Amari Odom is getting the first crack at quarterback for Syracuse on Saturday against UConn, with head coach Fran Brown making the call on the Orange’s pre-game radio show in East Hartford, Conn.
Brown said the move comes after a bye week and with Steve Angeli needing a little more time after taking a beating early in the season. On the radio, Brown said, “We have three really good quarterbacks. Coming out of the bye week … we ended up going with Amari … Steve took a lot of hits … he’ll be able to take a step back, heal a little bit more.”
Brown also pointed to what he sees in Odom’s game and presence, saying on TK99, “He deserves this opportunity. When you look at our whole entire team, he has the most starts on the team.”
Angeli, the Notre Dame transfer, has had a rough opening stretch for Syracuse, throwing five interceptions as the Orange opened 1-2. He is also still working his way back from a torn Achilles tendon suffered last year, and Brown noted Monday that he thought two bad games was too small a sample to make a change.
That stance shifted heading into the matchup with the Huskies.
Odom arrived at Syracuse this offseason after starting at Kennesaw State last year and guiding the Owls to a Conference USA championship. He has already seen action in the Orange’s last two games, completing all 8 of his passes for 63 yards in the fourth quarter against Pittsburgh and going 2 of 3 for 12 yards against New Hampshire.
Syracuse’s pre-game show airs on TK99.
In Other News...
Syracuse Already Has A Lineup Concern It Cant Ignore
Syracuses first exhibition offered an immediate reminder that preseason evaluation is about more than the final score. In a 72-52 loss to UConn, Sadiq White led the Orange with 17 points, and freshman Ryan Moesch got his first taste of college basketball with a 30-minute debut, giving the coaching staff an early look at some new faces and roles before the games start to count.
The bigger concern, though, came early when Aiden Tobiason went down with a hamstring injury. For a team still sorting out its lineup and rotation, any absence can matter, and this one arrives with no shortage of timing questions as Syracuse continues building toward the season with limited runway to settle things. [Read more 🡒]
Syracuse Has A Kicking Problem Fran Brown Cant Ignore
Syracuses kicking game has become one of the most unsettled parts of a season that already has plenty of pressure attached to it. The Orange have missed the most field goals per game in the Football Bowl Subdivision this season, and the problems showed up again in a recent loss, where missed kicks and a botched punt helped swing the night the wrong way. Fran Brown did not dance around it afterward, acknowledging the issue and making it clear the staff can no longer treat the situation like a short-term hiccup.
Freshman Shay Barker is now the starting kicker moving forward, a decision that at least gives Syracuse a direction while the rest of the operation tries to steady itself. The bigger question is whether the Orange can turn all the empty trips inside scoring range into something more dependable before the missed chances keep piling up in games that matter. For a team trying to build consistency, special teams has become a problem Brown cannot afford to let linger. [Read more 🡒]
Syracuse And UConn Suddenly Have A Rivalry Fans Can Believe In
An exhibition in Uncasville, Conn., ended up feeling like more than a tuneup when UConn handled Syracuse 72-52 at Mohegan Sun Arena. The game gave both programs a glimpse of what a revived series could look like, and it also brought together two coaches who seem eager to keep the conversation going. Gerry McNamara and Danny Hurley both said they would like the matchup to become an annual event, with Madison Square Garden floated as a possible stage.
For Syracuse, the interest goes beyond one preseason meeting. The Orange have a natural regional connection to a Big East rival with plenty of history, and a regular date would give both fan bases something to circle on the calendar. McNamara and Hurley also acknowledged that their athletic departments are still talking about future scheduling, so the idea is alive, even if the details are not sorted out yet. [Read more 🡒]