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The game was well out of reach. Yet Fran Brown still didn’t feel comfortable with how the tides turned while quarterback Steve Angeli stood on the sideline.

The Notre Dame transfer continued his gaudy start to the 2025 season on Friday against Colgate, tossing five touchdowns passes and 331 passing yards through three quarters. He already tied the Syracuse football single-game passing touchdowns record. So with the Orange up 45-3 at the 9:13 mark of the third quarter, Angeli got the signal his day was done — there was nothing left to show.

LSU transfer Rickie Collins, who lost Syracuse’s offseason quarterback competition, entered the game with 4:36 left in the third. Three pass attempts into Collins’ long-awaited debut, he threw an interception, ending his premiere drive with a thud. The Raiders scored to end the third quarter — serving as back-to-back Colgate touchdowns — and SU’s lead was cut to 45-17.

To begin the fourth quarter, an unexpected but familiar navy blue No. 9 jersey trotted out to lead Syracuse’s offensive huddle.

“It was just something that was needed for our football team for us to continue to grow as a team and grow our culture,” Brown said of putting Angeli back in the game. “Every time you want to make sure you’re implementing something, you want to have the leader do it.”

Brown wants the Orange to stick the dagger into teams they should beat easily, and when he saw their advantage slipping on Friday, he didn’t hesitate to send Angeli back in. On Angeli’s final drive, he led Syracuse on a nine-play, 71-yard drive, which was capped off by him punching in a one-yard sneak at the goal line. That made it six total touchdowns for Angeli, joining Jim Brown and Eric Dungey as SU’s only players to do the same in one game.

Angeli’s night for the record books highlighted Syracuse’s (2-1, 0-0 Atlantic Coast) 66-24 victory over Colgate (0-3, 0-0 Patriot League). Though it came versus a Football Championship Subdivision opponent, Angeli’s performance signified his development in mastering SU offensive coordinator Jeff Nixon’s scheme.

In his first year starting under center, Angeli is in midseason form.

“It’s a lot of good stuff that we put on tape,” he said. “So I’m excited to build off of it.”

Angeli closed his night with 382 passing yards, five touchdowns through the air and one on the ground. SU’s head coach was in awe when he heard Angeli’s stats entered Jim Brown territory.

“Just the fact that you said Jim Brown in there, that’s amazing to say that,” Brown said to a reporter during his postgame press conference. “Anybody that joins anything with Jim Brown should just sit back and be thankful. Syracuse football is Jim Brown.”

Through three contests with the Orange, Angeli’s numbers lie at 1,107 air yards, eight passing touchdowns and two interceptions.

Steve Angeli fires a pass downfield against Colgate on Friday. After a shaky debut against Tennessee, Angeli has powered Syracuse to two straight wins over UConn and the Raiders. Lars Jendruschewitz | Senior Staff Photographer

After Friday’s game ended — albeit with an entire college football weekend slate left to play — Angeli led the nation in passing yards. His 369 passing yards per game places him directly into the Kyle McCord stratosphere.

McCord averaged 367.6 yards per game in his record-setting 2024 season, where he broke the ACC’s single-year passing yards mark with 4,779. Expectations were thrust upon whoever McCord’s successor would be to match the Ohio State transfer’s potent campaign at SU.

Thus far, Angeli has experienced a similar jump in production under Nixon and Co.

“It’s awesome to hear that, but I’m really just thankful for coach Nixon, coach (Nunzio Campanile) for what they’ve been able to do and just bringing out who I am as a player,” Angeli said of his six touchdowns. “I’m just eternally grateful for them and for these guys on the team — there’s so many playmakers everywhere.”

Angeli’s biggest connection of the night was Darrell Gill Jr., who exploded for six catches, 152 yards and two touchdowns in the first half alone. He also hit redshirt freshman Jaylan Hornsby for an electric 25-yard touchdown and true freshman Darien Williams for a 26-yard end zone strike.

Twelve players caught passes in SU’s blowout over Colgate. Angeli spread the ball around to four different targets across his five passing touchdowns. Even against an FCS squad, he looked as dialed in as one could be through a few months in a brand-new system.

“Steve’s working very hard, he’s got great character, and he’s continuously getting better,” Brown said. “The guys are gravitating to him more and more.”

Angeli himself, though, cared more about seeing Collins and third-string quarterback Luke Carney get their shining moments in the fourth quarter.

Collins, a possession after Angeli took back over for him, re-entered the game and led the Orange on a seven-play, 93-yard touchdown drive. Collins rebounded from his pick and fired an accurate seed to Greg Daniels for a 12-yard score, giving SU a 59-24 lead.

Syracuse’s next drive resulted in Carney receiving a surprise snap from the nine-yard line, on which he scrambled to the left side and barrelled into the end zone for a rushing touchdown. His first-career play was his first-career Division I touchdown.

Those two moments elicited Angeli’s largest smiles of the evening. He sees it as a win for everybody in the quarterbacks’ room.

“Seeing Rick respond and throw a touchdown was awesome,” Angeli said. “And then Luke, one play one touchdown. I told him, ‘Man, I wish I had that when I first scored.’”

Published on September 13, 2025 at 2:03 pm
Contact Cooper at: ccandrew@syr.edu | @cooper_andrews