Syracuse’s season has been a mess at times, but the Orange may have found its way back to the one place it needed to get: a reasonable starting point.
After seven games of penalties, shaky kicking, untimely turnovers, close losses, two overtime wins decided by successful two-point conversions, and a revolving door at quarterback, Saturday’s win over North Carolina gave Syracuse something it had been missing. It finally put a game away. That alone changes the feel around the season.
Back in August, a 6-6 finish and a bowl trip would have sounded pretty good to most Syracuse fans after the disaster of 2025. Now, at 3-4, that same target still looks appealing - and still looks possible.
It won’t come easily. The remaining slate includes SMU and Clemson, though the Orange gets both at home.
Before last week, SMU hadn’t exactly looked dominant, and Clemson has played more like an average ACC team than a powerhouse. Syracuse also has road trips to NC State and Boston College, and while both are tough places to play, neither team is viewed as clearly more talented than the Orange.
The biggest reason for any optimism is Steve Angeli, who is suddenly back in charge of the offense after a strange first two months of the year. He opened the season as the starter, with the fanbase fully behind him.
Then careless interceptions against Cal and Pitt helped sink Syracuse in those losses, and injury forced him out for the next stretch. While he was sidelined, Amari Odom and Malachi Nelson both played well.
Now Angeli is back as the starter again, after Odom and Nelson were both injured. There was understandable skepticism before the North Carolina game, but Angeli looked healthier than he had earlier in the season and did what he needed to do to help Syracuse win. That kind of performance can go a long way in building trust with teammates and fans alike, and it gives the Orange a real chance to keep moving forward.
Of course, the quarterback situation isn’t the only issue hanging over this team. Brown entered the season with plenty of unanswered questions because several position groups were young or unproven, and some of those concerns remain.
The kicking game is still a major problem. The penalties keep piling up.
And the larger issue is obvious: Syracuse keeps putting itself in bad spots.
So the season still comes with all the same uncertainty it had before kickoff. But there is at least a little more belief now, because the Orange showed against North Carolina that it can finish games and can fight back from a deficit.
That was always part of the hope in the preseason, and it’s still the hope now. After all the chaos, Syracuse football has landed back where it started.
Right now, that’s not a bad place to be.
In Other News...
Syracuse May Be Building Something Real In South Jersey
Syracuse has been spending more time in South Jersey, and one of the latest prospects to notice is Elijah Campbell, a 2028 athlete from Williamstown High School in New Jersey. Campbell was on campus in October to watch a game and spend time with the coaching staff, a visit that gave him a closer look at a program that has made him feel wanted early in the process.
Campbell said Syracuse was the first school to offer him a scholarship, and he came away with a strong impression of the team and the coaches, especially defensive backs coach Charles Watkins. The versatile young player also pointed to Syracuses clear recruiting emphasis in South Jersey, which could make the Orange a more familiar name for area prospects as they sort through their options. [Read more 🡒]
Syracuse Has A Bigger SMU Challenge Brewing Inside The Dome
Fran Brown spent Monday afternoon trying to keep Syracuses focus on the bigger picture after the Oranges overtime win at North Carolina, and the next test waiting inside the Dome may be the kind that tells him plenty about where this team really stands. A ranked SMU squad is coming in, and Brown made it clear the atmosphere matters, urging fans to help turn the Dome into the sort of home-field advantage that can tilt a conference game.
Brown also said kicker Tripp Woody is healthy and available, which gives Syracuse a bit more clarity as it moves into another demanding stretch of league play. The coach sounded energized by the road win, but he also left no doubt that the grind is only getting tougher, with the Mustangs bringing a fresh challenge and another chance for the Orange to show it can handle the pressure that comes with conference football. [Read more 🡒]
Syracuse May Have Found A New Weapon Sooner Than Expected
In the midst of Syracuses overtime win over North Carolina, Calvin Russell III announced himself as more than a promising freshman still finding his way back. The wide receiver was named Atlantic Coast Conference Rookie of the Week after catching eight passes for 86 yards, a workload that put him right in the middle of the Oranges offense when the game was tightest.
Russells performance stood out even more because it came in just his fourth collegiate game after recovering from an Achilles injury. He finished the night with the game-winning touchdown and the two-point conversion, the kind of late-game impact that can change how quickly a staff expands a young players role. [Read more 🡒]