Syracuse walked into Raleigh with its season hanging in the balance and walked out with a 34-31 comeback that kept the bowl path alive.
The Orange erased a 15-point deficit by ripping off 21 unanswered points in the fourth quarter, surviving a shaky stretch from the secondary and an offense that spent long stretches looking out of sync. At 5-5 overall and 3-5 in the ACC, Syracuse now needs one win in its final two games - at Boston College and at home against No. 5 Notre Dame - to become bowl eligible.
The finish belonged to the playmakers.
Justus Ross-Simmons, who had to go to court just to be eligible to play this season, delivered the kind of closing sequence that can define a game. On fourth-and-3 with 1:46 left, he hauled in a pass that bounced off Calvin Russell’s hands. Ross-Simmons then rose up for a touchdown catch on one side of the end zone and finished the job with another flying grab on the other side for the two-point conversion that sealed it.
He finished with only two catches for 16 yards, but they were enormous.
Judge Jean Marie Westlake, you may be the real MVP.
Russell was the other headliner, and he carried the offense for much of the afternoon. He caught 17 passes for 137 yards, tying a school record for receptions in a single game. Time and again, he was the outlet, the chain-mover, the answer when Syracuse needed one.
Quarterback Steve Angeli had his moments and his misses. He went 27-of-42 for 272 yards and two touchdowns, but he was just 13-of-18 for 96 yards at halftime. Syracuse opened fast with a no-huddle first drive, then settled into a much rougher rhythm for most of the first half.
That inconsistency showed up in the red zone. Fran Brown has spent all season pushing for better execution there, and Syracuse did not give him much to like early. Stale play-calling and careless throws forced the Orange into two painful first-half field goals instead of touchdowns.
The second half was better, at least in spots. Umari Hatcher’s 53-yard catch set up a Russell touchdown that trimmed N.C.
State’s lead to 28-20. Still, Syracuse kept tripping over itself.
Daunte Bacheyie had two avoidable drops, and a delay of game penalty on the Orange’s third possession of the second half turned a drive into 3rd-and-19. Later, on a 3rd-and-20 with 6:07 left, Angeli had time but held the ball too long.
That was the offense’s day in a nutshell: uneven, frustrating, and then suddenly clutch when it had to be.
The defense supplied the rescue act.
Tunmise Adeleye changed everything with 5:12 left, intercepting a C.J. Bailey pass and returning it 18 yards for a pick-six that jolted Syracuse back to life. A few minutes later, he sacked Bailey again with 4:40 remaining to hand the ball back to the Orange.
From there, the defense kept finding ways to survive. Keyshawn Johnson forced a sack-fumble on Bailey, and linebacker Chris D’Appolonia - one of his hands wrapped like a club - came away with the ball to close the door in the final seconds.
THE ONE HAND MAN WITH THE INT AND WAVES BYE WITH THE CLUBBED HAND pic.twitter.com/cHhpp2fFpx
- Sickos Committee (@SickosCommittee) November 14, 2026
It was a necessary bailout for a secondary that spent much of the afternoon under pressure.
Penalties continued to haunt Syracuse, too. Demetres Samuel Jr. was flagged for pass interference with 26 seconds left, though N.C.
State answered with a penalty of its own. Earlier, Chris Peal’s third-down holding call extended a Wolfpack drive that turned into a 14-play, 81-yard scoring march.
Peal also took a poor angle on Duke Scott’s 62-yard run, which set up N.C. State’s second touchdown.
That score came on a 12-yard pass to open the third quarter, Bailey’s first touchdown pass in eight quarters.
The Wolfpack also hit a pair of big plays that stretched Syracuse’s defense. Bailey connected with Dozier on a 69-yard strike in the third quarter, N.C.
State’s longest play from scrimmage all season. Scott later powered in from 32 yards, brushing aside Samuel near the line of scrimmage on the way to the end zone.
Nazir Ward was also hit with a questionable pass interference call with 9:12 left, though Adeleye later drew a facemask flag that helped move N.C. State into field goal range.
Bend but don’t break.
That has been the defense’s identity this season, and Adeleye made sure it held when the game was on the line.
Special teams had its own problems, too. Syracuse has already dealt with missed field goals and costly penalties in that phase, and this time the issues showed up in the return game.
In the first half, Samuel signaled for a fair catch on a punt pinned at the 5-yard line. Later, the Orange brought out a kickoff return in the second half that should have been left alone, costing field position that should have been theirs.
It didn’t decide the game. The late plays did.
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