bowl to end last season, started at running back and had six carries for 20 yards early before Tyus’ power running style took over for most of the rest of the game.

Gadsden made seven catches for 108 yards, while Pena’s day included six receptions for 78 yards and three total touchdowns.

Defensively, Austin Brawley made 12 total tackles to lead the Bobcats, while Bradley Weaver was disruptive on the defensive line with five tackles, including a sack.

Fadil Diggs had a pair of sacks for the Orange.

Ohio hosts South Alabama at 6 p.m. Saturday at Peden Stadium.