Syracuse gets to enjoy the glow of an ACC road win for a few more days, but Fran Brown knows exactly what comes next. The Orange are back home Saturday against No.
16/19 SMU, a ranked team with a 6-1, 4-1 mark and its only loss coming by 10 at Louisville, another Top 25 opponent. After a gritty overtime win at North Carolina, Brown spent Monday trying to strike the balance every coach knows well: savor the good while preparing for what can go wrong.
This week’s home kickoff comes in the early window, with Syracuse and SMU set for 12:00 p.m. ET on ESPN2.
Brown made it clear he wants the Dome full for it. “I just want to pack the Dome.
If you can be there, it will be cool to have everyone there.”
The mood around the program was understandably lighter after the Orange finally got a conference road result they badly needed. Brown called Syracuse “hot” on Sunday, meaning the buzz that comes after beating a favored league opponent away from home. “We needed that (result).”
He also had a moment from Chapel Hill that stuck with him, and it had nothing to do with the scoreboard alone. Brown said Bryan Blair’s reaction when the game ended was one of the most memorable sights from the night.
“Seeing our AD on the sideline when Calvin scored, him jumping. He (jumped) like nine inches (high),” Brown said with a smile.
“That was pretty cool, he was excited.”
Blair, meanwhile, had already been preaching patience before the game, even while Syracuse’s conference struggles had kept plenty of pressure on the season. With more than half of the roster made up of underclassmen, there’s still a long runway ahead, even if the results have tested patience along the way.
The kicking game remains one of the biggest loose ends. Syracuse has missed five extra points this season, including one by Tripp Woody and four by Shay Barker, along with a couple of missed field goals in 16 tries. Brown didn’t lock into any decision on that front when asked whether he was considering a return to Woody, who opened the season as the starter.
“We'll do whatever is best for our program, see what happens in practice this week, just get the points we need to get” Brown said. “I think Tripp is back and healthy (injured hamstring a month ago), so that wil be good (to have a choice).”
Brown also pointed back to the stretch after Syracuse’s earlier ACC win, noting that the last time he met with reporters on a Monday after beating a conference opponent in-season was Sept. 22, 2025, following the Orange’s 34-21 road win at Clemson. That high was followed by a rough turn five days later, when Syracuse lost 38-3 to Duke in the Dome without Steve Angel after Angel’s season-ending injury against the Tigers.
Now, Syracuse is trying to build off the positive instead of letting it vanish. Brown has the win, the crowd, and the momentum. Saturday will tell whether the Orange can make those things count again.
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