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For the first time ever, Syracuse football will play a road game at Southern Methodist University.

The Orange and Mustangs will face off Saturday afternoon in the two programs’ first meeting since SMU joined the Atlantic Coast Conference in 2024. Under head coach Rhett Lashlee, who was hired in 2022, the Mustangs won the ACC regular-season title last year and fell to Clemson in the conference championship game.

SU head coach Fran Brown has been outspoken about his dreams of leading the Orange to an ACC title bout. But after Syracuse’s rough outing last week against Duke in a 38-3 loss, its first game with Rickie Collins starting under center, the Orange’s margin for error is much thinner than it was after they upset Clemson two weeks ago.

Here’s how our beat writers think Syracuse (3-2, 1-1 ACC) will fare against SMU (2-2, 0-0 ACC) as it looks to avoid dropping two straight games for the first time in the Brown era.

Aiden Stepansky (3-2)
The inevitable losing streak
Syracuse 26, SMU 33

Through Brown’s 18 games helming Syracuse and bringing it back to relevance, the Orange have yet to experience consecutive losses. With each hit SU’s taken, it’s punched back with a victory. The trend will come to an end in Texas.

WIth Steve Angeli under center, Syracuse looked unfazed by its formidable schedule. But with Collins taking over, this is clearly a different squad — and it showed against Duke. While I do think Collins and the offense will begin to find their stride with time, I have zero clue what to make of SU’s defense.

The Orange were dominated on the ground against the Blue Devils. It marked a significant shift from what was seen by myself and my fellow scribe Zak in Death Valley, where Elijah Robinson led his unit to its best defensive performance throughout his tenure. I don’t know where the unit goes from here. But I do know SMU is primed to gash through Syracuse, especially as Kevin Jennings keeps it honest with his legs.

The Mustangs are not the same team that made the College Football Playoff and went undefeated in the ACC a season ago. They’ve already surpassed their regular-season loss total. In the preseason, I circled this game as another statement win for Brown and Co. But with Angeli out and the defense reeling, I simply can’t predict a road victory.

Cooper Andrews (3-2)
The downward spiral
Syracuse 13, SMU 37

Here it comes — the downward spiral.

Last week’s 35-point loss to Duke, the largest defeat of Brown’s tenure, brought Syracuse back to a state of inconsistency. The Orange were riding high with Angeli at quarterback. Now, they look like a shell of themselves. That’s not me discrediting Collins at all; it’s simply recognizing that Angeli was a perfect fit in Jeff Nixon’s offense.

It’s only a one-game sample size, but I think last Saturday’s performance in the Dome was discouraging enough for me to say that losing Angeli puts Syracuse among the lower tier of ACC squads. The Orange will again show why this weekend against SMU, a team that will give their defense fits and make SU one-dimensional offensively.

The downfield passing game with Collins was nonexistent against Duke, and in turn, Syracuse’s running game with Willis only featured 11 carries for the lead back. I see the same story repeating itself. SU will find itself trailing early and struggle to come back from a sizable deficit. The Mustangs rank top five in the ACC in both run and pass defense, per Pro Football Focus, and will cause the Orange’s offense to fall out of sync.

All the while, SMU’s offensive line has the No. 1 pass blocking grade in the nation at 90.0. If any ACC teams are going to apply sustained pressure on a shifty quarterback in Jennings, it will certainly not be Syracuse — whose pass rush has the third-worst grade in the ACC, per PFF. There’s nothing trending in SU’s direction on Saturday. That’ll be clear from the jump.

Zak Wolf (4-1)
Runaway Mustangs
Syracuse 16, SMU 34

I’m not going to beat around the bush. Syracuse isn’t capable of winning a game like this right now. It’s a crazy thought to have just two weeks removed from their massive win over Clemson, but the Orange’s loss to Duke should set off all the alarm bells. Collins looked shaky in his first start, while SU’s defense couldn’t stop a bloody nose. That’s not going to magically change against SMU.

Though the Mustangs haven’t recaptured their form from last season — where they made the College Football Playoff — they still present a big challenge for SU. With a dual-threat quarterback in Jennings, SMU is going to run all over the Orange, who have allowed an ACC-worst 174 rush yards per game. T.J. Harden is also a capable running back, recording 309 yards in four games.

After opening the season with a mediocre first four weeks, the Mustangs got a chance to reset during their bye week. With two weeks to prepare for Syracuse, they’re going to be ready. If the Orange wants to have any chance of winning in Dallas, Collins needs to up his game. He can’t stare down his first read and toss inaccurate passes. I think he’ll have a better performance than his first start, but that’s not a high bar to cross. Even with a slight improvement in quarterback play, Syracuse will lose handily.

This isn’t an indictment on Brown. I believe he can use his motivational skills to prepare Syracuse for games like this. But the cards are stacked against him. An inexperienced quarterback and leaky defense aren’t recipes for success. The only question is how much worse will it get?

Published on October 1, 2025 at 8:44 pm