Steve Angeli is Syracuse's starting quarterback again
Fran Brown gave Steve Angeli the job back after camp, closing a quarterback competition the staff stocked with transfers — and closing the book on the season that put him on the sideline in the first place.
Angeli's job to lose, and now it's his
Fran Brown made it official on August 24, naming Steve Angeli the Orange's starting quarterback for the season, per Syracuse's own athletics site (cuse.com). It's the job Angeli lost to injury last fall, and this time he had to win it back against a room the staff rebuilt almost entirely through the portal — former all-conference passer Amari Odom and former five-star recruit Malachi Nelson were both brought in to push him, along with Georgetown transfer Danny Lauter, according to Fingerlakes1.com's report on the decision.
Brown has talked about the choice in terms that have nothing to do with arm strength. He's pointed to Angeli's "relentless approach," the way he holds teammates accountable, and asked reporters "how has he impacted our community, right?" when explaining the call — vintage Fran Brown, who wants a locker room built around leadership as much as talent. Angeli, fully recovered from the injury that cost him time last year and cleared with no restrictions in camp, was the one who checked that box.
The quarterback Angeli's camp buried is already starting somewhere else. Rickie Collins — who started five games for Syracuse last year, throwing for 1,042 yards, six touchdowns and 10 interceptions, per ESPN's Pete Thamel — has been named the starting quarterback at Kennesaw State ahead of the Owls' September 3 opener against West Georgia, a source told On3's Pete Nakos. He'll run the Tennessee-rooted offense OC Mitch Militello brought with him to Kennesaw, the same system Amari Odom thrived in back in 2025 before Odom himself turned up in Syracuse's quarterback room to push Angeli. Small sport.
Last season ended on a five-game skid
Last season didn't get any gentler as it went along. Syracuse lost at Georgia Tech 41-16, at home to North Carolina 27-10, at Miami 38-10, at Notre Dame 70-7, and closed the year at home against Boston College, 34-12, on November 29 — five straight to finish, with the Notre Dame score the kind that sticks with a fan base.
That stretch overlapped with the stretch Angeli spent hurt, which is a big part of why this year's quarterback competition mattered as much as it did — Brown didn't just want a starter, he wanted a room deep enough that one injury doesn't sink five games again. Nine months on from that Boston College finale, the roster that opens the 2026 season looks nothing like the one that closed 2025.
The receiver whose season has been decided by a judge as much as a stopwatch
Justus Ross-Simmons' path back to Syracuse has run through federal court more than fall camp. On3's Pete Nakos first reported on August 7 that the wideout — who has 100 career catches for 1,662 yards and 13 touchdowns — was exploring a return for a fifth year off the back of a Colorado court ruling, and reported a week later that Ross-Simmons was headed back to Syracuse to begin his acclimation period.
It hasn't stayed settled since. CNYCentral reported that Ross-Simmons was cleared to rejoin the Orange and began practicing on August 18, under a temporary injunction that opened the door for players in the 2022 recruiting class to seek a fifth season — before a court paused that injunction late in the month and a new temporary restraining order put him back on the practice field again days later. For a receiver with that kind of career production, every one of those swings is its own storyline: whether Syracuse's best returning target is even eligible for the opener is still an open question.
A 32.5-point number for a Wildcats team that's already 0-1
Syracuse opens on September 5 vs. New Hampshire at the JMA Wireless Dome. The Wildcats arrive already 0-1, having lost 14-28 at UAlbany to open their season under new head coach Sean Goldrich, a UNH alum brought in to run the rebuild. Syracuse opened as a heavy favorite, with the spread set at -32.5 and a total that read only middling for a game expected to be that lopsided.
That gap makes this less a test of the scoreboard and more a first live look at everything decided in camp — Angeli under center in a game that counts, and, if the courts cooperate in time, Ross-Simmons back on the field for the opener he spent August fighting to be eligible for.