Las Vegas – The two-minute drill may be the one thing Syracuse football has perfected this season.

A 4th-and-1 almost ended this series.

Quarterback Kyle McCord hit Oronde Gadsden II for a 9-yard gain on 3rd-and-10 at the UNLV 33-yard line. Although Gadsden reached the 10th yard, he couldn’t quite reach it.

It was LeQuint Allen’s job to keep the drive alive with just over a minute left in the fourth quarter, and he did so by staying upright while a defender tried to pull him to the ground and 11 yards to gain.

A few moments later, McCord was back on third down and facing Jackson Meeks on the left side of the end zone. Meeks made the contested catch for the touchdown and Syracuse elected to tie the game, sending the game into overtime.

A Fadil Diggs sack and an Allen touchdown in overtime gave Syracuse a 44-41 win over No. 25 UNLV on Friday night at Allegiant Stadium.

Allen, who played most of the second half with his left leg wrapped, was a crucial factor in the win. The running back had 19 carries for 71 yards and nine receptions for 58 yards. He had four touchdowns in the game, two rushing and two receiving.

Gadsden also had a strong performance, bouncing back from two weeks with 10 catches for 142 yards. He was a consistent target for McCord on third downs; Syracuse (4-1) converted 11 of 18 attempts in the game.

Jayden Bellamy led the Orange on defense with seven tackles, followed by Alijah Clark, Justin Barron, Diggs and Derek McDonald who all had six tackles. Duce Chestnut recorded an interception that led to Syracuse taking a 10-point lead midway through the third quarter.

The performances in these two phases were almost wiped out by the play of the special teams.

Two punts went completely wrong because punter Jack Stonehouse couldn’t be blocked.

In the second quarter, Syracuse was backed up on 4th-and-25 at its own 22-yard line. Stonehouse came under pressure almost immediately, and just as he extended the punt, he changed course and steered it to avoid the kick being blocked.

He scrambled to his right for a 13-yard loss, and UNLV (4-1) took its first lead of the night on the next play with a 9-yard completion from quarterback Hajj-Malik Williams to Casey Cain.

Then, in the third quarter, a nearly identical situation, except Stonehouse didn’t pull the ball. He kicked it and caused it to block. The ball bounced back into the end zone and UNLV tied the game at 31.

For the second straight year, Syracuse caused fear in the second quarter after its opponent scored for the first time.

The worst came within three minutes, starting in the 9th minute of the quarter.

A 46-yard punt by Stonehouse at the end of Syracuse’s third drive was halved by a 23-yard return.

On the Rebels’ next offensive play, Williams found Ricky White III, who escaped coverage from cornerback Clarence Lewis and gained 53 yards before Lewis brought him down on the back end 3 yards from the end zone.

Cornerback Jayden Bellamy was injured during the game and missed the rest of the half. He returned in the third quarter.

Williams tied the game at 14 with a 3-yard scramble on the next snap.

Syracuse converted once on the next drive, but then went completely blank, hampered by penalties and killed by a missed block by left tackle Da’Metrius Weatherspoon, who pressured McCord into an incomplete pass on 3rd-and-25 at the Orange’s own 22 .

The ensuing fourth down was the first botched punt of the night. The following touchdown gave UNLV a 21-14 lead.

Those three minutes alone wiped out 15 solid minutes of play in the opening quarter, including back-to-back touchdowns by Allen for an early start in his first multi-touchdown performance of the season and a UNLV three-and-out on his first drive.

Also throughout the game, several penalties against the Rebels gave Syracuse second chances, particularly on offense.

UNLV was flagged nine times for 109 yards on the night.

Early in the fourth quarter, shortly after UNLV offset SU’s second bad punt, the Orange’s drive was kept alive by a facemask penalty after McCord was sacked for a 7-yard loss.

The 15-yard penalty moved the chains this time, but then the Orange moved them the rest of the drive: McCord 15 yards to Meeks on a third down, Allen 3 yards on a fourth down, McCord to Trebor Peña for 8 yards a second descent.

But a McCord interception stalled the drive before the end zone.

McCord finished the game 40-63 for 355 yards and three touchdowns. It was his second straight game with over 50 pass attempts.

Contact Emily Leiker anytime: e-mail | Twitter