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College football coach makes team run sprints in front of home fans after ugly win

Joe Cox|
Coach Fran Brown went old school after an ugly 27-20 Week 2 win.
Coach Fran Brown went old school after an ugly 27-20 Week 2 win. | Brett Davis-Imagn Images

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Syracuse Orange

The good old days might be making a college football comeback, if Syracuse coach Fran Brown is any kind of indicator. After his Orange picked an ugly 27-20 overtime win over UConn, Brown sent his players back onto the field at the JMA Wireless Dome and had them run punishment sprints.

Syracuse's hard-fought win

Syracuse actually trailed 17-6 midway through the fourth quarter. UConn QB Joe Fagnano threw for 259 yards and helped position the Huskies to pull the upset. Syracuse rallied for a pair of scores in the back half of the fourth quarter, taking a 20-17 lead before allowing UConn to rally into field goal position in the final minute and send the game to overtime.

Syracuse scored on a Steve Angeli TD pass in overtime, and then stopped UConn on downs at the 6 yard line to finally end the game. The Orange were probably fortunate to turn an 11-point deficit in the middle of the fourth quarter into a win, but Syracuse coach Fran Brown felt that the sub-standard effort deserved a little immediate on-field punishment.

Fran Brown

Brown is in his second season as Orange head coach. He replaced Dino Barbers after Syracuse had four losing seasons in Barbers' last five years in the program. Brown's first team had an impressive 10-3 season, Syracuse's first double-digit win season since 2018. After a loss to Tennessee in Week 1 of the 2025 season, Syracuse needed a frentic comeback to avoid an 0-2 start.

Brown spent most of his coaching career at Temple University, but did coach defensive backs at Georgia in the 2022 and 2023 seasons. He was honored as the nation's top recruiter by 247sports in 2023. But while Brown might have a nice-guy reputation as a recruiter, Saturday demonstrates that if circumstances require, he'll go old school and punish underachieving players.

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Joe Cox
JOE COX

Joe is a journalist and writer who covers college and professional sports. He has written or co-written over a dozen sports books, including several regional best sellers. His last book, A Fine Team Man, is about Jackie Robinson and the lives he changed. Joe has been a guest on MLB Network, the Paul Finebaum show and numerous other television and radio shows. He has been inside MLB dugouts, covered bowl games and conference tournaments with Saturday Down South and still loves telling the stories of sports past and present.

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