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DALLAS — Fran Brown believes Yasin Willis needs the rock in his hands early and often for Syracuse to win football games. The sophomore tailback packs a punch, standing at 6-foot-1, 235 pounds, and is known for wearing opposing defenses down with his bruising running style.

But Willis only tallied 11 carries last week when SU was demolished by Duke 38-3. He began the day by electrifying the JMA Wireless Dome on a 35-yard rush where he hurdled Blue Devils safety Caleb Weaver. Due to Syracuse’s massive deficit, Willis barely touched the ball afterward, which his head coach found unacceptable.

“We got to give Yasin the ball,” Brown said bluntly last Saturday. “He needs the football.”

Against SMU, Willis’ day again started with him jumping over a defender on a 13-yard carry, a play that caused patrons at Gerald J. Ford Stadium to gasp in unison. Willis got seven carries on SU’s opening drive. Across its next three possessions, though, Syracuse offensive coordinator Jeff Nixon only called three run plays for Willis.

All three of those drives were followed by scoring drives from the Mustangs; field goal, touchdown, touchdown. The Orange, meanwhile, had no points. By then, Brown’s words were rendered meaningless — they had to abandon the ground game once again.

“It’s a team game; whether I’m getting the ball or not, I feel like we still should just be making plays,” Willis said postgame. “Of course, I play a big part in the offense. But I can only do so much.”

Nearly half of Willis’ carries Saturday came on the first drive as Syracuse (3-3, 1-2 Atlantic Coast) lost to SMU (3-2, 1-0 ACC) 31-18. SU quarterback Rickie Collins struggled again, completing 22-of-45 passes for 279 yards, one touchdown and three interceptions. The Orange’s defense allowed Mustangs quarterback Kevin Jennings to pick it apart en route to a 285-yard, four-touchdown day. SU went 2-of-5 on fourth-downs. And, for the second straight contest, it couldn’t score a first-half touchdown.

It’s Syracuse’s first time dropping back-to-back games in the Brown era.

The Orange are now 0-2 without quarterback Steve Angeli, who tore his Achilles in their Week 4 win over Clemson.

“I know we’re better than what we’re displaying,” Collins said. “(The) defense played a great first half. (We’ve) got to help them.”

With the inexperienced Collins taking over for Angeli, establishing the run is paramount for Syracuse to take pressure off its backup quarterback. The Orange were incinerated last week when Duke made them one-dimensional. They quickly entered desperation mode this week when trailing 24-0 in the first half. Nixon almost exclusively relied on Collins the rest of the way.

Willis, the state of New Jersey’s former No. 10 recruit in the 2023 class, totaled just 15 rushes for 41 yards — 27 of which came on the first drive — and never found the end zone. He’s not one to actively call for more touches, however. Willis feels the Orange simply need to execute Nixon’s play calls. Right now, they’re not doing that.

“I’m not about to put everything on me and say that they need to give me the ball more,” Willis said. “We got other guys on the field that are playmakers. We just gotta learn how to put it together.”

Brown gave a different perspective. He didn’t shy away from blaming both himself and his offensive and defensive coordinators: Nixon and Elijah Robinson.

Brown said he didn’t like the defensive playcalling in the first half. Brown had specific plays and schemes he wanted Robinson to run, but he said those concepts were never implemented until the second half. He also thought Willis needed more touches. Though he recognized Syracuse’s large deficit forced it into more passing situations, he said all he can do is provide Nixon with playcalling suggestions and that he doesn’t run the offense.

“I gotta go back and handle some stuff with our staff,” Brown said.

Yasin Willis runs with a full head of steam on Saturday versus SMU. Despite Brown wanting to give Willis more carries and SU’s offense starting strong against the Mustangs, Willis rushed for just 45 yards on 15 carries. Courtesy of Scott Trimble | Syracuse.com

At the end of the first half Saturday, SU had gone seven straight quarters without a touchdown. No touchdowns in the third made it eight straight quarters, which hadn’t happened to Syracuse since November 2022.

Its first touchdown of the day came with 9:59 remaining in the fourth via a Collins six-yard rushing score. Collins also hit Johntay Cook in the back of the end zone for an 11-yard touchdown with just over five minutes remaining.

Too little, too late.

“We didn’t put the kids in the right position in the first half,” Brown said. “In the second half, (when we) put them more in better positions, you see differences.”

Syracuse generated some early momentum after starting the game by forcing an SMU punt, which Wade McSparron shanked 14 yards to provide the Orange with prime real estate. Collins and Co. began their first drive at the Mustangs’ 42-yard line.

Once Syracuse got inside the 10, it ran six plays — all runs — without Collins attempting a pass. The Orange ended the drive with no points after Collins was stopped on a fourth-down quarterback sneak.

On SU’s next drive, Nixon dialed up a pass play, but Collins stared down tight end Dan Villari on his right side and threw the ball into the outstretched arms of SMU linebacker Brandon Miyazono. It marked Collins’ second straight game throwing a first-quarter interception.

The Orange held the Mustangs to a field goal. But after Syracuse’s third drive resulted in a Jack Stonehouse punt, the wheels fell off.

SMU scored on three consecutive possessions, all of which ended in Jennings touchdown passes. The quarterback racked up 176 yards and three scores in the first half amid little pressure from Syracuse’s front seven.

Meanwhile, SU’s offense kept failing on fourth down. Mustangs safety Isaiah Nwokobia tackled Willis for no gain on a fourth-and-1 just shy of midfield early in the second quarter. And late in the first half, on another fourth-and-short with Syracuse in the red zone down 17-0, Collins missed a wide-open Willis in the flat on what would have been a 10-yard receiving touchdown.

SMU scored six plays later.

“It’s just those little things,” Willis said of SU’s offensive struggles. “Fourth-and-1? Us not getting that is unacceptable.”

“I got to take the coaching. I got to do better,” Collins added.

The unofficial nail in SU’s coffin came with 2:02 on the clock in the third quarter when Collins stood in the pocket with his hands on his helmet. He was reacting to the throw he’d just made where he tossed a ball past the outstretched arms of wide receiver Darrell Gill Jr., who was wide open.

It would’ve been a walk-in 55-yard touchdown. Instead, the Orange went three and out and punted for a third straight time — an avalanche of offensive shortcomings that started when Syracuse stopped handing the ball to Willis.

Published on October 4, 2025 at 7:07 pm
Contact Cooper at: ccandrew@syr.edu | @cooper_andrews