Rickie Collins named starter against No. 18 Miami
After freshmen Joe Filardi and Luke Carney failed to complete more then four passes versus UNC last week, Fran Brown renamed LSU transfer Rickie Collins Syracuse's starter at Miami. Joe Zhao | Senior Staff Photographer
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Rickie Collins has been named Syracuse’s starting quarterback for its clash with No. 18 Miami Saturday, head coach Fran Brown announced on his weekly radio show Thursday night. Collins returns as SU’s starting signal-caller after walk-on Joe Filardi and Luke Carney split time in its 27-10 loss to North Carolina last weekend.
Collins was first thrust into the role when Steve Angeli suffered a season-ending Achilles injury on Sept. 20 at Clemson. He maintained Angeli’s lead as the Orange earned their first-ever win in Death Valley.
Since then, though, Collins has steadily declined. He threw seven interceptions in his next three starts, all double-digit losses against Duke, SMU and Pitt. At halftime against the Panthers on Oct. 18, Collins was replaced by Carney, but he failed to provide a spark. The following Monday, Brown announced he was sticking with Collins.
“At the moment, Rickie’s our quarterback,” Brown said. “I just hope that it continues to get better. I hope that he learns more from this weekend and watching himself play.”
Collins slightly improved against then-No. 7 Georgia Tech, but it wasn’t enough, as SU fell 41-16. It led Brown to turn to Filardi just two hours before kickoff against the Tar Heels.
Filardi completed just four passes for 39 yards, while Carney, who was substituted into the game on the Orange’s second drive of the third quarter, didn’t record a pass attempt.
At his weekly press conference following the loss, Brown announced former wide receivers coach Myles White would no longer be with the program and quarterbacks coach Nunzio Campanile would be swapping positions with tight ends coach Michael Johnson.
Now, Collins is back to spearheading the Orange’s offense as they face the Hurricanes, whose defense allows just 205.9 passing yards a game, the Atlantic Coast Conference’s fifth-best mark.
