Syracuse's Kyle McCord throws three pick sixes in a historically bad first half

Thursday wasn't Kyle McCord's night.

The Syracuse quarterback wrote the wrong story in the Orange's game against Pitt. When the halftime whistle blew, Syracuse trailed 31-0, but that wasn't due to any exceptional play by the Panthers' offense.

Instead, the blame fell squarely on McCord, who surprisingly threw four interceptions in the first half, three of which were returned by the defense for touchdowns.

On Syracuse's first drive of the game, McCord was picked off by Rasheem Biles, who returned the ball 35 yards for a touchdown.

Not the best start to the game, but Syracuse certainly had a chance to recover from that mistake by cleaning up its game on offense. That didn't happen.

Their next drive ended in similar fashion after a McCord pass was intercepted by Brandon George. Luckily it wasn't returned to the end zone. On the third Orange drive, McCord was picked off by Pitt's Kyle Louis, who picked up the missed throw and returned it 59 yards for a touchdown.

Finally, just before halftime, McCord started and ended the drive with an interception to Braylan Lovelace, who returned the ball 33 yards.

Yikes.

Pitt became the first team to record three pick-sixes in a half since FIU recorded three in the second half against Florida Atlantic in 2005. They are aiming for the record for most defensive touchdowns in a single game, which is four.

As for McCord, he is close to his season total in interceptions as he came into the game with six picks this year. After the disastrous first half against Pitt, he's now at 10.