Steve Angeli will be back under center for Syracuse on Thursday night.
After a rough afternoon against Cal, the Orange are heading into another ACC test when they travel to Pitt for a 7:30 p.m. ET kickoff.
Syracuse sits at 1-1, while Pitt is 2-0 despite a shaky-looking 12-7 win over Central Florida on Saturday. It also marks the first road game of the season for Fran Brown’s team, with Syracuse trying to get its league record back to 1-1.
The quarterback spot, though, is staying put. Brown said Monday that Angeli is expected to start against Pitt.
That comes after Angeli threw three interceptions in the loss to Cal and also got banged up, but Brown said he’s checked out OK medically. The decision does not appear to be about benching him for performance.
It’s about whether he’s healthy enough to go, and Syracuse seems comfortable that he is.
That makes sense given what Angeli has already shown. He came off a torn Achilles tendon suffered in September of last season, and there had been some questions about whether he was fully back yet. He led Syracuse to a 66-3 win over New Hampshire in Week 1, and last season the Orange went 3-1 with him at quarterback before the injury.
With Angeli likely staying in place, the bigger questions for Syracuse are elsewhere.
The first is Tylik Hill. The starting running back left Saturday’s loss after only two carries because of a quad injury, and Syracuse still has to figure out whether he’ll be available on Thursday. If he can’t go, the Orange will need to decide whether Ju’Juan Johnson takes over again or if freshman Shavane Anderson Jr. gets a bigger role after his strong Week 1.
The other major issue is Calvin Russell III. The freshman wide receiver and five-star recruit warmed up with the team before Saturday’s game and looked like he had a real chance to play, but he ultimately did not suit up. Brown said Monday that Russell has not gone through full contact yet, so his status remains unclear.
Then there’s the penalty problem. Syracuse piled up double-digit penalties against Cal, including one that erased a punt return touchdown. That kind of self-inflicted damage can’t keep happening, especially on the road in a tougher setting like Pitt.
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For Syracuse fans, though, the memory that lingers is Cals win over the Orange in the ACC opener. It stood out in a weekend otherwise defined by league-wide momentum, and it left Syracuse in the less comfortable position of having squandered too much in a game that could have changed the tone around its early-season start. [Read more 🡒]