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MIAMI — Rickie Collins stood completely still at Syracuse’s 15-yard line. Slumped shoulders. Hands drooped to his kneecaps. Eyes in a deadpan stare — locked in on the celebration taking place in the left corner of the end zone.

Seconds earlier, Collins threw a pick-six to Miami nickel cornerback Keionte Scott, igniting what had been a monotone Hard Rock Stadium crowd into an all-out bonanza. SU’s offense solemnly jogged off the field. No one said a word to Collins, nor even motioned over to him. The quarterback stood there alone to digest the costly mistake he’d just made.

Syracuse head coach Fran Brown then walked a few paces onto the grass and stopped Collins for a quick chat. Brown waved his hands around in visible frustration. Collins nodded his head, then lowered his helmet after Brown patted him on the shoulder. It was his ninth interception of the year. And this one, in a must-win game, spelled the end for the Orange’s bowl-game hopes.

Bad quarterback play doomed Syracuse (3-7, 1-6 ACC) again Saturday as it fell on the road to No. 18 Miami (7-2, 3-2 ACC) in a 38-10 blowout. The Orange’s offense struggled to find a rhythm. The one time they gained momentum, running back Yasin Willis fumbled in the red zone. Their defense posted a stunningly excellent first-half effort, blanking quarterback Carson Beck and the Hurricanes’ offense for the first 27 minutes. Yet, a 61-yard touchdown pass to Miami wideout Keelan Marion early in the third quarter all but sealed the end result for SU.

The Orange are now eliminated from bowl-game contention for the first time since 2021, and the first time under Brown.

While Syracuse rushed for 161 yards, Collins only passed for 85 and was substituted late in the fourth for freshman backup Joe Filardi, who threw a 17-yard garbage-time touchdown to Elijah Washington-Baker. SU lost the turnover battle 3-0. It committed four more penalties than the Hurricanes. It allowed a trick-play touchdown where Miami wideout Malachi Toney hit a wide-open Beck for a 14-yard score. And it never held a lead, or came particularly close to it.

Saturday was Syracuse’s sixth straight stinker — marking the program’s longest losing streak since 2020, when it dropped its final eight contests.

Rickie Collins stands under center in Syracuse’s loss to Miami Saturday. Collins recorded two interceptions and threw for just 85 yards in the Orange’s sixth straight defeat. Joe Zhao | Senior Staff Photographer

Not too long ago, on Sept. 20, the Orange boarded their flight from Clemson, South Carolina, back home to Syracuse while gleefully celebrating their stunning 34-21 upset win over the Tigers. The win stamped SU’s status as a dark horse to win the ACC. Six games later, the Orange rank second-to-last in the conference and are eliminated from bowl contention.

An unmitigated disaster.

So, how did a once-promising campaign turn into a giant step backward for Brown’s squad? Well, you can’t win without a quarterback. And Syracuse didn’t have a competent one for the majority of the season.

Junior Notre Dame transfer Steve Angeli, who carried SU to a 3-1 start behind an FBS-best 1,317 passing yards at the time, tore his Achilles versus Clemson. He’s donned a big, gray boot on his left foot and used crutches ever since.

Angeli’s on-field absence left Syracuse in a bind — one it could not, and can not, recover from.

Collins, a redshirt sophomore transfer from LSU, has been one of the nation’s worst statistical starting quarterbacks after taking over in Week 5. SU’s offense quickly became one-dimensional and saw little production from Willis. Meanwhile, its defense can’t stop a nosebleed, particularly against the run. But that’s hardly mattered, given the Orange haven’t scored more than 20 points since that win in Clemson.

Brown’s culture has remained strong throughout a season that’s naturally tested it. The angst of repeated defeat, however, is palpable among SU’s players and coaches.

Brown said after Syracuse’s Oct. 18 loss to Pitt that he never believed Collins was ready to be a starter this year, breaking from his previous stance that Collins and Angeli were neck and neck throughout fall camp to become SU’s No. 1 quarterback. He also shockingly stated that the Orange’s roster simply wasn’t ready to compete at last year’s level.

“I want to win, guys, I want to win by all means,” Brown said on Oct. 31 after Syracuse’s 27-10 loss to North Carolina, its fifth straight defeat at the time. “And last year, we were able to go do that. But I had 12 guys leave to go to the NFL. Naturally, there wasn’t 12 waiting to go to the league the next year.”

On Oct. 4, after Syracuse fell at SMU, Willis spoke very openly about Collins’ struggles to see the field, an honest assessment of a teammate rarely seen from a player in public. That same game, assistant coach Josh Gattis was caught screaming at Collins in a sideline meltdown. And over the last six games, in which SU’s offense has repeatedly gone three and out, the Orange have often left the field hanging their heads — a rare sight in the Brown era.

Last year was mostly sunshine and rainbows for Syracuse. This year, the smiles you typically see from SU’s players and staff around the football facility have reverted to blank stares, verbal frustration and anxiousness to salvage at least one more win to close the year.

Everything boiled over earlier this week, when Brown let go of wide receivers coach Myles White and changed the roles of three other assistants. Nunzio Campanile went from quarterbacks to tight ends coach, Gattis went from quality control to wide receivers coach and Michael Johnson went from tight ends to quarterbacks coach.

But Brown’s desperate move was nothing more than that. Desperate. Like a mad scientist over-correcting themselves after a failed experiment, Brown’s assistant coach ploy didn’t enhance the Orange’s chemistry — it likely drew them further apart.

Syracuse’s offense kept sputtering on Saturday in Miami. Even while its defense sacked Beck twice in the first quarter — the most the Hurricanes have suffered in a game this year — Collins and Co. punted twice in that span and didn’t register a play over 10 yards. Offensive coordinator Jeff Nixon didn’t dial up many downfield shots for Collins. The game plan didn’t feel significantly different from anything SU put on tape over the last month and a half.

That’s the concern.

The way Syracuse’s bowl dreams ended was like watching a 16-year-old drive a car without any experience. No matter what you tell the kid, they won’t succeed, and there’s no chance they won’t steer the vehicle off the road.

And in the Orange’s case, it didn’t matter that Brown altered his coaching staff with three games left or started Filardi, a freshman lacrosse recruit who walked onto the football team, at quarterback against UNC — without Angeli, SU was destined to get demolished week after week.

Syracuse’s failure to make a bowl game should be judged from two perspectives. On one hand, it’s a lesson for Brown to ensure he always has multiple game-ready quarterbacks on his roster; one injury to that position can wreck an entire season.

On the other hand, Brown proved he can clone Kyle McCord. Angeli was playing just as good as SU’s record-breaking signal-caller did in 2024, and that’s a testament to Brown’s ability to bring talent into the building. The Orange’s 3-1 start should be judged equally to their ensuing six straight losses.

But as Brown’s alluded to before, Syracuse’s talent wasn’t ready to win this year. And that’s OK.

He’s played a ton of young guys this season, highlighted by cornerback/wide receiver Demetres Samuel Jr., left guard Byron Washington and MIKE linebacker Antoine Deslauriers — not to mention a quarterback, Collins, who only had seven pass attempts in two years with LSU. Add a sophomore back in Willis, young wideouts like Boobie Johnson and Darien Williams and a youthful cornerbacks room, Syracuse has fostered a solid, youthful core.

And it’ll only improve, considering Brown has put together the country’s 23rd-ranked and fifth-ranked recruiting classes in 2026 and 2027, respectively.

So if there’s one thing Brown can take away from walking off the Hard Rock Stadium grass disgusted by another loss, it’s remembering what lies ahead. He came to Syracuse to bring the city a sustainable winner. To do that, he needs time. Rome wasn’t built in a day, and amid a six-game losing skid after finishing 10-3 the season before, it’s clear the Orange weren’t either.

Imagine a reality where next season, Syracuse gets an elite passer back at quarterback, a five-star wide receiver, a four-star safety and a litany of sophomore returners.

If you’re Brown, you don’t have to imagine. The cavalry — featuring Angeli, Calvin Russell, Tedarius Hughes and others to be determined via the transfer portal — is coming.

The Orange will be ready to win in the future. But 2025 was clearly a rebuilding year, stamped by Saturday’s uncompetitive result.

Published on November 8, 2025 at 7:03 pm
Contact Cooper: ccandrew@syr.edu | @cooper_andrews