Syracuse dismantled by Duke in its worst loss of the Fran Brown era

Syracuse football (3-2, 1-1 Atlantic Coast Conference) was completely obliterated 38-3 by Duke (3-2, 2-0 ACC) for its largest loss under second-year coach Fran Brown. SU was totally outmatched from start-to-finish and held to its lowest offensive total since being shutout in the 2023 Boca Raton Bowl.

A big factor that contributed to the lackadaisical effort was the inability for Syracuse to keep its drives moving. A combination of penalties, turnovers, and drops made quarterback Rickie Collins’ first day at the office, ultimately a long one.

“We uncomplemented each other the entire game,” Coach Brown said after the loss.

Collins’ tenure as QB1 got off to a shaky start. The LSU transfer tossed an interception on his fourth pass attempt today deep into Blue Devil territory.

The Orange defense stepped up to hold their ACC opponent to a field goal, and evened it up at 3-3, thanks to a 35-yard flash by a hurdling Yasin Willis, who was ultimately held in check otherwise.

“We gotta give Yasin the ball, he needs the football, he has to get the ball more,” said Brown.

Willis ended the game with just 11 rush attempts for 63 yards, tied for his lowest volume of the season.

Defensively, Syracuse refused to tackle in the open field. Entering today, the Orange were ranked dead last in the ACC in total rush defense. Today, they did little to improve that mark.

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Duke ran for 235 yards and averaged 6.4 yards per rush. Freshman Nate Sheppard led the charge carrying the rock 15 times for 168 yards and finding pay-dirt twice.

To add to the chaos on the defensive side of the ball, Duke QB Darien Mensah torched the SU secondary, finishing with 268 yards on 22-of-28 passing and two touchdowns.

“We gotta set edges, we gotta set firmer edges… it forces them [Duke] to get vertical,” Brown said in response to the defense’s inability to make stops.

After the opening-drive field goal for Duke, Syracuse surrendered touchdowns on five of its next eight defensive possessions, including two drives that went 60+ yards in under 60 seconds of possession time.

The offense sputtered entirely after its first quarter field goal. While wide receiver Johntay Cook posted another respectable stat line of 8 receptions and 84 yards, he fumbled the ball twice – to make up for two of three SU turnovers.

For his first career start, Collins’ box score wasn’t necessarily bad – 24-of-37, 229 passing yards, no touchdowns, and the one interception – it was more about the offense being held out of the end zone for the first time during Brown’s regime.

The good news coming out of a tough loss: Syracuse is 4-0 after a loss under Brown, with an average win margin of 12.5 points the following week. Next week’s contest comes against SMU (2-2, 0-0 ACC). Kickoff is set for 3:30 p.m. with McClurg Remodeling Countdown to Kickoff live at 3 p.m., right here on WAER.