Syracuse gets a reset this week, and it needs one badly.
After back-to-back Atlantic Coast Conference losses to Cal and Pitt, the Orange are headed to Connecticut for a nonconference game against UConn on Saturday, trying to stop the slide before it gets uglier. Head coach Fran Brown said quarterback Steve Angeli is healthy and will start for Syracuse, and five-star freshman receiver Calvin Russell III is also expected to make his college debut after being sidelined since March with an Achilles injury.
That’s the good news. The rest of the picture is a little more fragile.
Syracuse is 1-2 overall and 0-2 in the ACC, already staring at the kind of September that can turn into a season-long problem if it doesn’t stabilize quickly. A loss here would put the Orange in real danger of drifting out of bowl contention before the conference grind even deepens.
Our beat writers all think Syracuse will avoid that kind of damage, though none of them expect a runaway.
Noah Nussbaum sees a 27-18 Syracuse win and calls this the calm before the storm. He points to UConn’s step back from last season, when the Huskies went 9-4 and pushed Syracuse to the brink in an overtime game at the JMA Wireless Dome.
Jim Mora is gone, Jason Candle is in, and Nussbaum says the new coach hasn’t found steady success yet. UConn has losses to Miami (Ohio) and Maryland, and Nussbaum says the bye week should have given Syracuse enough time to clean up its discipline, get Angeli settled and sort out the red-zone issues that have hurt the offense.
Nicholas Alumkal also has Syracuse winning, 27-20, but he expects a closer fight. He says the Orange can’t afford to let this become the start of a second straight uncompetitive finish.
For him, the biggest question is Angeli, who gets a matchup against someone who knows him well in UConn offensive coordinator Nunzio Campanile, the former Syracuse quarterbacks coach. Alumkal is looking for the version of Angeli who threw for 416 yards against the Huskies in 2025 rather than the one who has struggled with interceptions the last two games.
He also points to Syracuse’s penalty problem - the Orange are committing the most in the Football Bowl Subdivision at 12 per game - and believes the extra time off should help. His bottom line: UConn hasn’t looked strong enough to keep Syracuse down again.
Harris Pemberton is the most confident of the group, picking Syracuse 31-17. He says the Orange are close to full panic mode after two flat ACC performances, but this matchup gives them a chance to breathe.
UConn allowed just 95 rushing yards per game entering the week and will try to make things difficult on the ground, but Pemberton thinks Angeli’s return, plus Russell’s debut, should give Syracuse enough juice through the air. If Angeli isn’t fully right, Pemberton notes, Amari Odom could also provide a spark.
On the other side, he doesn’t see quarterback Kalieb Osborne and the Husky offense posing enough of a threat to really stress Syracuse.
The consensus is clear: Syracuse should win. The real question is whether the Orange can use this game to settle down, or whether another slip turns the pressure all the way up.
In Other News...
Syracuse May Be Losing Ground With One Of Its Top 2027 Targets
Syracuse basketballs 2027 class got a major lift with the verbal commitment of five-star prospect Moussa Kamissoko, but the addition could make the Oranges pursuit of another top target a little trickier. Four-star wing-forward Ahmed Nur has already made an official visit to Syracuse and has also been to Florida State and Ole Miss, giving him a clear sense of the schools in the mix as his recruitment starts to tighten up.
Nur is set to play his senior season at CIA Bella Vista and also compete in the Overtime Elite league, two stages that should keep him in the spotlight as his process moves forward. For Syracuse, the timing is not ideal, with the roster currently full and no obvious timeline for a decision, while Florida State and Ole Miss are viewed as especially well positioned as the Orange try to stay in the chase. [Read more 🡒]
Syracuse Comes Out Of Bye Facing Pressure To Fix Its Biggest Issues
Syracuse comes out of its bye week carrying the kind of early-season pressure that can shape a fall. The Orange head to Pratt & Whitney Stadium to face UConn with a 1-2 record, and the break gave the staff time to reset around the issues that have already defined the start: too many penalties, too many turnovers, and too little offensive rhythm to let the defense breathe.
The defensive side has given Syracuse a foundation to work with, but the offense has to do more than flash in stretches. Against UConn, the Orange need a more balanced approach and cleaner execution to start turning possessions into momentum, because another uneven performance would only deepen the questions that have followed them into this game. [Read more 🡒]
Syracuse Needs More Than A Win Against UConn This Weekend
Syracuse heads to East Hartford this weekend for a noon kickoff against UConn on CBS Sports Network, and the matchup has already drawn plenty of analyst attention. The discussion has centered on where each team might have an edge, which weaknesses could be exposed and which players could swing the game, all of it building toward a game that feels more meaningful than a typical nonconference date.
For Syracuse, the interest goes beyond simply getting back in the win column. The Orange need a performance that looks stable, convincing and useful as the season keeps moving, and that is why the predictions around this one matter so much. A victory would help, but what Syracuse shows in the process may end up telling the bigger story. [Read more 🡒]