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Syracuse football fared about as well against Duke as it did in the replay booth on Saturday.

On a second-and-20 play with 12:49 left in the second quarter and the Orange trailing 10-3, Johntay Cook was being gang-tackled by three Blue Devils when a fourth player — linebacker Jaiden Francois — charged toward him and gradually lowered the crown of his helmet.

Cook already hauled in a pass from quarterback Rickie Collins, made a football move by tucking the ball and running forward and had his momentum stopped by members of Duke’s secondary.

Then came the final blow. Francois launched his helmet and shoulder pads at Cook’s head and neck area. Upon making violent contact with the receiver, Francois forced the ball out of his hands and drove Cook’s body to the turf, though referees initially ruled no fumble.

Absolute worst replay review I have ever seen in college football. Francois of Duke made forcible contact with head of Johntay Cook of Syracuse and that caused the fumble. Thats a targeting penalty. ACC refs are totally corrupt. pic.twitter.com/8gs0JAJqD3

— Dirk (@Dirk81062301) September 27, 2025

There was a flag on the play: targeting. College football’s dreaded violation. Targeting is when one player hits a defenseless player in the head or neck area by lowering the crown of their helmet.

As much as the JMA Wireless Dome faithful wished that was the case Saturday, it wasn’t. The Atlantic Coast Conference’s official review reversed the original targeting call. In addition, after the replay review confirmed Cook did fumble and wasn’t down by contact, officials awarded the ball to Duke because there was a clear recovery by Blue Devils linebacker Bradley Gompers.

“He wasn’t defenseless anymore,” SU head coach Fran Brown said postgame, revealing the explanation he received from head referee Adam Savoie. “He made the right call.”

After that crucial giveaway, Syracuse (3-2, 1-1 ACC) didn’t score another point against Duke (3-2, 2-0 ACC) en route to a 38-3 loss — SU’s most lopsided defeat in 18 games under Brown. The Orange went from moving across midfield after a 19-yard grab by Cook to watching the Blue Devils score a touchdown three plays later. Cook’s fumble, one of two for the receiver on Saturday, proved to be the turning point in SU’s blowout loss.

Brown’s not bothered by the replay review; he’s ticked off at the Orange’s lackluster response.

“We have to be able to learn (that) you can’t take one play and take that as, ‘We shouldn’t be able to do things,’” Brown said.

The first quarter featured some positives for the Orange, namely a few throws where Collins looked composed in the pocket and a 35-yard run from Yasin Willis, where he hurdled Duke safety Caleb Weaver. Their defense also generated a stout red zone standup to hold the Blue Devils to a field goal after Collins threw an interception on the first possession.

But after the opening 15 minutes, in which Syracuse totaled 104 yards of offense, it combined for 210 from quarters 2-4 — including an 83-yard game-ending drive that resulted in zero points.

And in the meantime, the Orange’s defense gave up explosive play after explosive play. Duke quarterback Darian Mensah hit wide receiver Cooper Barkate for a 34-yard touchdown pass merely three snaps after Cook’s fumble. Then, following a Syracuse punt, Blue Devils’ running back Nate Sheppard burst for a 32-yard pickup en route to a Duke touchdown that closed the first half with SU down 24-3.

A 20-minute halftime didn’t cause any sparks to fly for Syracuse, either. It went scoreless for 49 minutes and 13 seconds by the time the clock hit triple zeroes.

When asked how the targeting-turned-fumble altered things for the Orange, Cook’s words were as blunt as his head coach’s.

“It’s up to the refs to make the call,” said Cook, who totaled eight catches for 84 yards versus Duke. “The defender made a good play. And, you know, anytime the ball changes to the other team, momentum definitely shifts.”

The Orange aren’t in a favorable position to respond to devastating turnovers since their starting quarterback, Steve Angeli, is out for the year with a torn Achilles. Saturday was Collins’ first-career start. He needed every break he could get to match the Blue Devils’ vertical offense that runs through Mensah.

After he received virtually zero breaks — Syracuse’s defense didn’t cause a turnover, he threw a pick of his own and his slot receiver fumbled twice — Collins couldn’t lead his team into the end zone all afternoon.

“Any quarterback (has) to limit turnovers and mistakes like that, and really just not to shoot ourselves in the foot,” Collins said of what he took away from the loss. “When we get going, don’t kill our momentum.”

The only staple of SU’s offense that worked versus Duke, Willis, barely touched the ball after the replay review went against the Orange. He ended the day with 63 yards on 11 carries despite tallying over 40 in the first quarter alone.

Brown said postgame that Syracuse needs to get the ball to Willis to win. Trailing by 14 points after Duke responded to Cook’s fumble with a three-play, 61-yard touchdown drive, however, it was extremely difficult for Willis to stay involved. SU was forced to throw the football.

Though the game can’t be blamed on the results of the officials reversing a targeting call into a clean hit and a fumble, it certainly kickstarted Syracuse’s downward spiral. With a second-string quarterback against a Duke offense that doesn’t commit many mistakes, the Orange showed how fickle they can become when they come out on the short end of a contentious call.

Brown said he doesn’t think Syracuse could’ve performed much worse.

“We didn’t play complementary football,” Brown said. “I guess we did; we uncomplemented each other the entire game.”

Published on September 27, 2025 at 6:46 pm
Contact Cooper at: ccandrew@syr.edu | @cooper_andrews