Umari Hatcher didn’t just leave Saturday’s win over No. 19 SMU with a smile. He walked into the postgame press conference wearing a cowboy hat that had become both a souvenir and a Halloween costume, and he wore it like the day belonged to him.
That was the mood around Syracuse after its 30-27 victory in the JMA Wireless Dome: loose, loud and just a little bit surreal. Hatcher, Syracuse’s best player this season, arrived late to the room after the Orange had already started answering questions in their school gear and serious expressions.
His entrance changed the temperature immediately. Teammates laughed.
The hat sat crooked on his head. A fan had handed it to him on the field after the game, he said, as players and students mixed together at midfield following the field-storming.
“Now I’ve got a Halloween costume,” Hatcher said.
The scene matched the result. Syracuse was a double-digit underdog at home and still knocked off a ranked team, something Fran Brown has now done every time he’s coached against a nationally ranked opponent in the Dome.
The Orange sent SMU back to Dallas and into cowboy country with work still to do if the Mustangs want to reach the ACC championship game. Syracuse, meanwhile, looked like a team that has been telling the truth all along through its run of tight ACC games.
Two weeks earlier, that didn’t seem likely. After the loss to Louisville on Oct. 17, the Orange were dealing with three injured quarterbacks, and the season looked ready to slide into the same kind of mess that injuries at quarterback can create. Steve Angeli’s absence in that game was only for additional medical treatment, though, and now he’s back - or at least back enough to win.
He helped prove that in more than one way. Angeli led the game-winning touchdown drive and threw the decisive score with 20 seconds left.
He also showed his mobility earlier, sprinting 26 yards for a touchdown in the first quarter. When asked about his health afterward, he gave the kind of answer that leaves no room for debate.
“Twenty-six yard touchdown run,” Angeli said. “That’s all I’ve got to say.”
Angeli wasn’t the only one with something wrapped around him after the game. Cornerback Demetres Samuel Jr. had his finger taped after a night in which he made 10 tackles, broke up a pass and punched the ball loose for the game’s only turnover. His work helped slow SMU’s no-huddle offense just enough to give Syracuse a shot on its final full possession.
Angeli also wore a protective boot to the press conference, covering the Achilles tendon he tore last season.
For many of Syracuse’s players, the field-storming itself was a first-time experience, made even stranger by the Halloween costumes all around them. Calvin Russell was greeted by Big Bird after the game, though he said he only saw a yellow blur rather than the “Sesame Street” character.
Samuel spotted the Joker and the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. Ahmad Miller said he had never been in anything like it.
Samuel, though, said the moment took him back to his final recruiting visit, when Syracuse finished a 10-win season with a victory over nationally ranked Miami.
This wasn’t that. The start to this season was too rocky for that kind of comparison, and the Orange won’t be able to match what Brown did in his first year. But Saturday still gave them something real to hold onto.
No one seemed to enjoy it more than Hatcher, now in his sixth season of college football. He said he had been denied photos by athletes before, and he didn’t want Syracuse fans to get the same treatment.
So he came into the interview room a few minutes late, hat on and grin ready, making an entrance that had his teammates laughing and gave him a keepsake from the night.
“I always told myself I’m going to make everyone around me happy,” Hatcher said. “We got a nice big win.
Everyone, come on. You don’t even have to ask me for a picture.
Let’s get it in.”
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 🡒]