Copyright syracuse.com
Syracuse, N.Y. —The Syracuse University football team and the Miami Hurricanes were trading punts in a first-half defensive grind. It was a scoreless game late into the second-quarter. Miami looked like it wanted to be anywhere else except Hard Rock Stadium. The whispers about another Mario Cristobal November noogie were building. There actually was a fleeting hope that the Orange would make it a ball game. We should have know better. The inevitable bubble burst with 3:34 remaining in the second quarter. That’s when Miami QB Carson Beck found Daylyn Upshaw on a tunnel screen for 41 yards and the Hurricanes offense awoke from a slumber. Beck scored on a trick play a short time later from a wide receiver throwback tossed by Malachi Toney. Four plays later, Miami CB Keionte Scott had an easy interception placed in his mitts by Syracuse QB Rickie Collins and Scott turned on the jets for a 38-yard pick-six. 14-0. Just. Like. That. Let the familiar sense of dread seep in. The Orange offense temporarily broke out of its haze and drove down to the Miami 10-yard line following the pick-six, but RB Yasin Willis fumbled on 1st-and-goal and the ‘Canes covered it up. Willis coughing the ball up certainly wasn’t good, but why was Syracuse even running the football in that spot with 22 seconds remaining in the half and just one timeout? It was a forehead-smacking gaffe from Syracuse head coach Fran Brown and offensive coordinator Jeff Nixon. SU managed to move the ball again to start the second half, but Brown hesitated with the call on 4th-and-3 (drawing a delay of game penalty) and SU settled for a field goal. Miami delivered the haymaker three plays later with a 61-yard strike from Beck to Keelan Marion. The Orange went on to lose 38-10 to Miami. SU’s ineptness on offense brought on a defense that predictably wilted in the Miami humidity from there and a sixth straight loss came into predictable focus. Collins, back as the starter after being benched last week for lacrosse player Joe Filardi who moonlights on the football team and was running routes as a wide receiver in the spring, finished 12-of-15 for 85 yards with two interceptions. It was only slightly better than Filardi’s 4-of-18 performance for 39 yards last week against UNC. Filardi came in late in the fourth-quarter for a few garbage time snaps. The only thing in question in the second-half was whether Miami would cover the point spread (you know, for entertainment purposes only). Miami, still looking to keep the attention of the College Football Playoff Committee, salted the laugher with a touchdown pass from Beck to OL Francois Mauigoa in the fourth quarter. Watching Syracuse football this season has become a depressing hybrid of the classic definition of insanity where we keep watching the same thing over and over again and expecting different results. In reality, it’s Groundhog Day. The Syracuse offense was 21 seconds away from failing to score an offensive touchdown in eight consecutive quarters before a late touchdown from Filardi to Elijah Baker-Washington put a score on the board. Brown keeps pointing to the beacon over the hill that 2026 will provide better days. With Syracuse now set to go into a bye week after another flat, faltering performance, perhaps many will wave bye-bye to watching this team again until next year. Even with two games to go. Can you blame them?
