Syracuse’s 21-18 loss to Cal in its ACC opener came with plenty of pain, and Steve Angeli took a big share of the blame after two costly fourth-quarter interceptions helped hand the Orange their first defeat of the season.
But not everyone is ready to sound the alarm.
Former Syracuse football captain Brendan Carney said on the latest episode of the Juice on the Cuse Podcast that he still believes in the quarterback, even after Angeli finished 24 of 49 for 263 yards with a touchdown and three picks. The last interception came on Syracuse’s final drive and closed the door on the Golden Bears.
“When he wasn't under pressure, he was performing,” Carney said. “When he was under pressure, that's where all the mistakes were happening...
As he continues to play with this offense, I think he'll get more comfortable, he'll get more consistent. I'm still optimistic about him.
I don't think we need to pull him just yet, but I think he just needs to get a few things cleaned up and he'll be all right.”
Syracuse’s problems went well beyond the quarterback. The Orange were flagged 15 times for 132 yards, and several of those penalties came before the snap, drawing frustration from the crowd. Carney didn’t downplay that mess.
“Fifteen penalties, that's really an absurd number of penalties to have in a game we otherwise controlled statistically,” Carney said. “It really comes down to the execution and discipline, and we all know that those are fixable things.”
Carney’s perspective carries some weight. He was an All-Big East punter at Syracuse, finished as the school’s second-leading punter in career average at 42.6, set SU records for career and single-season punting yards, and was named a team captain in 2006.
He also enjoyed seeing freshman Jimmy Gregg make a splash. The nation’s top-rated punter helped Syracuse in the first half when the Orange ran a fake punt and Gregg delivered a jump pass for a 12-yard gain and a first down.
“I fully admit the coaches that I played for probably would have never trusted me to do a play like that, but I thought it was great,” Carney said. “Reminded me of that Tim Tebow play that he did when he was playing college football.”
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