Syracuse gets a Halloween home date with SMU on Saturday, and the Orange will need the JMA Wireless Dome to bring every bit of spooky energy it can muster. Fran Brown’s team enters at 3-4 and will try to climb back to .500 against a nationally ranked opponent. Kickoff is set for noon ET, and it will be just the second home game Syracuse has played in the last 48 days.
The timing feels big for Syracuse after last weekend’s 31-30 win over North Carolina in Chapel Hill. That victory snapped an 11-game losing streak against ACC teams and kept bowl hopes alive. But the challenge level rises again immediately, because SMU comes in ranked No. 19 and still very much in the mix for a college football playoff spot.
At quarterback, Syracuse is expected to turn back to Steve Angeli. It will be his fifth start of the season.
Angeli opened the year as the starter and went 1-2, then dealt with an Achilles issue that included a PRP injection and opened the door for a one-week switch to Amari Odom. Odom helped Syracuse beat UConn, but he was injured as well, and Malachi Nelson got the next two starts.
Now Nelson is hurt too, and Angeli is back in line.
Syracuse will also unveil a uniform look the program has never used before. The Orange are set to wear a white helmet featuring Otto the Orange on the side. It’s a fresh look for a team hoping the result is fresh, too: a win over SMU.
This is only the third meeting between the schools, and SMU has won both previous matchups. The first came in 1932, when Syracuse fell 16-6. The teams didn’t meet again for more than 70 years, and last season in Dallas, the Mustangs beat the Orange 31-18.
SMU arrives at 6-1 overall and 4-1 in conference play. After facing Syracuse, the Mustangs will play Virginia Tech on Nov.
- They also bring one of the ACC’s top performers in several categories, with Kevin Jennings ranking in the top three in passing yards, Kendrick Raphael in the top three in rushing yards, and Marques White in the top three in sacks.
The playoff path for SMU is still alive, but the cleanest route is obvious: keep winning. Right now, the Mustangs would likely meet Miami in the conference title game during the first weekend of December.
Even if they were to lose to Syracuse, they could still have a path to the playoff, depending on how the ACC standings shake out. Multiple teams could finish with two conference losses, and SMU would then need to navigate tiebreakers and also hope for a Notre Dame win in a non-conference game to improve its “body of work,” which serves as a third tiebreaker in the 2026 ACC football standings.
If SMU wins the tiebreaker and then beats Miami, that could result in an automatic playoff bid.
In Other News...
Syracuse Just Gave Fran Browns Season New Life
For a Syracuse team that had been trying to find some traction in the middle of the season, Saturdays 30-27 win over No. 19 SMU at the JMA Wireless Dome felt like more than just a good night. Steve Angelis late touchdown pass to Noah Meyers finished off a victory that had been hard to come by against ranked competition, and it gave the Orange a result they can point to as the kind of turning point a season sometimes needs.
It was Syracuses first win over a ranked opponent since November 2024, and it came at a time when the margin for error in the ACC had already started to shrink. At 4-4 overall and 2-4 in conference play, the Orange still have work to do, but this was the kind of performance that can change the tone around a team and keep the rest of the schedule from feeling like a long climb. [Read more 🡒]
Syracuse Just Delivered Another Ranked Win Fans Wont Forget
Syracuse keeps finding ways to make November feel bigger than the calendar says it should. Under Fran Brown, the Orange knocked off 19th-ranked SMU 30-27 at home, leaning on a defense that never let Kevin Jennings get comfortable even as the Mustangs quarterback still managed 351 yards and two touchdowns. The pressure came from all over, with Keyshawn Johnson and others getting to Jennings and Demetres Samuel Jr. helping swing the game with a forced fumble.
Noah Meyers then delivered the kind of finish that turns a good win into a memorable one, scoring the game-winning touchdown and sending the home crowd into the kind of celebration Syracuse has been chasing in ranked matchups. For a program trying to build real staying power under Brown, this was the sort of result that matters beyond one Saturday, because it showed the Orange can win a tight game against a ranked opponent by making the decisive plays late. [Read more 🡒]
Syracuse Finally Got The Ranked Win Fans Needed But Not Easily
Syracuse finally got the kind of ranked win its fans have been waiting for, but it took every bit of 60 minutes to get there. The Orange knocked off No. 19 SMU 30-27 on a late touchdown pass from Steve Angeli to Noah Meyers, a result that not only snapped their drought against ranked opponents but also pulled them back to .500 at 4-4. It was the sort of game Syracuse had to have, and for a while it looked like the Orange might control it with a strong first half.
Instead, the second half turned into a grind, with SMU pushing back and forcing Syracuse to answer possession after possession. The Orange still found enough from its defense and rushing attack to stay in the fight, and when the moment arrived, Angeli delivered the throw that made the difference. For a team trying to steady its season, it was a much-needed win, even if it came with plenty of stress attached. [Read more 🡒]