Beat writers predict Syracuse will regain momentum with win over UConn
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Syracuse football’s early bye week may have been just what the doctor ordered. The Orange entered the week-long break after two tough Atlantic Coast Conference losses to Cal and Pitt. Quarterback Steve Angeli was benched for Amari Odom against the Panthers, and the Orange flamed out late in their first two conference tests of the season.
After a week to recharge, SU gets its second nonconference matchup of the campaign, traveling to Connecticut to face UConn Saturday. Head coach Fran Brown said Angeli’s healthy and will be SU’s quarterback against the Huskies. Five-star freshman receiver Calvin Russell III is also slated to make his collegiate debut after an Achilles injury kept him out since March.
But there’s not much time to wait for either one to readjust. The Orange are already at risk of slipping out of bowl contention, and they can’t afford a nonconference loss if they want to prevent the season from spiraling downhill.
Here’s how our beat writers think Syracuse (1-2, 0-2 ACC) will fare against UConn (2-2, Independent):
Noah Nussbaum (2-1)
Calm before the storm
Syracuse 27, UConn 18
Syracuse is backed into a corner. It’s never a great feeling to enter a bye week on a two-game losing streak, but fortunately for SU, it’s in store for its easiest remaining matchup on paper: UConn.
The Huskies aren’t playing at the same level they did last year, when they went 9-4 and pushed the Orange to the brink in an overtime loss at the JMA Wireless Dome. Head coach Jim Mora left for Colorado State and was replaced by Jason Candle, but the former Toledo gaffer hasn’t created consistent success this season.
UConn has dropped games to Miami (Ohio) and Maryland despite two big wins. Yes, that’s right, Maryland, the one that just lost 54-3 last weekend. It’s hard to believe SU isn’t at least on par with the Terrapins.
That’s why, despite Syracuse’s struggles versus Cal and Pitt, I have SU winning this game. This matchup likely won’t be error-free, hence the final score prediction, but the bye week has given SU more than enough time to work on its discipline, get Angeli right and concoct a plan for how to score in the red zone.
Now, if the Orange lose this game, I’ll declare their season officially over. If they can’t beat UConn, who else will they beat? But I don’t see that happening.
As bad as Syracuse has been, UConn is still a non-Power Four team that’s lost to one of the worst Power Four teams in the country. Then, it’s off to Virginia for a matchup that may truly determine the Orange’s trajectory.
Nicholas Alumkal (2-1)
Handling the Huskies
Syracuse 27, UConn 20
Coming out of its bye week, with ample time to address the numerous problems afflicting the team, Syracuse will defer the alarms for at least another week. This one will be close, but the Orange will have what it takes to return to the win column in likely their easiest remaining game of 2026. If SU doesn’t win, then it could begin the spiral of a second straight uncompetitive and outmatched end to the campaign.
If Syracuse is to win — as I expect it to — it has to show it’s at least started to correct the mistakes that consigned it to two straight ACC losses. The top one has to be Syracuse’s quarterback position. Angeli will get the start, Brown said, but he’ll be matched up against the coach who knows him better than anyone: former SU quarterbacks coach and now-UConn offensive coordinator Nunzio Campanile. I’m still holding out hope for Angeli. His display Saturday will call to mind his 416-yard masterclass against the Huskies in 2025 more than the last two interception-laden games.
The second form of SU’s self-flagellation in 2026 has been penalties. It commits the most in the Football Bowl Subdivision at 12 per game. Brown has assured the media his team has improved in that respect. The Orange can’t get any worse in terms of their ranking, so I trust the extended time off on the practice field will clean up SU’s play.
The greatest silver lining for Syracuse this week is that UConn hasn’t been a very strong team this season. Under first-year head coach Candle, the Huskies were comfortably beaten by a Maryland team that’s under even more heat than the Orange have been this season. Miami (Ohio) also beat the Huskies.
Come Saturday, so will Syracuse. It won’t be a drubbing, but it’ll be a victory — one that temporarily changes the negative narrative percolating around SU.
Harris Pemberton (2-1)
U-Conn’t lose
Syracuse 31, UConn 17
You’ve read it enough by now. Syracuse football is about one loss away from hitting full-on panic mode. The Orange looked pretty lifeless through two ACC games, and October isn’t going to be easy. SU faces four conference foes, including three that were ranked at one point this season.
So, if Syracuse has any hope of reaching a bowl, it can’t lose this one to the Huskies on the road.
On paper, it shouldn’t be much of a sweat. UConn lost its only Power Four contest to a spiraling Maryland squad by 24 points. The Huskies aren’t as good as they were a season ago, when they took SU to overtime at the Dome, and Syracuse — at least right now — doesn’t look quite as bad as it did last season.
UConn defends the run well, allowing just 95 rushing yards per game thus far. But if Angeli is as healthy as Brown says he is, the Orange shouldn’t have an issue airing the ball out. Especially with Russell slated to make his SU debut at wideout. Even if Angeli is as rusty as he looked over the past few weeks, we’ll likely see Odom under center, who can give the Orange a jolt offensively.
Quarterback Kalieb Osborne and the Husky offense aren’t anything to bat an eye at, but it’s also not anything that should realistically challenge the Orange. It should be a relatively comfortable win on the road, something SU desperately needs before it faces some challenges in the ACC slate.
