Syracuse football squeezes by in overtime win over North Carolina 31-30

After nearly 400 days, Syracuse football (3-4, 1-4 Atlantic Coast Conference) won its first conference game, a 31-30 overtime victory against North Carolina (4-3, 2-2 ACC). It was the second time this season SU has won in overtime on a two-point conversion. The other came against UConn in Week 5.

Orange quarterback Steve Angeli returned as the starter after plasma injections into his Achilles tendon and a procedure for an ankle sprain sidelined him for the past three games. In the fifth-year quarterback’s first game back, he completed 20 of 34 passes for 256 yards and two touchdowns.

“I feel way better,” Angeli said. “I feel, you know, kinda like the old me in a sense and I can run, make plays, and, you know I just feel like myself again. So, I’m just glad that I was able to get that done and kind of get to this point and, you know, obviously go out and get a win with my guys.”

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Angeli had receivers who got open and made themselves easy targets. Down by double digits in the fourth quarter, wide receiver Umari Hatcher caught a 76-yard touchdown pass to put the Orange within four before the extra point added one more. It was the longest reception of the sixth-year player’s career. The score also extended his streak to four consecutive games with a touchdown reception, the longest streak by an Orange player since 2020. Hatcher finished the day with four catches for 103 yards, also becoming the first ‘Cuse player with four straight games of at least 100 receiving yards since 2017.

Wide receiver Calvin Russell III added to the production. The freshman had a career-best eight catches for 86 yards. He also caught the touchdown pass in overtime and then finished the possession with the two-point conversion catch.

“We was just, we was going through the first three quarters and we like we were just, we were just running the plays that was called,” Russell said. “We wasn’t doing nothing like outstanding enough for the quarterback to feel comfortable to get us the ball like demandingly.”

Before the Orange’s momentum boost in the fourth quarter, they trailed the Tar Heels 20-10. SU didn’t score in the first or third quarter. It wasn’t until Hatcher’s career-long touchdown reception with 11 minutes left in regulation that the ‘Cuse got going.

The defense didn’t shy away from the occasion either. Linebacker Chris D’Appelonia notched a sack for the second straight game, a 14-yard loss for UNC. The senior finished the day tied for a team-high eight tackles. Linebacker Zyian Moultrie-Goddard also had eight, a career high for the senior.

Defensive lineman Tunmise Adeleye also came up big when the Orange needed it most. With less than a minute left in the fourth quarter, the fifth-year player got his fourth sack of the season on fourth down in Orange territory and forced a North Carolina turnover on downs.

Syracuse had a chance to avoid overtime. With seven minutes left in regulation, running back Ahmad Miller scored on a 3-yard run to tie the game at 23, but kicker Shay Barker missed the extra point that would have given the Orange the lead.

Through six games this season, the freshman has made 11 of 15 extra-point attempts and 6 of 10 field goal attempts.

“We knew we had to score,” SU head coach Fran Brown said of how the Orange handled the missed extra point. “It was important that we get down there and score, try to take as much of the clock as possible. So that way when they got the ball back, it wouldn’t be a lot of time for them to have to score and worked itself out. We didn’t make the extra point but you know, it’s part of the game.”

Syracuse still got the job done in overtime. The Orange hadn’t won at Kenan Memorial Stadium since 2018. The victory also moves Brown to 5-0 in overtime games as a head coach.

Syracuse is back in action against No. 23 SMU (6-1, 4-1 ACC) on Saturday, Oct. 31, Halloween, in the JMA Wireless Dome. Kickoff is set for noon. WAER’s pregame coverage begins with McClurg Remodeling Countdown to Kickoff at 11:30 a.m.