After five games, the 2026 Syracuse Orange have given fans plenty to gripe about. The penalties keep piling up.
The procedures have been messy. The kicking game has been a problem.
Special teams have been a headache. And too often, the losses have felt like Syracuse beat itself.
But buried underneath all that frustration is one decision from Fran Brown that deserves a lot more attention: he built real depth at quarterback.
That matters now because Syracuse has already had to survive a wild amount of turnover under center. Against Virginia, Danny Lauter entered late after third-string quarterback Malachi Nelson was injured, which meant the Orange were on their fourth quarterback in nearly as many games - five, to be exact.
That kind of emergency carousel would have sunk a lot of teams. Syracuse at least has a chance to keep moving because Brown made a hard lesson from last season stick.
The obvious hope entering the year was that Steve Angeli would be back and ready after the torn Achilles. Before that injury, he was playing out of his mind, and when he went down in September 2025 against Clemson, the rest of Syracuse’s offense went with him.
Brown could have rolled the dice on Angeli returning fully healthy and instantly recapturing that level of play. Instead, he attacked the quarterback room with urgency, knowing the position is too important and too fragile to leave exposed.
That foresight is paying off now, even if not in the way Syracuse would have wanted. Angeli was benched midway through game three.
Amari Odom, the 2025 first-team All-Conference USA selection, flashed against Pittsburgh and then was a major reason - along with Tylik Hill - that Syracuse avoided an ugly collapse against UConn. When Odom and Angeli were both unavailable against Virginia, Nelson at least kept the offense afloat.
Even in that mess, Syracuse still finished with more than 400 yards of offense, which would have been a dream outcome last year. And when Nelson went down too, the Orange still came within three points on the road.
The contrast with 2025 is hard to miss. Syracuse can now absorb injuries and struggles at quarterback in a way it simply couldn’t before.
Nelson, who even got benched at UTEP, was only option No. 3 this season. That says plenty about how Brown approached the room after last year’s collapse.
None of that erases the rest of Syracuse’s issues. The mistakes are real, and the frustration is justified.
At minimum, the Orange could be 4-1. The California and Virginia games were there to be won.
And with Notre Dame and SMU the only clear heavyweights left, the schedule has opened enough to make the wasted chances sting even more.
Still, Brown got this part right. Syracuse’s quarterback depth has been tested hard, and it hasn’t completely cracked. In a season full of self-inflicted wounds, that’s no small thing.
In Other News...
Syracuse Just Saw How Far It Still Has To Go Under McNamara
Syracuse got a reminder at Mohegan Sun Arena that the rebuild under Adrian Autry still has work to do, even if the first half looked promising. The Orange led Connecticut by five at halftime in an exhibition game, and for stretches their defense gave them a chance to hang around against a high-level opponent despite playing without Aiden Tobiason, who left early with an injury, and Mark Morano.
The second half told the bigger story. Syracuse was outscored badly after the break and never found enough offense to match its effort on the other end, turning what had been a competitive look into a 72-52 loss. For a team still trying to sort out its identity, the game offered a clear picture of both the progress and the distance left to cover. [Read more 🡒]
Syracuses First McNamara Test Exposed A Concern Fans Cant Ignore
The first real look at Syracuse with Kyle McNamara in an exhibition setting came with plenty to unpack, and not much of it was easy. A trip to Mohegan Sun Arena ended in a 72-52 loss to UConn, with the Orange already short-handed before tipoff after freshman Mark Morano sat out because of injury and Aidan Tobiason went down early with a hamstring issue. Even in an exhibition, the matchup offered a useful early snapshot of where this group stands, and it was clear Syracuse had trouble matching UConns physicality.
Ryan Moesch and Sadiq White provided a few bright spots, but the bigger issues were hard to miss. Syracuse struggled to rebound and had a difficult time finding offense against a defense that smothered possessions and turned the game into a grind. For a team still trying to establish its identity under McNamara, the concern is less about one October result than the way the Orange were pushed around in the areas that usually travel best when the schedule gets tougher. [Read more 🡒]
Syracuses First Gerry McNamara Test Raised One Early Concern
The first exhibition under Gerry McNamara offered an early look at what Syracuse wants to be this season: fast, energetic and willing to play at a pace that can make opponents uncomfortable. There were encouraging signs too, including the debut of freshman Ryan Moesch, along with stretches that hinted at where this group can grow as it settles into McNamaras approach.
Still, the loss to UConn also provided a reminder that the Orange are nowhere near a finished product. Syracuse had moments of promise on the glass and around the basket, but the game exposed some familiar unevenness in shooting and rebounding, and the injury to Aiden Tobiason added another layer of concern to an opener that was supposed to be more about evaluation than results. [Read more 🡒]