Rickie Collins stumbles in 1st start as SU gets pummeled by Duke 38-3
In quarterback Rickie Collins' starting debut, he struggled, leading to Duke dismantling the Orange for a 38-3 loss, their second of the season. Leonardo Eriman | Photo Editor
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Rickie Collins’ moment finally came Saturday. Or so he thought it would.
His first career collegiate start presented an opportunity to quell concern there’d be a drop-off between him and Steve Angeli, who suffered a torn Achilles in Syracuse’s win over Clemson.
It was a moment to back up Fran Brown’s initial trust in him. He recruited Collins out of the transfer portal in the offseason and named him the starter in the spring before Angeli came into the fold. That didn’t stop Collins from waiting for his chance. He kept his head down and put in work, never shelling up.
Saturday gave him a prime chance to display his growth. Instead, Collins faltered.
In his first career start, Collins struggled mightily. He showed there’s still plenty of kinks to work out as Duke (3-2, 2-0 Atlantic Coast) blew out Syracuse (3-2, 1-1 ACC) 38-3. Don’t let the 229 yards fool you, Collins had a poor outing. The redshirt sophomore was thoroughly outplayed by Duke’s Darian Mensah, who was efficient, going 22-for-28 with 268 yards and two touchdowns. Collins failed to get SU into the end zone for the first time since falling 45-0 to South Florida in the Boca Raton Bowl on Dec. 21, 2023.
Syracuse’s victory in Death Valley last Saturday was memorable. It completely changed the outlook of the Orange’s season, even with Angeli’s injury. But Brown had the utmost confidence in Collins. He said there was a reason Syracuse got two quarterbacks in the transfer portal. But after Saturday, expectations might have to be tempered for the final two-thirds of the season.
“I’m comfortable with what he did,” Brown said of Collins postgame. “I think we can gain from the performance he had today. There’s some things that he did well, there’s some things that we’ll fix, but I’m comfortable and thankful that he’s our quarterback.”
Brown would never publicly demean his signal caller, but there was plenty of shakiness during Collins’ starting debut. The signs were there from the fourth pass he threw Saturday. Collins floated a ball into double coverage, which was easily intercepted by Caleb Weaver. Duke used the ensuing drive to go up 3-0.
“You have to limit turnovers and mistakes like that,” Collins said. “We really just have to not shoot ourselves in the foot when we get going. Don’t kill our momentum.”
Numerous times, Collins hesitated or second-guessed himself on a throw. With Angeli, everything was fluid, and the offense easily moved the ball up and down the field. Collins created more stagnation. Nobody is asking Collins to be as good as Angeli — who was leading the nation in passing before his injury — just as nobody expected Angeli to be Kyle McCord. But with Jeff Nixon calling plays, there’s an expectation to execute the operation smoothly.
Collins often zeroed in on his first read, which was usually Johntay Cook, targeting him 10 times, twice more than the next closest receiver.
Duke’s defense is by no means elite. It entered the weekend allowing the most points (32.3 per game) and fourth-most yards allowed (413.8 per game) in the ACC. Still, Syracuse never created any real momentum.
Brown attributes that to costly penalties from the offense and other things that “happened at weird times,” which never gave Syracuse the chance to continue drives. The Orange’s second drive was their most positive. A 35-yard run by Yasin Willis, where he hurdled Weaver, set SU up in the red zone. A 29-yard field goal from Tripp Woody leveled the game for the final time.
The quarterback play couldn’t have been more lopsided. While Collins never grew into the game, Mensah had it on easy mode. The Tulane transfer carefully picked apart Syracuse’s porous defense.
Syracuse usually sent a four-man pressure at Mensah, but he often rolled out of the pocket to easily find open receivers.
Mensah helped orchestrate two touchdown drives within six minutes as Duke took control. First was a 49-yard run from Nate Sheppard. Then, Mensah hooked up with Cooper Barkate for a 34-yard score, putting Duke up 17-3. Barkate’s touchdown was shrouded in controversy, since it came after a Cook fumble, which was initially ruled targeting before getting overturned. Brown didn’t argue the call postgame, saying the officials made the right decision.
“We uncomplemented each other the entire game,” Brown said “So therefore, (Rickie) couldn’t really get into a groove that he wanted to get into.”
Collins’ appearances the past couple weeks were low pressure. He entered SU’s game against Colgate when it was out of reach for the Raiders, although he did get benched briefly after an interception. Last week against Clemson, Collins only had to throw the ball eight times, coming in when Syracuse led by 13.
On Saturday, the roles were reversed. The pressure was put on Collins to come from behind. Needing to push the ball downfield, Collins had a tough time connecting with receivers. Meanwhile, Mensah connected with Barkate again right before halftime, extending SU’s deficit to 21. At the break, Mensah was completing 76% of his passes for 200 yards and two scores, while Collins had fewer than 100 yards.
“We had sparks here and there, obviously not enough to get the results that we wanted, but I feel like it’s something to build off of,” Collins said. “We’re going to work our behinds off to get better outcomes for the rest of the season.”
The second half was a formality. Nursing a three-possession lead, Mensah wasn’t required to do any heavy lifting. He converted a third down with a 23-yard screen pass to Sahmir Hagans to get into the red zone. Outside of that, the Blue Devils kept the ball on the ground.
Sheppard — who ran for 168 yards — and Anderson Castle knifed through gaping holes in SU’s defensive front. Sheppard capped off the drive with a punishing run, bulldozing through Syracuse’s defense to extend Duke’s lead to 31-3. The Blue Devils then added their fifth touchdown with 11 minutes to go.
Brown had the chance to throw in the towel by replacing Collins with either Luke Carney or Jakhari Williams. Instead, he kept his starter out there.
“Rickie’s our quarterback,” Brown said. “We started the game with him. We wanted to end the game with him.”
Collins needs every rep he can get. He showed his youth against Duke. The offensive execution was as poor as it has been since Brown was hired. Whether Collins likes it or not, that responsibility falls on the quarterback.
The world shouldn’t fall apart because of Collins’ performance. It was his first career start, and there were always going to be bumps in the road. However, it’s hard not to notice the difference between him and Angeli.
All Collins can do is go back to the drawing board. The next two months will be crucial. Collins can either establish himself as Syracuse’s quarterback of the future or he’ll be looked at as an afterthought when Angeli returns.
