Syracuse football: the Orange aren’t the only team with a struggling QB

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Syracuse isn’t the only P4 school scratching their heads over the play of their returning starting quarterback. This week The Athletic released a list of 10 quarterbacks who are under-performing in the first month of the season and there are a lot of names on here that no one expected a month ago.

In a position where you expect players to improve with experience, most of the list are taking steps back from expectations. It wasn’t that long ago that former Orange commit LaNorris Sellers was touted as a top 5 NFL pick and now he’s appearing as a top 5 disappointing college QB.

Syracuse wasn’t expected to be a CFP contender like Texas A&M, Michigan or Oklahoma, but the Orange are less equipped to win in other ways than those teams. If they can’t get steady quarterback play, it doesn’t appear that Syracuse can lean on a running game or on a stout defense to beat P4 opponents.

Steve Angeli’s last two games have left many Orange fans (this one included) calling for a quarterback change. Part of that comes from 5 second-half interceptions in the two losses, part of that comes from watching Angeli limping after hits the first two weeks and part of that comes from seeing him missing reads and missing throws.

We can’t pin all the blame on Angeli, the offensive line, the receivers or the coaching staff, but it was clear against Pitt that the passing game needs a fix. Does a bye week solve the problems? Was that enough time to move pieces around or get healthy enough to notice a difference? The coaches seem to think so, but nothing in the last year has given fans reason to trust those comments without seeing proof on Saturdays.

With Fran Brown’s backing, Angeli will start at UConn tomorrow. The Huskies have been kind to opposing quarterbacks so far this year, so maybe this is the right chance to give Angeli a bit of confidence. On the other hand, if he struggles against this defense, it’s digging a deeper hole for this Syracuse staff, and the entire football program.

After last season’s disaster, Brown made it a point to get experienced quarterbacks to stock his QB room. Amari Odom was one of those additions and we think he’s better prepared to lead the offense than Rickie Collins was last season. I think many Orange fans would like to have tomorrow’s game to see if that’s true or not.

Odom passes the eye test and in mop-up duty last game he led the Orange to points and he offers the kind of running threat that modern offenses seem to need. It’s a threat that defenses stuggle to account for because if you’re having to spy the quarterback, that’s a player who isn’t providing pressure or coverage. He also offers fans something that’s in short supply, hope.

Quarterbacks have found ways to exorcize the ghosts from their games. They’ve also hit slumps that don’t turn around quickly. Tomorrow we’ll see if Angeli’s week off allowed him to get back to the player we saw in the 4th game of the 2025 season or if the staff waited too long to make a change.

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