Copyright syracuse.com
Syracuse, N.Y. — Syracuse needs three wins to become bowl eligible and has just three games remaining on its schedule. The Orange travels to No. 18 Miami on Saturday before its final bye week and will end the season traveling to No. 10 Notre Dame and hosting Boston College. As it stands, bowl eligibility is unlikely, and Syracuse’s final game will decide the last-place team in the ACC. The Orange’s season has quickly become about preparation for the future. Upperclassmen are losing snaps to freshmen and coach Fran Brown has begun talking about the transfer portal. Here are 10 things to know heading into Saturday’s game at Miami. The second time around Syracuse benched redshirt sophomore quarterback Rickie Collins last week for true freshman Joe Filardi, a lacrosse-playing walk-on. Filardi went on to complete just four of his 18 passing attempts. After another week of dueling in practice, Brown said Collins will start against the Hurricanes. Brown has reassigned Nunzio Campanile to tight ends coach, and Michael Johnson Sr. will coach quarterbacks the rest of the season. Brown said he believes Johnson’s experience coaching Michael Vick and Alex Smith in the NFL will help Collins. “I just felt really confident that he could go in and help us,” Brown said. “And fix some of those young guys and give them a spark of energy. “I think it’ll benefit [Collins] and step his game up. It’ll give him a different insight on how some people may see the game. We all don’t skin a cat the same way.” Syracuse has started three quarterbacks this season and played four. Brown and his staff haven’t showed that they trust true freshman Luke Carney, and Filardi turned in one of Syracuse’s worst passing performances since joining the ACC. Syracuse doesn’t seem to have much of a choice but to return to Collins, who has more turnovers than touchdowns this season. Correcting mistakes Brown said Thursday that Syracuse’s troubles at quarterback can trace back to the coaching staff and play calling. Each quarterback that has played since Steve Angeli’s season-ending injury has been more athletic than the Notre Dame transfer. They fit the dual-threat description more than the traditional pocket passer. However, offensive coordinator Jeff Nixon runs a pro-style offense. His success with Angeli and Kyle McCord has shown the type of quarterback he prefers in his offense. However, Collins, Filardi and Carney aren’t McCord and Angeli. They need designed runs and plays that move their launching points to fully utilize their skillsets. Collins didn’t have many designed runs called for him despite his best stretches coming from him scrambling. Carney had a read option against North Carolina that resulted in the offense’s best drive of the game. Filardi, in his lone appearance, avoided several sacks for most of the game by getting outside of the pocket. After six weeks, Brown is ready to take accountability for their performances. “We should have adapted to those guys a little bit more,” Brown said Thursday during a regularly scheduled interview on ESPN radio. “They just weren’t Steve. The offense was going, and we thought it could be that but then afterward, we should have moved and been able to adapt to them a little bit more.” Even more recruits Aside from the Miami Northwestern recruits, two more Syracuse targets will be at Hard Rock Stadium on Saturday. Syracuse will have the chance to make a good impression upon 2027 five-star running back Kemon Spell and 2026 three-star defensive lineman Isaac Chukwurah. Spell had to cancel his visit to Syracuse against North Carolina due to a playoff game. The Orange likely won’t be able to host Spell during the 2025 season as he has visits to other schools lined up for Syracuse’s bye week and final home game against Boston College. The Orange will, however, host Chukwurah against the Eagles. Spell and Chukwurah were committed to Penn State until James Franklin’s firing. Fallout of the firing Brown didn’t say anything disparaging about Myles White after firing the wide receivers coach as part of Sunday’s staff shakeup. However, he did touch on the importance of his position coaches — or potential lack thereof. Brown offered some insight into his operation when recruiting players when he was asked about Angeli’s relationship with Campanile. “The No. 1 thing that I always tell them is, ‘Your position coach may change,’ ” Brown said Monday. “ ’But you’re coming to Syracuse to play for me.’ ” Brown’s highest job titles before becoming Syracuse’s head coach were associate head coach and co-defensive coordinator. He didn’t earn the reputation needed for the Syracuse job from calling plays; he earned it from recruiting. He is still very active in the recruiting process, making sure his top targets see his face and develop a relationship with him. Following Tuesday’s practice, junior wide receiver Johntay Cook II offered some supporting evidence. Brown landed Cook in part due to the relationship he built with Cook’s father while coaching at Baylor. “[White] was the receivers coach, so naturally, because I play receiver, he had to recruit me,” Cook said. “But I would say Fran ultimately had the biggest role in me coming in.” Brown elevated Josh Gattis to wide receivers coach after White’s exit. Two sides to every story The last few weeks of Syracuse’s season has been about the youth movement. The Orange is playing more freshmen by the week in preparation for the future. But for freshmen to play, upperclassmen have to lose some snaps. On the offensive line, Brown suggested Thursday that seniors TJ Ferguson and Austin Collins won’t play at Miami and said another freshman may join guard Byron Washington in the starting lineup. Brown said on his weekly Thursday night radio show on TK99 that redshirt freshman Kam Pringle will start at offensive tackle on Saturday. But the youth movement has really affected the wide receivers. They’ve had to rely on young quarterbacks that cannot get them the ball the way Angeli did. Cook, who was once a freshman eager to play behind future NFL players at Texas, is happy for his younger counterparts. In fact, he said he’s happy Brown showed he’s the type of coach to extend that opportunity to young players. “A touchdown can change your whole career in a matter of seconds,” Cook said. “And it could be just because you’re in the right spot at the right time. Other than the obvious fact they take away from my snaps, it don’t really affect me that much.” Cook said he knows that if Syracuse gets into a close game, he can expect to be on the field alongside Darrell Gill Jr. and other experienced players. Assembling the Bulls Brown has his eyes set heavily on the Miami Northwestern football program. He landed a July commitment from 2026 five-star wide receiver Calvin Russell III and flipped 2026 four-star safety Tedarius Hughes after last Friday’s visit. Russell and Hughes weren’t alone on their visits, though. They were joined by four-star outside linebacker Jordan Campbell, a 2026 Miami commit. Campbell will reportedly see the Orange in back-to-back weeks as he has an official visit scheduled for Saturday’s game between Miami and Syracuse, according to Rivals. Northwestern has a bye week before it begins playoff action next week. It is expected that Russell and Hughes will, at the very least, be in attendance for the game. They do not, at the moment, have official Miami visits scheduled for the game. Their teammate, 2027 four-star wide receiver Nicholas Lennear, does. He is also being targeted by Syracuse as Brown and general manager Tommy Caporale continue to make their presence known in Florida. Syracuse already has a Miami Northwestern product on its roster in freshman receiver Darius Johnson. Injury report Syracuse will be without redshirt freshman wide receiver Emanuel Ross against Miami. Ross has played at least 23 snaps in each of Syracuse’s last four games. He is averaging 46 snaps in Syracuse’s last two games. Ross has played in all of Syracuse’s ACC games this season, totaling 110 yards and a touchdown on 10 catches. Miami will be without starting running back Mark Fletcher Jr. He is up to 636 yards and nine touchdowns this season on 5.1 yards per carry. Syracuse left guard TJ Ferguson and center Austin Collins are listed as questionable. Ferguson was limited to 33 snaps in last week’s loss to North Carolina, and Collins was limited to 18. Left tackles Trevion Mack (probable) and Naquil Betrand (questionable) were also on Thursday’s ACC availability report. Long snapper Fran Brown Jr. has a chance to return for Syracuse. Rounding out the questionable list are defensive end Denis Jaquez Jr. and redshirt freshman quarterback Jakhari Williams, one of two Syracuse quarterbacks not to play this season. Linebacker Gary Bryant III was listed as probable after playing just 13 snaps last week against North Carolina. How to watch Syracuse vs. Miami will air Saturday at 3:30 p.m., on ESPN, which you can stream on DIRECTV (free trial). Odds The latest betting lines for Saturday’s game are as follows: Spread: Miami favored at -28.5 Total (Over/Under): 46.5 Moneyline Odds: Syracuse +3000, Miami -20000 The odds and lines presented in this article are the best available from selected sports betting sites at the time of publication and are subject to change. Betting is unavailable for in-state college teams in New York, but we’ve compiled some of the best introductory offers to help navigate your first bets from BetMGM, FanDuel, DraftKings, Bet365 and more. See our picks BRENT AXE: Miami 41, Syracuse 10 CHRIS CARLSON: Miami 45, Syracuse 3 JAVON EDMONDS: Miami 42, Syracuse 10 NATE MINK: Miami 38, Syracuse 7
