money downthis cycle✓ factnew
Johntay Cook II isn't a money-down weapon -- his 3rd-down conversion rate lags the position, and his per-target value drops further in that spot.
our readdeveloping
Syracuse
1-1Latest
ACC · Fran Brown, year 3 (14-13) · JMA Wireless Dome · 49,057 · 34,644 avg in 2026
The nationunrankedAP / Coaches
The model#110 CFB ZeitgeistSP+ #60 (+2.7) · FPI #60
The marketPittsburgh by 10at Pittsburgh · our model 19% Syracuse · a number, not a pick
LastL 18–21 vs California · Sat Sep 12 · Chris D'Appolonia 1 sacks, 2 TFL, 11 tackles
Nextat Pittsburgh · Thu Sep 17 · 7:30 pm ET · Acrisure Stadium · Pittsburgh by 10 · series 33-45-3, lost the last 2 · Game preview
Updated Tue Sep 15 · through week 2
Syracuse · 2026 schedule & results1-1
| Wk | Date | Us | Opp | Line | Opponent | Result | Record | Conf |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Sep 5 | #143 | #173 | -35.5✓ | New Hampshire | W 66–3 77 | 1-0 | 0-0 |
| 2 | Sep 12 | #135 | #63 | -4✗ | California | L 18–21 146 | 1-1 | 0-1 |
| 3 | Sep 17 | #127 | #49 | +10 | @Pittsburgh | |||
| 5 | Oct 3 | @UConn | ||||||
| 6 | Oct 10 | @Virginia | ||||||
| 7 | Oct 17 | Louisville | ||||||
| 8 | Oct 24 | @North Carolina | ||||||
| 9 | Oct 31 | SMU | ||||||
| 10 | Nov 7 | Clemson | ||||||
| 11 | Nov 14 | @NC State | ||||||
| 12 | Nov 21 | @Boston College | ||||||
| 13 | Nov 28 | Notre Dame |
Advanced box score (EPA, success rate, explosiveness)▼
| Date | Opp | Result | Yds | TO | TOP | EPA/play | Success% | Explosive% | Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sep 12 | California | L 18–21 | 436 | 3 | 34:10 | -0.064 | 32.2% | 143.7% | |
| Sep 5 | New Hampshire | W 66–3 | 513 | 0 | 32:34 | +0.351 | 52.6% | 131.2% | |
| Season average (2 games) | 474 | 1.5 | +0.144 | 42.4% | 137.4% | ||||
Verdict Begins·Live
Syracuse owns the first Black Heisman, a 1959 national title, and the number 44 — and is betting that Fran Brown, the Camden kid who came home to coach, is the one who finally makes the Orange matter again, even after a torn Achilles cost them their breakout season.
Title DroughtSince 2004 · 22 yrs
Fans are tired of being the program everyone files under 'historic Northeast football' and forgets — the place pundits treat as a recruiting pit stop, a job Fran Brown is supposed to use as a launchpa…
low signal
The season in chapters
Ahead
What fans said
Syracuse fans
r/CFB
▲ 112 · 2d ago
California fans on Syracuse
Syracuse fans
r/CFB
▲ 257 · 1w ago
Real posts from the day of the game, chosen by community score · usernames not shown
What it is like to watch them2025 · 3-9 · last season
Game feel55even gamescombined pts / game6th highest-scoring of 17 in the ACC
Heart rate1-0rarely closein one-score games (1 of 12)17th most one-score games of 17 in the ACC
Margin-14.8outgunnedavg scoring margin17th best margin of 17 in the ACC
Tempo70uptempooffensive plays / game3rd fastest of 17 in the ACC
Big plays1.17grind it outexplosiveness (IsoPPP)15th most explosive of 17 in the ACC
Home crowd38,604avg attendance12th biggest crowds of 17 in the ACC
✓ measured from 12 games · ranks are among ACC teams the same season
Recent form · last 10 games · incl. 2025
Syracuse has won one of its last five.
Cold. 1-9 over the last 10, and lost the last one.
Streak L1Last 5 · 1-4Last 10 · 1-9
We were practicing during all that time. That wouldn’t be healthy for him to allow him to go in and play right away.
The forecast
Next Sep 17
vs Pittsburgh · away
Season line4.5 winsover -130
PoorPoorGives up the big play
✓ fact on line · ~ our read on style
Market outlook
Season expectations
Win total3 booksO/U 4.5
CFP championship#93 in field+80000
ACC title#13 in market+10500
Sportsbook consensus · best odds across multiple books · 2026-09-14
Syracuse · the story right now
4 storylines developing
What Syracuse's offseason is really about
the open questionwhere does it go from here?
garbage time2025 cycle~attributednew
Will Nixon: a garbage time merchant signal screened this season.
our readbackground
short yardage2025 cycle~attributednew
Yasin Willis converts 3rd/4th-and-short at a below-average rate.
our readbackground
program_outlook2025 cycle~readnew
Syracuse collapsed 70 spots in SP+ — Fran Brown's second season opens with bottom-quintile returning production and an uneasy fanbase defining historic-northeast-football.
what happenedSyracuse enters 2025 rated No. 115 in SP+ (-13.1), down 70 spots from 2024. ✓ fact
the contextbottom-quintile returning production — heavy turnover entering the season
our readbackground
How past storylines here turned out
AnsweredSyracuse's head-coaching hire held for another season.
Died downSyracuse's defensive coordinator change has died down — no clear next chapter yet.
Died downSyracuse's offensive coordinator change has died down — no clear next chapter yet.
Outcome band · Syracuse · 2026
Outcome band · Syracuse · 2026Syracuse's most likely season is 8-5 — a bowl game. The floor is 5-7; the ceiling is 10-3.
Floor 5-7Ceiling 10-3Base 8-5
0 wins13 wins
Floor5-7No postseason.
Base8-5A bowl game.
Ceiling10-3A bowl game, 2 more wins.
Floor, base and ceiling come from the season-path projection, which plays out conference title games and the CFP — so a ceiling can run past 12 games.
More in this tab
Game day
The experience
Syracuse is the ACC program whose Carrier Dome dome-roof era + Donovan McNabb / Marvin Harrison Sr. canon + 2018 10-3 + 2024 10-3 under Fran Brown define what historic-northeast-football looks like.
Offense: PoorDefense: PoorDefensive shape: Gives up the big play
Roster
Roster Reload - Syracuse
2026 snapshot - 2026-09-15Returning Production35%Low continuity / heavy reload
Talent Composite#35 nationally247 composite 745.6
Portal Additions19Primary repair: TE
Portal Losses29Primary pressure: WR
Draft Loss0No NFL Draft departures recorded
Recruiting Reload#35Development class
QBin 3 - Amari Odomout 3 - Rickie CollinsEven
current room: 207 lbs avg (2025 roster)
Vertical Passer2025 profileMoney-downpushes it downfield on every look saves his best for the money downs
DLin 3 - Dillan Fontusout 3 - Eric ThomasEven
current room: 292 lbs avg (2025 roster)
Two-Gap Base2025 profilewins his gap play after play
Homegrown
CBin 2 - Nazir Wardout 3 - Ibn McDanielsDowngrade
current room: 194 lbs avg (2025 roster)
Hybrid Nickel2025 profilemoves between deep coverage and the slot
Homegrown
LBin 1 - Chris D'Appoloniaout 3 - James Heard Jr.Starter Risk
current room: 234 lbs avg (2025 roster)
Thumperfills the run lane and blitzes off the edge
Full roster (113 players)
DBAmare Snowden, Bradley Chandler, Braheem Long Jr., Cam Hairston-Taylor, Chase Geter, Chris Peal, Cornell Perry, Darnell Stokes Jr., Davien Kerr, Demetres Samuel Jr., Ibn-Wadu Muhammad, Jai Eugene Jr., James Trotter, Javon Lawrence, Marcus Washington jr., Nate Prater, Nazir Ward, Rayshon Andrews, Tedarius Hughes, Terrance Johnson, Ziyyon Bredell
DLAlex Haskell, Clark Calloway, Dillan Fontus, Elijah Crawford, Isaiah Hastings, Jarius Rodgers, Jartavius Flounoy, Jaylen Pray, Kamron Wilson, Kordae Houston, Nathan Nyandoro, Nissi Ogbebor, Rashard Perry, Tunmise Adeleye, Walt Frazier Jr.
LBAntoine Deslauriers, Chris D'Appolonia, David Omopariola, Garvin St. John, Gary Bryant III, Gemaus Sackie, Jamie Tremble, Josh Kubala, Keyshawn Johnson, Maurice Medley, Trey Dudley, Zyian Moultrie-Goddard
OLAdam Boeheim, Brayden Charney, Byron Washington, D'Joni Scatliffe, David Ndukwe, Jackson Iak, Javeion Cooper, Jayden Mann, Joe Cruz, Joseph White, Kahlil Stewart, Kam Pringle, Kardiear Shepherd, Matthew Hawn, Naquil Betrand, Oluwafunto Akinshilo, Shemaj Henry, Skylar Harvey, Ted Olsen, Travis Brown-Miller, Trevion Mack, Vito Shevchenko, Zach Rice
Offseason moves
The Offseason Ledger · Syracuse
6 verified updates · portal · recruiting · staff · news- News
Syracuse names starting QB
Fran Brown ends the QB mystery — but naming a starter this early with SP+ trending down and WR depth still unresolved means the offense has to be built around whoever this is, fast.
- Coaching
Vince Kehres hired as DC
A 70-spot SP+ collapse demands an identity answer, not a tweak — Kehres brings the '11 as one' pressure-system culture that Fran Brown's room has been missing at the foundational level.
- News
Syracuse releases first defensive depth chart
Coordinator overhaul plus a 70-spot SP+ drop makes this depth chart a referendum on Brown's defensive rebuild — who's first, who's second, and who's just filling a jersey.
- News
WR Justus Ross-Simmons eligibility positive
WR room under pressure all camp and the #35 class doesn't have depth to spare — keeping Ross-Simmons eligible is a quiet win that matters more than the recruiting rankings suggest.
- News
Justus Ross-Simmons cleared to play
Ross-Simmons back in the fold matters more than a typical eligibility ruling — a coordinator overhaul and a WR room under pressure needed a proven name Fran Brown could actually build around heading into 2026.
- Recruiting
Elijah Kimble commits to Syracuse
Canisius RB in a development class while Syracuse craters to No. 115 in SP+ — Fran Brown is planting seeds, but the WR room needed water yesterday.
Who's moved
Transfer portal snapshot
-3.1 net portal points
(raw ledger: -34.2 — unweighted, no position adjustment)WR-18.5
starter risk
TE+7.2
need filled
LB-6.8
starter risk
EDGE-6.7
starter risk
IOL+3.7
low confidence
OT-3.5
low confidence
CB-3.3
RB-3.1
K-3.0
low confidence
QB-0.7
DL+0.3
S+0.1
Top commits
Top 3 commits
2026 class
★★★★☆
Calvin Russell III
#85 national
Blue-chip pedigree, profiling early as a prototypical wide receiver — 12 of his 25 closest recruiting profiles since 2018 shared the Possession Receiver archetype.~our read · projection from recruiting profile — no college snaps yet
★★★★☆
Amare' Gough
#357 national
Profiles like a typical incoming wide receiver — 15 of his 25 closest recruiting profiles since 2018 shared the Possession Receiver archetype.~our read · projection from recruiting profile — no college snaps yet
★★★★☆
Kamron Wilson
#423 national
Where they're from
Recruiting Footprint · 2026
Recruiting Footprint · 2026
27
FL · 7PA · 6DE · 3NJ · 3VA · 3CA · 1MD · 1NC · 1+2 more
FL leads the 2026 class with 7 commits. National footprint reaching 10 states.
Where they recruit · 2023-2026
107 signees across 22 states, 2023-2026. NJ leads the pull.
That is 8.9% of every high-school FBS signee NJ produced over those cycles — second only to Rutgers, 3 signees back. The full map →
Miles from home
Miles from home · 2026 roster
The median Syracuse player grew up 285 miles from campus.
Half this roster came from closer than that; half came from farther.
56th-closest to home in FBS
of 135 ranked →
Closest to homeFarthest from home
Middle 50%216–884 miquartile spread
Within 100 mi5%5 of 98 players
Farthest2,349 miTed Olsen · Palos Verdes Estates, CA
Closest1 miJosh Kubala · Syracuse, NY
Straight-line distance from each player's listed hometown to JMA Wireless Dome. Hometowns are placed at city-centroid precision, not street address — fine at this scale, but a player's true door-to-door number can differ by a few miles. 98 of 113 listed players have a geocoded hometown. Source: CFBD roster hometowns.
Recruiting buzz
r/cfb this year
[Postgame Thread] SMU Defeats Syracuse 31-18
[Game Thread] Syracuse @ SMU (3:30 PM ET)
Top community posts · last 12 months · r/cfb
How it turned out
Belief history
→
Fan confidence in a typical range for this program right now
16th percentile among FBS programs
Fans vs. market
Fan vs. market≈
16th
Fan percentile
(FBS mood rank)
(FBS mood rank)
4.5
Vegas O/U wins
(13th among FBS)
(13th among FBS)
Fan mood aligned with market consensus
Win total consensus · 3 books
Turnover luck
Fumble luck
67% recovery rate on the fumbles they've forced — well above the ~49% league baseline.
4 of 6 forced fumbles recovered; 6 of 14 own fumbles recovered themselves, 2025 only.
Penalties
Penalty battle
27 penalties committed, 18 drawn on opponents — ceding 103 yards of field position.
257 penalty yards committed vs. 154 drawn on opponents, 2026 season total.
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