Following the first out of State road game of the year at SMU, the Miami Hurricanes continue their season with yet another one of their 8 home games. This time, the Canes play host to the Syracuse Orange.
A longtime conference foe from both the Big East and ACC, Syracuse is a well-known opponent. And, you don’t have to look far into the rearview mirror to find motivation for this game. Syracuse stormed back to beat Miami 42-38 last year, a loss that kept Miami from the ACC Championship game, and by
extension the College Football Playoff. So yeah. I want revenge.
Syracuse Orange Offense
Under 2nd year coach Fran Brown, Syracuse runs a pass heavy spread air raid offensive system. The Orange had a nearly 4-to-1 ratio of pass yards to rush yards last year which was one of the largest disparities in the country. Syracuse had a bigger ratio disparity in favor of passing than Army had in favor of rushing. While that was successful for a season, I would expect Syracuse to move to be a bit more balanced this year. I simply do not believe they can continue to be as pass centric as they were a season ago.
Like Miami, Syracuse will start a 2nd consecutive transfer QB in 2025. Notre Dame transfer QB Steve Angeli will take the reigns of the Syracuse offense. Like Kyle McCord before him, Angeli moves to Syracuse looking for a clean slate with a new team to showcase skills that were not present when he played at his previous school. Syracuse’s pass heavy system is friendly for QBs to operate, but there are still throws to be made. Angeli’s ability to be accurate with the football, and timely with his scrambling, will tell the story of the season for Syracuse.
There are a decent group of scholarship RBs for Syracuse, but they are replacing former starter LeQuint Allen, whose 1,021 yards rushing was nearly the entirety of the Orange’s rushing output in 2024. There was only 1 other player who eclipsed 100 yards rushing for the Orange last season. How the new crew of backs performs, and if one steps up to fully claim the RB role similar to how Allen did will be huge, since a semblance of a run game is important for all teams.
In a similar situation to QB and RB, where the starters and majority of the standout performers are gone, Syracuse will look to replace multiple pass catchers in 2025. Gone are Trebor Peña, Oronde Gadsden II, and Jackson Meeks, a trio who combined with the aforementioned LeQuint Allen comprised 4 of Syracuse’s top 5 pass catchers. The leading returning receiver is Darrell Gill who had 31 catches for 570 yards and 2 TDs a year ago. He only had 1 catch for 5 yards against Miami last year, so it’s understandable if you don’t remember that name. He’s an athletic 6’3” pass catcher though, so he has the talent to impact games.
The top name to know at receiver is Johntay Cook. He’s a Texas transfer who was a highly touted blue chip recruit coming out of HS, and has the raw talent to be an impact player. He’s looking for a bigger role than he had at Texas, and as noted, Syracuse’s pass heavy offense could be just what Cook is looking for.
Syracuse returns their starting RT, but will have 4 next starters join him. There are returning options, as well as transfers from Louisville, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Alabama. How that group gels will be foundational to Syracuse’s offensive, and overall, success in 2025.
Syracuse Orange Defense
In 2024, Syracuse’s defense was not good. The Orange were next to last in the ACC allowing 6.18 yards per play. That was 108th in the country. That ranked among the likes of UMass (2-10), Georgia State (3-9), and Stanford (3-9).
Despite allowing a metric ton of yards on a per play and per game basis, Syracuse was actually middle of the pack in terms of points allowed. The Orange only allowed 29.2 points per game, far fewer than one would expect given the amount of yards they allowed. I’m sure Fran Brown, a noted defensive coach, would like this number to go down, but given the turnover on defense, keeping this consistent would be huge.
Syracuse returns 6 starters on defense and, like everybody in America, adds several players to the 2 deep via the transfer portal. Duce Chestnut and Derek McDonald are the top returners. Like offense, there are players looking to step into bigger roles, and transfers from Boston College, Cal, Georgia are among those who add to the talent pool for playing time.
Early Prediction
There is only one word that defines this game for Miami: revenge.
Regardless of how it happened, losing to Syracuse ruined Miami’s season in 2024. It’s a wonderful circumstance that Syracuse is on the schedule again this year. Miami has the immediate opportunity to get their pound of flesh.
Same as last year, Miami is the more talented team in this matchup. But, different than last year, Miami needs to PLAY LIKE IT for a full 60 minutes, not 18. We’ll dig into the X’s and O’s when we get to game week, but the point of fact is losing to Syracuse is unacceptable. This time around, Miami needs to finish the job and win the game by any means necessary.
Go Canes
