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Syracuse and Colgate’s football history is deep. Their first-ever meeting came in 1891. The Raiders initially dominated the rivalry, but it turned during the mid-20th century. Entering Friday, Syracuse hadn’t lost to Colgate in over 75 years. That didn’t change in their 69th-ever meeting.

There aren’t many gimmes on SU’s schedule. This was one of them.

The Orange dominated in all facets of the game. Steve Angeli was poised as could be. SU’s defense was lockdown. After a blowout loss to then-No. 24 Tennessee in the opener and a near calamity against UConn last week, SU got to assert its dominance, albeit against a much inferior opponent. Anything other than a blowout result would’ve been cause for concern.

Now Syracuse can put its attention towards its matchup with No. 12 Clemson in Death Valley. Its second win of the year was nothing but a mere warmup.

Here are some observations from Syracuse’s (2-1, 0-0 Atlantic Coast) 66-24 blowout win over Colgate (0-3, 0-0 Patriot):

Nixon replaces Willis

Yasin Willis was a surprising addition to the injury report for Syracuse this week. Fran Brown said Willis — along with starting safety Devin Grant — wasn’t going to be available during an appearance on TK99’s Gomez and Company.

In Willis’ place was Will Nixon. Over SU’s first two games, Nixon tallied 18 carries for 63 yards. Nixon didn’t put much confidence into the Orange’s rush attack. After a few carries on the first possession, Nixon put the ball on the turf on the first play of their second drive.

Nixon was benched on the ensuing drive and sophomore Jaden Hart got some playing time. After that, Nixon returned to the field.

As Syracuse carved apart Colgate’s defense, Nixon got into the end zone on a pitch play to the outside from two yards out, putting the Orange up 21-3.

A lot of Nixon’s gains were minimal, but there weren’t that many holes for him to run through. When afforded space, Nixon busted through the middle for a 28-yard gain on SU’s final drive of the first half. Nixon didn’t get many touches in the second half, finishing with 12 rushes for 66 yards.

Willis’ timeline for his return is unknown, but in the meantime, Nixon is SU’s starter. During his two seasons at Washington, Nixon was never the top back. Depending on how long Willis is out, he might have to take on that responsibility.

Samuel here, Samuel there, Samuel everywhere

Demetres Samuel playing on offense was a question of when, not if. Not only did Samuel elicit plenty of hype because he skipped his senior year of high school, but also his two-way ability. Brown said on Monday that Samuel might get a chance to return some punts, but never hinted at him playing receiver.

After playing solely at corner in SU’s first two games, Samuel got his chance on offense.

On the Orange’s third drive, Samuel ran an out route along the sideline and Angeli hit him perfectly. A couple plays later, Angeli faked a screen pass to Samuel in the slot and took off for a quarterback draw.

Throughout training camp, Brown never specified how much Samuel would play both ways. Starting as a 17-year-old is tough. Let alone playing two different positions. Friday was the perfect chance for Samuel to test the waters on offense.

After Davien Kerr returned the first few punts for Syracuse, Samuel was put in that spot.

On defense, Samuel had his best outing yet. He broke up a couple passes in the first half and capped it off with his first career interception. Samuel tiptoed in the corner of the end zone and barely stepped out of bounds, or else he would’ve had a chance at a pick-six.

Angeli’s record-setting day

Angeli had a record-setting performance against Colgate. He finished with five touchdown passes, tying SU’s single-game record alongside Kyle McCord, Ryan Nassib, Eric Dungey and Zack Mahoney.

The quarterback was letting the ball fly, shredding the Raiders’ secondary.

The quarterback protected the ball and let his receivers make plays. Angeli’s first completion was on a wheel route to Johntay Cook for a 24-yard gain. Later in the drive, Angeli hit Justus Ross-Simmons on a comeback route. Ross-Simmons got the ball in space, avoided his defender and dove into the end zone for a 26-yard score. Ross-Simmons sparked SU’s comeback against UConn last week with two scores, and he continued that momentum Friday.

Angeli hasn’t pushed the ball down the field much this season, but after catching Colgate offsides two drives later, he uncorked a deep ball for Darrell Gill Jr. It was a 50-50 ball that Gill read perfectly, leaping high above his defender for a 43-yard touchdown.

In the second quarter, Angeli hit Gill once again, this time up the seam for a huge play, which eventually set up a Tripp Woody field goal.

Last season, offensive coordinator Jeff Nixon implemented an extremely pass-heavy approach with McCord. That hasn’t changed with Angeli. Through two weeks, he recorded 94 total attempts, 14 more than during his previous two years as a backup at Notre Dame.

Angeli continued to pour it on throughout. Gill got his defender to bite on a nasty double move on the sideline, creating a few yards of separation. Angeli had all the time in the world to hit his receiver for his second long score of the game.

Without hesitation, Angeli sprayed the ball around everywhere. Right after the two minute warning, he threw another jump ball, this time for Jaylan Hornsby.

Each of Angeli’s passes were in places where only his receivers could make plays. By halftime, Angeli had as many touchdowns (four) as incompletions, totaling nearly 300 yards.

Braheem Long shines

Without Grant, someone needed to step up and make plays in the secondary. Braheem Long was the person to do so. He snuffed out a potential double pass from Reed Swanson in the backfield for an eight-yard loss. Last week against UConn, Syracuse got burned on a similar trick play for a touchdown.

The following play, Long picked off Zach Osborne. The quarterback tossed a pass downfield, but Long read him the entire way. The sophomore tracked the ball down like a receiver, getting both feet in, to haul in SU’s first interception of the season.

Rickie Collins sees the field

In another universe, Rickie Collins would’ve started Syracuse’s game against Colgate. Instead, he was watching from the sideline, as he did the first two weeks of the season. Eventually, he got his first action with 4:36 left in the third quarter, when SU led 45-10.

The LSU transfer had a rough start. After completing his first pass, his second one fell incomplete. Then, on a broken play, he was stuffed for no gain. His third pass was nowhere near his target, Gabe Daniels. The fourth was a widely underthrown ball that was easily intercepted by Taytum Johnson.

When Syracuse’s offense came back on the field, Angeli replaced Collins. After Angeli led SU down the first for another touchdown, Collins returned where he looked more poised.

He led the Orange on a seven-play, 93 yard drive, which ended with him finding Daniels on a fade route for his first career touchdown pass.

Published on September 12, 2025 at 10:31 pm
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