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CLEMSON, S.C. — Fran Brown made a pitstop before answering questions about Syracuse’s program-altering win over Clemson.

The reason for the delay?

To check on his starting quarterback. Brown walked up a couple steps to greet a seated Steve Angeli with crutches at his side. About an hour prior, Angeli suffered what looked to be a devastating non-contact left leg injury.

The two talked for about a minute. When the conversation ended, Brown embraced Angeli and then his mother Stefanie.

“I told him I love him,” Brown said of Angeli, not revealing the specifics of the conversation. “I made sure he knew that and that we’ll be with him, and we’re going to stick with him all the way through that.”

“That’s what family does.”

In his limited time with Syracuse, Angeli has been a smash hit. Entering Saturday, he led the country in passing yards (1,072) and was dealing in Death Valley — going 18-for-31 with 244 yards and two touchdowns — until everything came to a screeching halt.

The Notre Dame transfer was knocked out of Syracuse’s (3-1, 1-0 Atlantic Coast) 34-21 win over Clemson (1-3, 0-2 ACC). Rickie Collins replaced Angeli and finished what he started. Angeli did the heavy lifting, and without him, questions will arise whether Collins is an adequate replacement.

Everyone in central New York held their breath as Angeli grasped his left leg during SU’s opening drive. The quarterback only missed one play and helped the Orange take a 7-0 lead.

Crisis avoided. For two quarters.

In similar fashion, during the third quarter, Angeli scrambled upfield and slipped. This time he didn’t get up. Unable to put weight on his left foot, trainers carried Angeli off the field. When he came out of the medical tent, he was on crutches, sporting a boot on his foot.

Angeli stood alone on the sidelines with his head in his hands. Eventually he walked back to the locker room. Brown initially revealed postgame Angeli “won’t be here for a couple weeks,” not delving into the specifics. Sunday morning, ESPN’s Pete Thamel reported Angeli tore his Achilles, ruling him out for the rest of the season.

“We build bonds on this team, and that’s a brother to me now,” Collins said. “Seeing that, it sucks. I was hurt for him.”

Collins couldn’t rest on his laurels. He needed to “snap out of it,” and close out the win. The LSU transfer was put in a tough spot as SU led 27-14. His only snaps this year came last week in the second half of Syracuse’s blowout win over Colgate, when the result was already decided. Even in the blowout, Collins felt the reps were useful, teaching him “how to prepare his mind” and make the switch from “being (Angeli’s) right-hand man” to actually playing.

Little did Collins know, he’d make the same switch a week later in a much more important game.

In a different universe, Collins would’ve started Saturday. After transferring from LSU in December, Brown named him SU’s lead signal caller following its Spring Game. Angeli transferred to Syracuse 15 days later and beat Collins in a quarterback competition during fall camp.

Their bond is tight. Brown previously said it resembles the relationship between Kyle McCord and backup quarterback Michael Johnson Jr., who constantly watched film together.

After Angeli was named the starter, Brown constantly harped that Collins was “one play away from getting in the game.” For Collins that meant preparing as if he was the starter, which was aided by quarterback coach Nunzio Campanile.

“(Campanile) always preaches that if he’s coaching one of us, he’s coaching all of us, so I got to take the coaching just how if I was to start the whole game,” Collins said.

So when he entered in the first quarter Saturday, Collins was ready. Or so he thought. His first snap was a false start on third-and-1. The second was an incompletion to force a punt. Even though a 90-minute weather delay at halftime watered down the atmosphere at Memorial Stadium — with a large majority of fans absent — coming in cold wasn’t an easy task.

After subbing in for Steve Angeli during the third quarter on Saturday, Rickie Collins commands Syracuse’s offense. Collins went just 3-for-8 for 34 yards but kept the Orange ahead with a third-quarter touchdown pass. Courtesy of Dennis Nett: Syracuse.com

Syracuse’s defense had Collins’ back as Antoine Deslauriers forced an Adam Randall fumble in the third quarter. On the next play, Collins double-clutched and fired a bullet to Justus Ross-Simmons in the corner of the end zone, extending Syracuse’s lead to 34-14.

“It settled me in the game for sure,” Collins said. “I gave (Ross-Simmons) a chance. He made the play for me. I ain’t do nothing. He did the rest of the work.”

Leading by three possessions, Syracuse turned conservative. The Orange didn’t scheme anything too complicated for Collins. Short passes and runs down the middle accounted for the majority of their plays as they tried to bleed clock. It didn’t always look pretty — going 3-of-8 for 34 yards and a touchdown — but facing arguably the best defensive line in the country, Collins managed.

He played mistake-free football, which is exactly what Syracuse needed. SU’s defense put together one of its most impressive performances under Brown. Clemson moved the ball, putting up over 500 yards, yet the Orange forced its drives to stall out.

“Coach Fran gave us a challenge to play complimentary football today, and we exceeded that challenge,” Collins said. “We can completely check that off the list, and it’s something to build off of for sure.”

Going forward, Syracuse won’t have a large lead for Collins to nurse. Brown said Angeli “will always be the leader of our football team,” nevertheless, it’s Collins’ time to shine. He’ll have a full week of practice to prepare for his first career start against Duke next Saturday.

Whether it was McCord or Angeli, SU offensive coordinator Jeff Nixon has proved he’s an elite signal caller. Switching to Collins is a different challenge. Collins presents much more of a dual-threat ability while having less precision through the air than Angeli.

Collins passed his first mini-test Saturday, and there are winnable games on the horizon. Across the next three weeks, SU faces Duke and Pittsburgh — both of whom are bottom-half ACC teams — at home, with a road matchup against 2-2 SMU in between. Then comes a stretch of behemoth road games against No. 18 Georgia Tech, No. 4 Miami and No. 24 Notre Dame.

The next few weeks will be a barometer for Collins. Syracuse’s win over Clemson completely changed the trajectory of its season. Now it’s up to Collins to make sure it doesn’t get derailed.

“We’ve seen today that we were able to put a game together and play together as one,” Collins said. “I just gotta keep carrying and keep on strong.”

Published on September 21, 2025 at 9:59 am
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