2025 UNC Football Opponent Preview: Syracuse

UNC will make a rare road trip when it ventures up to upstate New York Friday night to take on Syracuse at the JMA Wireless Dome. It’s the first time the Tar Heels will have played the Orange in Syracuse since 2018. Syracuse enters on a four-game losing streak and sits at 3-5 overall after a 3-1 start. All of the Orange’s losses during the streak have come by at least 13 points.

Here’s more on the Orange:

Head coach: Fran Brown is in his second season leading the Syracuse program. Brown has connections to North Carolina, having played college football for Western Carolina in Cullowhee before a brief pro career with the NFL’s Cincinnati Bengals. Brown spent time at Temple, Baylor and Rutgers before signing on to head coach Kirby Smart’s staff at Georgia coaching defensive backs. Brown was part of a dominant Bulldogs team which won the 2022 national championship. Following the 2023 season, Syracuse hired Brown as head coach. He led the Orange to a 10-3 season in 2024, which included an upset over then-No. 6 Miami in the regular season finale.

Syracuse head coach Fran Brown won a national title at Georgia before joining the Orange. (Image via Associated Press/Jacob Kupferman)

What’s the history? UNC and Syracuse have met just seven times, all of which have come in the last 30 years. The two teams split a home-and-home series in the 1995 and 1996 seasons, with the road team winning each time. The same exact thing happened in the 2002 and 2003 seasons. Since Syracuse joined the ACC, UNC has won two of three meetings, though the Tar Heels dropped their most recent game at Syracuse, a 40-37 double-overtime thriller in 2018.

A tale of two seasons: Syracuse’s 2024 season could’ve looked much different were it not for a devastating injury. Starting quarterback Steve Angeli suffered a torn Achilles tendon midway through a 34-21 Orange victory at Clemson in late September. To that point, Angeli had thrown for a pair of touchdown passes in the game in a dominant effort. Syracuse would see out the win to move to 3-1 on the season, but the team that took the field in Death Valley hasn’t shown up since. The Orange have lost 38-3, 31-18, 30-13 and 41-16 in their four games since Angeli’s injury. Backup Rickie Collins has been volatile, tossing six touchdowns but also eight interceptions. Angeli had thrown for 10 touchdowns and only two interceptions before his injury.

Syracuse quarterback Steve Angeli’s Achilles injury turned the tide of the Orange’s season. (Image via Associated Press/Jacob Kupferman)

A chance to break out: If Carolina’s struggling offense is looking for an opportunity to explode, Friday’s game could present just that. Syracuse is one of the worst defenses the Tar Heels will face all season: the Orange rank dead last in the ACC and 122nd out of 134 FBS teams nationwide in total defense, allowing upwards of 400 yards per game. Syracuse also allows 31.3 points per game; only Boston College is worse in the ACC. UNC’s scoring offense is also one of the worst in the country, averaging only 18.3 points per game. The Tar Heels have yet to crack the 20-point plateau against a power conference team this season.

What are the odds? At the time of publication, Syracuse is a 1.5-point favorite in the game.

Featured image via Associated Press/LM Otero

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2025 UNC Football Opponent Preview: Syracuse

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