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Writer's pictureDan Tortora

Fran Brown Era Begins with a Win


The Syracuse Orange Football program entered into the Dome to begin the Fran Brown era on the final day of August in the year 2024.


New to the Dome were the seatbacks providing individual seating as opposed to the old steel bleachers. There were also seats taken out in below and in front of the press box and directly across which created new handicap seating areas.


To start the contest, the Orange would defer to the Bobcats of Ohio, the visitor from the Mid-American Conference (MAC), who won 10 games last season.


Ohio’s first drive would conclude with a 43-yard field goal off the foot of sophomore kicker Gianni Spetic, which gave the Bobcats the first lead of the day, 3-0, at the 8:33 mark of the first quarter, with the Bobcats taking over six minutes off the clock.


Syracuse elected to not run the ball at all during their first possession, with quarterback Kyle McCord’s first drive ending in a three-and-out.

On Ohio’s second drive, Syracuse junior defensive end Denis Jaquez, Jr., & junior defensive tackle Kevin Jobity, Jr., combine to sack Ohio graduate quarterback Parker Navarro on third down, preventing a touchdown.


The Bobcats would kick their second field goal, this time Spetic from 37 yards out, extending their lead to 6-0 with 11 seconds remaining in the first quarter.


Syracuse would get down the field and into the end zone on their second drive of the game, with senior quarterback Kyle McCord finding redshirt-junior tight end Oronde Gadsden II for a catch-and-run of 28 yards, resulting in the first score of the season for Syracuse and McCord’s first-ever touchdown in orange and blue. This score gave the Orange their first lead of the contest, ahead 7-6 with 12:18 before half.


Redshirt-freshman wide receiver Yazeed “Zeed” Haynes, a transfer from the Georgia Bulldogs, caught his first ball as a member of the Orange inside four minutes before halftime, which resulted in a 12-yard gain to inside the Bobcats’ redzone, on their 12-yard line.


Syracuse would come away with a 26-yard field goal by junior kicker Brady Denaburg on his first attempt of the day, raising the Orange to a 10-6 lead with 2:02 to go in the second quarter.


Penalties worked against Syracuse on Ohio’s next drive, with the Bobcats getting closer and closer to the Orange end zone, but the Orange would prevent a touchdown, with Spetic attaining his third field goal, this from 20 yards away, bringing the sscore to 10-9 Orange with 49 seconds to go in the first half.


With 18 seconds left in the first half, McCord found senior wide receiver Jackson Meeks for an eight-yard gain on 3rd-&-2. Then, he would d air out to redshirt-junior wide receiver Trebor Pena in the end zone for a 20-yard score w/ five seconds to go before half, giving the Orange a 17-9 lead at the break.


Oh, and that scoring drive was 44 seconds.


McCord concluded his first-ever half with the Orange by going 18-for-24 for 211 yards, two touchdowns, and no interceptions.


Navarro ended the first half 5-for-10 for 33 passing yards.


Bobcats’ graduate running back Anthony Tyus, III, a transfer from the Northwestern Wildcats, had nine carries for 109 yards, no yards lost, averaging 12.1 yards per carry.


Orange junior running back LeQuint Allen, Jr., took five carries 19 yards, not losing any yards, for 3.8 yards per carry.


Syracuse would begin the second half with a three-and-out.


Tyus, who had been running all over the Orange in the first half, scored on a 13-yard run on Ohio's first drive of the second half, giving the Bobcats their first touchdown of the game, making it 17-16 Syracuse with 11:44 left in the third quarter.


The Orange would switch fields on their first play of their second drive of the half, thanks to a 27-yard run by junior running back LeQuint Allen, Jr., that rolled the team from their own 25 to the Bobcats’ 48.


He who started the drive got to finish it as well, with Allen reaching out with his left hand to grab a pass from McCord, holding on in the end zone for a five-yard score, raising Syracuse up to a 24-16 lead at the 6:37 mark of the third quarter.


Syracuse senior linebacker Marlowe Wax, Jr., was down on the field with under seven minutes on the third-quarter clock. He came off the field with help, putting no pressure on his right foot/leg.


Immediately following Wax exiting the field, senior defensive end Fadil Diggs, a transfer to Syracuse from the Texas A&M Aggies, sacked Navarro for a loss of six yards, forcing Ohio to punt.


On the third drive of the second half for the Orange, true freshman running back Yasin Willis would get his first carry of his collegiate career, going for three yards by the five-minute mark.


Willis’ teammate, Pena, came into this game with one receiving touchdown in his first three seasons at Syracuse.


With 3:28 to go in the third quarter of this 2024 season-/home-opener, he had two receiving scores; and both came on the left side of the end zone.


Meeks would leap out in single-coverage to grab a pass from McCord for a 35-yard gain to the Ohio 29 on this scoring drive.


On the next Syracuse possession, Haynes would reel in a pass from McCord for a 42-yard gain to the Ohio 26, catching the ball despite being interfered with.


Willis get three-straight carries toward the end of this drive, ruled just shy of the end zone on his third carry of this possession.


Syracuse first-year head coach Fran Brown would elect to go for it on 4th-&-1. The ball went to Pena, this time on a carry, which he took into the end zone for his third score of the day, and first on the ground, making it 38-16 on the drive that concluded at the 13:30 mark of the fourth quarter after starting this drive at the 1:46 mark of the third.


On Ohio’s following possession, Navarro would run the option, pitching the ball to Tyus who outran everyone for a 46-yard touchdown. A two-point conversion would be thwarted by Syracuse, bringing the score to 38-22 Orange with 12:22 to go.


Syracuse true freshman defensive tackle Maraad Watson tipped an attempt by Navarro and the ball was intercepted by redshirt-freshman LB James Heard, Jr., to halt a drive where Ohio had gotten to the Syracuse 38-yard line. This was Watson's first collegiate tipped pass and Heard's first collegiate interception.


McCord would air out on the drive created by this interception, finding Gadsden by the end zone, but the play was called back due to holding.


On the very next play, junior field corner Tank Pearson intercepted McCord, McCord’s first interception as a member of the Orange.


True freshman cornerback Marcellus Barnes prevented a touchdown in single-coverage on the right side of the end zone with under a minute to play.


On 4th-&-2, with the Bobcats just inside the Orange redzone, on the 19-yard line, Diggs was joined by junior defensive back Justin Barron on a sack for a one-yard loss on Navarro to end the Ohio drive en route to a 38-22 victory.


The Fran Brown Era begins with a win.


In a Dome that was more than rocking and ready for a fresh start.


McCord finished 27-for-39 for 354 yards, four touchdowns, and one interception.


Navarro would end the game 18-for-30 for 181 yards, no touchdowns, and one interception.


Tyus led all rushers with 203 yards, achieving that on 16 carries, for an average of 12.7 yards per carry. He had two rushing touchdowns in the contest.


Allen was atop all Orange running backs with 98 yards on 15 carries, averaging 6.5 yards per carry.


Graduate wide receiver Coleman Owen led all receivers with 137 yards on 10 catches.


Gadsden had 108 yards on seven catches, with one going for a score.


Junior strong safety Austin Brawley led the Bobcats with 12 total tackles.


Redshirt-junior defensive end Bradley Weaver had the lone sack for Ohio.


Senior strong safety Alijah “Cinco” Clark had the most tackles for the Orange, with nine.


Syracuse had three sacks, two from Diggs in his Orange debut and one from Wax.

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