It’s safe to assume Syracuse football coach Fran Brown was not happy with the Orange needing overtime to fend off UConn on Saturday, Sept. 6.
Syracuse and Brown, a second-year head coach, entered the fourth quarter trailing 17-6 against the Huskies despite being heavy favorites against the Independent program. While the Orange secured the comeback to earn their first win of the season, it wasn’t celebratory for Brown.
In fact, Syracuse players were seen running sprints on the field after the win. There was a coach blowing a whistle while players ran from the end zone to the 20-yard line where coaches awaited.
‘We didn’t play our brand of football that I know we can play, that I watched us play all week,’ Brown said after the game. ‘And that’s what’s frustrating. … There’s a certain way you’re supposed to win a football game. They showed they were tough, we came back and we done that. But we just gotta play our brand of football.
‘That means a lot, because when I signed up for the job, I told them it was going to look a certain way. And it didn’t look of that for about 50 minutes.’
Syracuse trailed 17-6 with under six minutes left in the fourth quarter before quarterback Steve Angeli tossed a 53-yard touchdown pass to Justus Ross-Simmons to make the score 17-12. Syracuse then took a 20-17 lead on its next possession after Yasin Willis cashed in a 3-yard touchdown run.
UConn tied the game 20-20 with under a minute left after a field goal, but Syracuse scored on its first drive of overtime before stopping the Huskies to secure the win.
Brown, a former defensive backs coach at Georgia, led Syracuse to a 10-3 finish last season in his first year as a head coach. The Orange were dominated by Tennessee 45-26 in Week 1 before nearly being upset by UConn, which clearly isn’t up to their standard after a successful first season with Brown at the helm.
Maybe the sprints can light a fire for Syracuse.
