Syracuse doesn’t have time to wallow after a 21-18 loss to California, and Fran Brown made that crystal clear Monday.
With Pittsburgh waiting Thursday night on the road, Brown spent his press conference stressing accountability over excuses. The Orange are 1-1, but the bigger issue right now is the kind of mistakes that keep beating them before the other team has to.
That was especially obvious when Brown was asked about kicker Tripp Woody, who missed two field goals against Cal that swung the game.
"Tell him the truth," Brown said without hesitation when asked how he balances rebuilding a specialist's confidence with demanding execution. "You sit there, you look him in the eyes, tell him the truth... You give them tough love sometimes, but make sure they understand and know that I'm here."
"They all our children. They all our kids," Brown added.
"So you tell your children the truth. You don't tell them what they want to hear, because that messes them up later on in life.
If he can face the truth with the people in this building, he'll be fine with everything else."
That same blunt approach applies to the penalty problem, and Syracuse has one of the ugliest numbers in the country. Through two games, the Orange lead the nation with 27 penalties, and the flags against Cal repeatedly pushed them into bad spots.
"We just got to be smart about some of the flags we did get," Brown said. "Pre-snap penalties aren't acceptable, right?
And then laziness during some times. Some of the penalties, guys wanting to fight and wanting to run through... there's a lot of judgment when it comes to some flags at times, so I just think that we have to - I have to coach that better."
Brown also stood by starting quarterback Steve Angeli, even after Angeli threw three interceptions against the Golden Bears. Brown said Angeli is healthy, cleared by the medical staff and will start Thursday.
The blame, Brown said, belongs more with the protection in front of him. Syracuse’s offensive line gave up plenty of pressure, and Brown said the unit has to do a better job keeping Angeli clean.
"We got to play better. We can't let our quarterback get hit as much as he was hit," Brown said of his offensive line.
"Just young when it comes to snaps... They'll keep getting better as we continue to play football."
He also pointed to the moving parts along the front, including reserve tackle Naquil Betrand, who stepped in when Trevion Mack dealt with hand discomfort.
"Just shows us that we got faith, and wanted to make sure Naquil knows that we have faith in him and give him an opportunity to go out there and be able to compete," Brown said. "The more depth you build, the better off we'll be."
There’s also a possible offensive boost on the way in five-star freshman receiver Calvin Russell III, who has been sidelined since tearing his Achilles in late March. Russell was on the field running routes during pregame warmups Saturday, a sign of how quickly he’s coming along.
Brown explained the final medical hurdle holding him back.
"There's a certain number of strength that he needs to be at," Brown explained. "He did another test again Saturday and it's almost there, even tested again today. It's like a certain percentage - he has to be in a deficit from both legs, it needs to be at 8%, and Calvin is a little bit higher than that at the moment."
Brown said Russell’s progress has come faster than expected.
"Normal people would probably still be at 20-something right now," Brown said. "He was at 20-something two weeks ago, and he was between 10 and 12 the last few days.
So that's why when we say it's moving there quickly, he's working extremely hard... If he's able to go, then he's going to go."
As for the Cal loss itself, Brown said Syracuse has already moved on. There’s no benefit in replaying it now, especially with a short week and a Thursday kickoff staring the Orange down.
"That was done yesterday at 6 o'clock. We moved on," Brown said bluntly about the Cal film.
"We can't change the past. We can only learn from it and get better."
The preparation is already in motion, and Brown said the schedule now has Syracuse living in a Tuesday-Wednesday mindset before the game arrives.
"Really we just got to focus on Monday, and then we'll get Tuesday, then we'll get Wednesday," Brown said. "And then before you know it, it'll be 7:30 Thursday and we get a chance to compete for about three to three and a half hours. And then when the game's over, we'll see where we are."
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