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Fran Brown has been in these situations before. Game on the line. Just minutes to play.

Yet this one was different. After mounting an illustrious resume in his first year as Syracuse’s head coach, filled with a 10-win campaign, an AP Poll Top 20 finish and a Holiday Bowl victory, there was still room to improve.

Brown received advice from Senior Deputy Athletics Director Herman Frazier and Director of Athletics John Wildhack. They evaluated Brown’s sideline antics and how he could refine his skills.

He now has the experience. Wins over UNLV and Virginia Tech built the foundation. Losses to Stanford and Boston College were educational. When the Orange fell behind by double digits with just minutes to play Saturday versus UConn, Brown put his tweaked in-game persona to the test.

“I was a little more calm on certain situations instead of going (crazy),” Brown said. “Because a lot of times the kids, they’re watching me. I’m their guy.”

Brown’s calmness became a soothing cure for the Orange. Syracuse (1-1, 0-0 Atlantic Coast) stormed back from down 11 midway through the fourth quarter to take down UConn (1-1, Independent) 27-20 in overtime.

The Orange scored twice in the final six minutes of regulation and began overtime with a touchdown from Justus Ross-Simmons. On a fourth-and-3 with its back against the wall, SU’s defense forced an incompletion on the back line of the endzone to seal the victory.

Brown leaned on his prayer. As SU trailed, it became constant. He then thought of the mustard seed Syracuse “went with” — a representation of his Christian faith, which symbolizes growth from small beginnings. Go figure.

Nothing was going right for SU entering the fourth quarter. An offense in disarray. A defense mounting up injuries and getting pushed around with ease.

But suddenly, a flip switched.

A fourth-and-4 prayer was answered with under six minutes to play as Steve Angeli connected with Ross-Simmons for SU’s first touchdown of the day. A failed two-point conversion kept the deficit at five and put the Orange in striking distance. A stop by Syracuse’s defense then gave Angeli and the offense a shot.

Syracuse found a sliver of momentum, and Brown looked his squad in the eyes and bluntly hashed out the needed miracle. He told them they’d need four defensive stops. On offense, they’d need three scores.

Running the two-minute drill, Angeli operated smoothly downfield to give the Orange a chance to win. After multiple completed passes, SU relied on its run game to flip the script and steal its first lead of the day with under a minute to play on a rush by Yasin Willis, who finished with just 11 rushes after a 23-rush day in Syracuse’s season opener.

Yasin Willis rushes into the end zone to give Syracuse a 20-17 lead with 48 seconds left in regulation. Willis had just 11 carries after logging 23 in SU’s season opener against Tennessee. Jacob Halsema | Staff Photographer

UConn still had three timeouts to use and rallied to kick a field goal with seconds to play, forcing overtime. In overtime, Ross-Simmons scored again on a toetap, reaching over the pylon, before a fourth-down stop from freshman Antoine Deslauriers on defense.

Survive and advance.

“You look at your head coach and you see he’s unfazed. You want to make sure you’re modeling that type of behavior,” Angeli said. “Just going out to him and just letting him know, ‘Hey, I got your back. I can make this happen.’”

SU’s offense ended on top but began in utter disarray. It started with two stalled drives as a fourth-and-2 deep in UConn territory fell short. The Orange marched down the field again, searching for an answer. Angeli hit his stride as he completed 10-of-13 passes and reached the UConn 10. Again, Syracuse elected to go for it on a fourth-and-2 rather than take the points. On the fourth down play, Angeli was walloped off the right edge, knocking the ball back over 15 yards and turning the ball over.

SU’s offensive line continues to stir question marks early in its campaign. Starting left tackle Trevion Mack was on the sideline with a scooter and a boot on his right foot. Naquil Betrand started in his place, and Josh Miller slotted in on occasion. The unit was rebuilt in the offseason and started the year with an embarrassment on national television. For an encore, Angeli escaped multiple times to alleviate pressure but was beaten up on three sacks.

The Orange eventually put up their first points on a 38-yard kick from Tripp Woody following a trick play from UConn to score a touchdown. The Huskies came right back with a bang as Mel Brown found a crease along the left side for a 45-yard house call. All SU safety Duce Chestnut could do was look at the back of a white jersey as the Huskies extended their lead to double digits.

Woody kicked another field goal as time expired to cut the deficit to eight at the half, but UConn was in control.

The Huskies picked up where they left off to open the second half by continuously putting SU on its heels. Joe Fagnano comfortably spread the ball out of the pocket as Syracuse’s pass rush had minimal answers. They added a field goal to return their lead to 11, putting immense pressure on Angeli to up his game.

But he didn’t. The Orange went three-and-out to begin the half as Angeli jogged back to the sidelines to look over the drive with his backup, Rickie Collins, and offensive Graduate Assistant Manny Harris.

Frustration. Disbelief. A simple inability to execute.

Angeli and Co. couldn’t get anything going as they repeatedly ran ugly plays filled with miscommunication and a lack of continuity. Even when Syracuse’s defense forced a stop — notably without star safety Devin Grant — it was pinned at the three-yard line. The result was practically the death penalty for an offense drowning in systematic failures. But the Orange slowly found their way back.

Fran Brown stands on the sideline during Syracuse’s 27-20 victory over UConn. The second-year head coach improved his sideline composure, which helped guide SU to its first win of the season. Jacob Halsema | Staff Photographer

Angeli still felt it took one play to create a spark. He tallied 53 passing attempts, more than all but two of Kyle McCord’s totals last season. He kept the huddle together, which eventually resulted in a spark from Ross-Simmons and a complete breakthrough.

“However it goes, I don’t really know what an ugly win is. I just want one more point,” Brown said.

Brown, who’s one of the youngest coaches in the ACC at 43, joked postgame that if the Orange continue to play close games of this nature, he’ll age quickly. While enhancing his presence on the sidelines, there were, of course, a few hiccups. As the Huskies drove in the red zone in overtime, a controversial pass interference call on Davien Kerr caused Brown to dart five yards onto the field to argue the call.

He compares coaching his team to being a father who wants to raise his kids right: they’ll never be where you want them to be, with repeated room for growth.

And Brown understands that even with victory, there’s plenty of room to improve. That’s why he had his team run sprints postgame. Win, lose or draw, Brown said the Orange were going to run sprints postgame. The performance didn’t reach the new standard he has built. But there’s a silver lining: an addition to the win column and a coach finding his way.

“It was just a certain way that we wanted Syracuse football to look, and we didn’t do that for two weeks,” Brown said. “But we were able to get a win.”

Published on September 6, 2025 at 4:09 pm
Contact Aiden at: amstepan@syr.edu | @AidenStepansky