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Fran Brown really wants to move on from Syracuse football’s turbulent come-from-behind overtime victory over UConn last week. The second-year head coach thinks the Orange stole a win from the jaws of defeat.

“I’m definitely not going to overlook those mistakes that we had,” Brown said on Monday, discussing SU’s late 11-point deficit and protection struggles against the Huskies. “We got lucky and beat a good football team…with a lot of missed assignments.”

Across SU’s first two games of 2025, Brown lambasted its offensive line play and penalty woes. Those recurring issues led to Brown making his team run postgame sprints on the JMA Wireless Dome turf last Saturday, even though he claims that was always his plan.

Brown went viral. Prominent football voices like Jon Gruden and Greg Olsen publicly bashed Brown for his untraditional actions. Brown responded by questioning why they’d make comments about him and said he won’t do the same. He’s solely focused on getting his team to play complementary football. That’s why he so badly desires for people to forget about last week — Brown is done with the excuses and sensationalized discourse.

“We aren’t executing the way we should execute all the time,” Brown said of his team. “Young players gotta grow up because you’re in college, you’re old enough, so it’s time to execute.”

On Friday night, the Orange grew up in front of Brown’s eyes.

Syracuse (2-1, 0-0 Atlantic Coast) crushed in-state foe Colgate (0-3, 0-0 Patriot League) 66-24 in the Dome for its second consecutive nonconference victory. Though it came versus a Football Championship Subdivision program, the Orange displayed a complete brand of football for the first time all season, providing them a boost entering their ACC schedule.

SU put up 620 yards of offense. Quarterback Steve Angeli ignited for 417 yards and five touchdowns through the air, tying the program’s single-game passing touchdowns record. Wide receiver Darrell Gill Jr. racked up 152 yards and hauled in two spectacular touchdown grabs. Syracuse’s defense blanketed Colgate’s receivers, highlighted by a first-quarter interception from cornerback Braheem Long Jr.

Besides turning the ball over twice — including a third-quarter interception by backup quarterback Rickie Collins — the Orange did no wrong. SU’s dominant showing is a welcome precursor before it battles No. 12 Clemson next Saturday.

“When you practice very, very hard, what you do in practice happens in the game,” Brown said, expressing confidence in how Syracuse is progressing through the season right now. “It’s just us locking the doors, closing out all the noise and making sure that we’re growing closer.”

But for Brown, who’s outspoken about his goal to win the national championship every year, the Orange’s start to the season bewildered him. Beating an FCS school won’t change that.

He expects excellence. He acknowledged there would be growing pains in 2025 — SU has 10 new starters on offense and, outside of two veteran safeties, new faces aligning every defensive position group — but Syracuse still didn’t reach Brown’s bar against Tennessee and UConn.

Five sacks and nearly 250 rushing yards given up to the Volunteers. A shocking 11-point deficit to the Huskies entering the fourth quarter. Syracuse couldn’t stop Tennessee. And it couldn’t move the ball until the final minutes against UConn.

Brown wanted the Orange to wipe their slate clean with a flawless effort against lowly Colgate, which entered Friday with two wins since the start of the 2024 campaign. The matchup brought a chance for Syracuse to run wild and rehearse the high-level execution it hopes to replicate in conference competition.

It did just that, with only a few growing pains.

Even while missing senior safety Devin Grant and sophomore running back Yasin Willis due to injuries, the Orange’s talent dwarfed the Raiders’.

On its opening drive, Syracuse marched 65 yards downfield, capped by Angeli finding receiver Justus Ross-Simmons for a 26-yard touchdown. With Willis out and Will Nixon slotting into his No. 1 role, though, SU’s typical backup running back lost a fumble on its second possession of the night. Brown was visibly agitated. Nixon sat on the bench for much of Syracuse’s next drive.

Then, after Elijah Robinson’s defense responded to Nixon’s mistake by holding the Raiders to a field goal, the Orange steamrolled the Raiders into oblivion.

Gill closed out the first quarter with a highlight-reel catch on a 50/50-ball from Angeli, where he high-pointed it above Colgate cornerback Taytum Johnson. Gill cruised into the end zone for a 43-yard touchdown. His second touchdown reception, this time for 35 yards with 6:50 before halftime, made it 31-3 Syracuse.

Darrell Gill signals a Syracuse first down after hauling in a long reception on Friday. Gill paced all players in the game with 152 receiving yards, all of which came in the first half. Lars Jendruschewitz | Senior Staff Photographer

An absurd 25-yard touchdown catch by Jaylan Hornsby, where he bulldozed Raiders cornerback Tymir Wynn as if he was the big kid on the playground in recess football, increased SU’s advantage to 38-3 with 1:36 left in the second. That was all she wrote.

Syracuse killed two birds with one stone in its victory. It had a near-spotless evening on offense, defense and special teams. And its young guys matured like Brown wanted them to.

Two-way freshman Demetres Samuel Jr. tallied a 10-yard reception, snagged his first-career interception and even returned a few punts; sophomore Jamie Tremble registered his first-career sack as SU’s starting SAM linebacker; freshman wideout Darien Williams caught his first-ever Division I touchdown pass; Long Jr. had a sack and a pick; third-string quarterback Luke Carney rushed in a touchdown. The list continues.

“Man, I was fired up for those guys,” said a beaming Angeli. “The work that goes in just to see everyone get a piece of that (win) and be able to go in and play, I just couldn’t be more happy.”

As great as the lopsided victory was for their morale, the Orange aren’t a naive bunch. They know the real work begins next Saturday in Death Valley. Friday was merely a tune-up. Clemson is the ACC’s version of an SEC program. The matchup will be a litmus test to see how far Brown and his regime have advanced Syracuse in the early stages of his second year in town.

For now, Brown can bask in the pleasure of enjoying his first satisfying victory of 2025. With difficult challenges aligning the rest of SU’s schedule, though, Friday night might be his final night of uninterrupted bliss this season.

Published on September 12, 2025 at 10:35 pm
Contact Cooper at: ccandrew@syr.edu | @cooper_andrews