PITTSBURGH - Three games into Syracuse’s season, the bowl picture already looks bleak.
That’s a stunning turn for a team that opened with enough optimism to at least imagine a path to six wins. The Orange rolled over New Hampshire, but the last two weeks have exposed the kind of issues that can sink a season fast: penalties, special teams miscues and too many costly mistakes from Steve Angeli.
Fran Brown knows the urgency. After Thursday’s loss, he said the work still has to start in practice and insisted he still trusts his players to make the necessary plays.
“There’s some things that I got to do in practice to be able to set up. Let’s get that done,” Brown said.
“But I believe in our players. I think that they’ll make those plays that ought to be made.”
So far, those plays haven’t shown up.
Syracuse was flagged 14 times against Cal and 10 more against Pitt, and Brown said the pre-snap penalties are the ones he considers flat-out unacceptable. The kicking game has also been a problem. Tripp Woody missed his third field goal in two games, continuing a rough stretch for the Orange’s special teams.
Angeli’s recent play has made matters worse. He has thrown five interceptions over the last two games, three more than he had in last year’s brief stint.
Some picks can be explained away by tipped balls or bad routes. These haven’t all fit that description.
Angeli didn’t have much to say after the game, but he was direct. In three minutes at the podium, he said he has to sharpen everything, not just one part of his game.
Brown at least showed he’s willing to make changes. After Woody’s miss in the second quarter, he turned to freshman Shay Barker, who answered by making two field goals. Later, after Angeli threw two straight fourth-quarter interceptions, Brown sent in Amari Odom, and Odom completed all seven of his passes on the drive he led.
“You just gotta find different things,” Brown said. “When your number’s called, step up.
Shay got an opportunity, and he stepped up, and he was able to go make the kick. Amari went in and he did a good job of being able to drive us downfield to go get some points.”
Still, there’s only so much the coach can patch over if the execution and talent level aren’t holding up.
“I can’t really blame him. He’s only a coach,” SU corner Demetres Samuel Jr. said of Brown postgame.
“He can’t go out there and make the plays. We just got to execute and do a better job for him.”
The schedule doesn’t offer much relief, either. Syracuse still has games against UConn, North Carolina and Boston College that look winnable, though none of them can be treated as sure things now. Beyond that, the path gets steep in a hurry.
The Orange have four games left against ranked teams, and two of them come in back-to-back weeks in mid-October: No. 25 Virginia and No.
23 Louisville. After that comes No.
16 SMU. The season ends at home against No.
3 Notre Dame, the same team that beat Syracuse 70-7 last year. The remaining November games against NC State and Clemson are hardly soft landings.
Brown said before the season that the opponent doesn’t change how his team prepares. He focuses on the work that has to get done that day.
“I don’t really look at the opponent. I just look at what we have to do at practice today,” Brown said. “This is the day that we get promised today, so we’re going to do everything we can to practice to become a better football team.”
That approach may be sound, but it hasn’t produced wins yet. And right now, it’s fair to ask how Syracuse is supposed to beat tougher teams later if it can’t handle Cal or Pitt, two of the more manageable games on the schedule.
If the Orange are going to get to a bowl, the most realistic route likely runs through NC State and Clemson, unless they can steal a ranked win. Even that would mean cleaning up enough to go 5-0 in the rest of their unranked games, plus beating programs led by Dabo Swinney and Dave Doeren.
Syracuse did upset Clemson last year with Angeli, and the Tigers haven’t looked right since 2024. But this version of the Orange doesn’t look built to repeat that kind of result.
Instead of pushing toward something bigger, Syracuse has stumbled into a 1-2 start that makes even the minimum goal look out of reach.
In Other News...
Syracuse May Lose A Key Transfer Before He Ever Plays
Amarri Monroes Syracuse debut is suddenly tied up in a legal fight that could determine whether he gets to play a fifth college basketball season at all. A hearing was held over Monroes eligibility under the NCAAs new 5-in-5 rule, with State Supreme Court Justice Jean Marie Westlake pressing the NCAAs lawyer on how the policy should apply in his case while Monroes attorneys pushed for a preliminary injunction to keep him eligible as the matter moves forward.
For Syracuse, it is the kind of off-court uncertainty that can reshape roster plans before a player ever gets into a game. Monroe arrived with the expectation of helping next season, but the question now is whether the Orange will have him available when it matters. A written decision on his eligibility is expected soon, and until then the situation hangs over both Monroe and Syracuses plans for the season ahead. [Read more 🡒]
Pitts Breakout QB Carries A Personal Story Into Syracuse Matchup
Mason Heintschels rise has been one of the more striking storylines in college football this season, with the Clay High School product from Oregon, Ohio, stepping in as Pittsburghs starting quarterback and quickly turning into a national name. In 12 games, he has topped 3,000 passing yards and thrown 23 touchdowns, production that has helped put the Panthers in the spotlight while also cementing his place in the programs record book.
There is also a personal layer to his success that travels with him every week. Heintschel wears his middle school football number on his cleats in honor of his late friend Lukas Mason, who died in 2020, and that detail adds another reason Syracuse will be seeing a quarterback playing with more than just a hot hand when the teams meet. [Read more 🡒]
Syracuse Heads To Pitt With No Margin For Another Sloppy Night
The loss to Cal was the kind of night Syracuse cannot afford to repeat, a muddled 21-18 setback that mixed turnovers, missed chances and too many self-inflicted mistakes. Steve Angelis three interceptions and Tripp Woodys two missed field goals told part of the story, but the 15 penalties for 132 yards made the bigger point clear: the Orange spent too much of the game beating themselves.
Pitt is next, and the timing could hardly be less forgiving for a Syracuse team already trying to steady itself amid recent struggles and injuries. Recent matchups have gone Pitts way, and with the margin for error shrinking fast, Syracuse has to clean up the sloppiness before the trip turns into another night of frustration. [Read more 🡒]