Steve Angeli’s 3 interceptions doom Syracuse in crushing loss to Cal
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Tosh Lupoi knew what he saw.
Cal’s first-year head coach didn’t mince words about how Syracuse quarterback Steve Angeli fared Saturday.
“There was no doubt that QB was mentally and physically assaulted today,” Lupoi said postgame Saturday.
The statistics bore that out. Angeli threw three second-half interceptions Saturday — all of which were to Cal’s Kingston Lopa, who returned one for a pick-six and took another to the 29-yard line. The signal-caller was also sacked three times. The three picks Saturday equaled his collegiate career total in his previous 26 NCAA games. Angeli’s errant passes overshadowed his 306 passing yards and one touchdown and resulted in Syracuse (1-1, 0-1 Atlantic Coast) losing narrowly to Cal (1-1, 1-0 Atlantic Coast) 21-18 Saturday.
“We didn’t talk about that, what he saw,” SU head coach Fran Brown said postgame.
Angeli didn’t speak to the media Saturday.
Instead, Brown was direct on what went wrong for Angeli.
“Just bad throws,” he said. “Didn’t throw to the right guy.”
The consequences for such a boiled-down critique were harmful. Trailing by three with one minute left in the fourth, the Orange had a chance to keep the game alive. Starting at its own 24, Angeli began the drive with a 23-yard completion to Justus Ross-Simmons, advancing the ball to the 47-yard line.
On the next play, though, Angeli was hit low as he threw. His hurl was crude and fell into the hands of Lopa on the turf. Despite being a piece of optimism for Syracuse this season after returning from an Achilles tear, his coup de grâce interception extinguished any hope of a victory Saturday.
“I wish we’d got one the last drive,” Brown said postgame Saturday about Angeli’s final pick. “Just didn’t work out that way.”
Brown still praised Angeli despite his poor game Saturday, saying the redshirt senior quarterback, who started just his seventh college game, continues to show improvement.
“He’s playing with a young football team,” Brown said. “I mean, he’s a young player, so he’ll keep getting better.”
From the outset, Angeli struggled to gain traction Saturday. He began 2-for-9 with 29 yards as the second quarter started. But at the blink of a bee’s eye, he flashed the eye for a pass that’d make a cyclops applaud. Angeli completed three passes for a combined 81 yards to give SU its first touchdown of the day and a 12-0 lead.
That marksman-like accuracy proved to be a flash in the pan Saturday. After the Orange punted on their last two drives of the first half, Angeli’s first drive in the third quarter ended with his first interception.
SU was backed into a corner at third-and-20 on Cal’s 30. Angeli threw a pass into three Cal players in the center of the field. No Orange receiver was in the same zip code as the attempted pass. So, Lopa snatched the ball out of the air near the 20-yard line and took off, eventually being tripped up at Syracuse’s 29-yard line.
“I didn’t watch the film yet,” Brown said when asked about Angeli’s interceptions. “I gotta watch it. It was sometimes a little too much pressure (on Angeli). I think when people hit you sometimes too much, you might get a little nervous.”
The Golden Bears scored from their favorable field position. But Angeli piloted a 13-play, 75-yard touchdown drive to restore Syracuse’s lead midway through the third quarter. Angeli also moved the Orange to the Cal 12, but kicker Tripp Woody missed his first of two failed field goals on the day, clattering the left upright five and a half minutes into the fourth.
SU was lucky Lopa didn’t score on his first pick. For his second, the Oregon transfer took it to the house. The Orange were stationed at their own 10-yard line when Angeli tried to find Darius Johnson. Instead, Lopa jumped the passing lane and picked the pass. He was largely untouched on his way to pay dirt.
Brown dismissed any questions about Angeli’s health postgame but again said he’d know more in the coming days when players check in with the team medical staff and he watches the game film. The head coach also said SU “did a good job on offense at times” against Cal.
“When you’re in a game like this, we’re gonna learn to win this type of game,” Brown added.
Postgame, tight end Daunte Bacheyie said the Orange’s message to Angeli was to “keep his head up.” The sophomore Bacheyie added the three interceptions are “unlike” Angeli.
“I don’t know what’s going on, but that’s not him,” Bacheyie said.
Lupoi was more definitive. Cal’s defense “assaulted” Angeli, he said. This wasn’t New Hampshire anymore, where he could ease back after his injury recovery and toss three touchdowns. This wasn’t the Angeli of 2025 pre-injury, where he led the NCAA in yards per game and had just two picks in four games. No, this was an unfamiliar Angeli for Orange fans.
For 60 minutes Saturday, Angeli showed both sides of what Syracuse has in its quarterback — an arm that can make plays and, for the first time sporting the block ‘S,’ the mistakes that can undo them.
The latter proved more costly.
“Steve’s an older player, but Steve hadn’t played a lot of football, so we got to keep playing football,” Brown said.
