Late offensive surge pushes Syracuse past Connecticut in OT

Syracuse won its home opener, rallying in the fourth quarter and then hanging on in overtime to defeat Connecticut, 27-20, at the JMA Wireless Dome on Saturday.

Quarterback Steve Angeli found Justus Ross-Simmons for a six-yard touchdown in the overtime’s first frame to break a 20-20 tie. On the ensuing drive, linebacker Antoine Deslauriers broke up a pass on fourth-and-3 to seal the win.

Syracuse could’ve won in regulation, but with 48 seconds to go in regulation, Joe Fagnano led Connecticut down the field, including connecting on a fourth-and-10 to Skyler Bell, which kept the drive alive. That resulted in a 41-yard field goal with 1 second left from Chris Freeman that sent the game into overtime.

"These guys won nine games last year," Syracuse head coach Fran Brown said. "They beat two ACC football teams. They have arguably the best Xs-and-Os coach in college football. It was a big game."

Syracuse overcomes offensive struggles

It was a struggle for Syracuse for most of the afternoon on the offensive end.

The Orange trailed 17-6 win under 10 minutes to go. But Angeli and the offense came alive as he found a streaking Ross-Simmons for a 53-yard strike to pull SU to within 17-12 (the two-point conversion was not successful).

"We just continued to fight all the way through to the end," Angeli said. "It's not about me. It's about this offense and this team."

After the defense forced a punt, Syracuse was at it again, marching 80 yards on 10 plays, punctuated by a Yasin Willis 3-yard run to give SU its first lead of the game with 48 seconds left. SU then converted on the two-point conversion, which gave it the cushion it needed to survive UConn’s last drive and send the game to overtime.

Angeli, Villari star on offense, defense stymies Huskies

It had mostly been a down day for Angeli, who ultimately ended up with an impressive stat line of 417 yards and two touchdowns. He threw 53 times compared to 29 rushes. The Orange mostly went to the air, as Willis and Will Nixon only rushed a combined 20 times for 78 yards.

Meanwhile, Dan Villari had one of his most productive days as a member of the Orange, hauling in seven receptions for 104 yards.

The defense, after giving up 14 points to the Huskies in the first half, only allowed two field goals the rest of the way. Syracuse notched its first three sacks of the season, while holding the Huskies to 4-17 on third down opportunities.

Brown kept the team on the field after the game and made them run sprints.

"It's a certain way we want Syracuse football to look," Brown said. "We didn't do that for two weeks. We stated win, lose or draw it was happening if it didn't look the way it should."

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