Syracuse Orange football fans witnessed – no exaggeration – the program’s biggest win of the century yesterday as Fran Brown closed out his first regular season with a 42-38 victory over the #6 Miami Hurricanes. It was a game that had everyone on the edge of their seats in the second half, but I won’t leave you alone as we delve into the final takeaways from the 2024 season.

Cardiac ‘Cuse is a football-friendly term

It would have been so easy for ‘Cuse to completely lose focus after his first TD of the game was taken off the board due to an illegal formation penalty. It would have been even easier for them to lie down when the Canes jumped out to a 21-0 lead. I should know – I’ve covered a lot of games that got out of hand early and never came close to catching up.

But those Syracuse teams weren’t led by Fran.

Instead, the Orange turned to the man they had leaned on all season – field general Kyle McCord – to get both their offense and the Dome crowd back on track. And he did.

Four straight completions for 65 yards put SU into goal-goal territory before LeQuint Allen scored on a strike. From there, the game went from a threatened defeat to a very winnable battle. The oft-criticized defense forced a three-pointer, Duce Chestnut fended off a stop attempt, the Orange offense scored before halftime, and then, 39 seconds into the third quarter, the game was tied.

When has there ever been such a change in momentum in Syracuse? Short answer, no – that was it biggest comeback in program history. The game over Virginia Tech was close… but the difference this time is that watching it made me feel really confident that they would do it could Rally. To achieve this, this team showcased the best of what Brown’s coach has done.

Whether it was Jackson Meeks and Trebor Pena making one absurd catch after another – both finished the game with over 100 yards receiving – Devin Grant revealed after the game that he had played on a Torn MCL for the past month and caught The Orange took their first lead with a fumble. or LeHurdle Allen finding one final burst of speed to put the game on ice, there is credit that must be shared by all.

Rich Barnes Imagn images

DOME SWEET DOME

The Dome sold out once earlier this season, and it also came close against Miami with a paid attendance of 40,486. But SU’s 12th man undoubtedly played his biggest role this season against the Canes.

From the beginning, the nickname “Loud House” made a name for itself. The crowd’s volume rose to over 105 dB at certain points during the game, with the ESPN broadcast reporting it was at 119. The Orange supporters made their presence felt particularly at a critical point in the fourth quarter. With an important 3rd-and-7 looming, Mario Cristobal had to use one of his precious timeouts to avoid a delay of game penalty – one he ran out of time to take when Allen delivered the knockout blow.

SU finishes the season at 6-1 at home, its best mark since a perfect 6-0 record in 2018. It is only the third time this century that they have achieved six home wins in a single season.

While Senior Day was held last week for family travel reasons, it was also an excellent final Dome sendoff for fifth-graders like Marlowe Wax and Justin Barron. Both could have chosen to bow out of the tournament after a bittersweet final victory last November, but this time they had to do so in front of a sold-out crowd instead.

Rich Barnes Imagn images

The game has changed

Before the season, the only real question was whether or not Syracuse football could ever truly be “back.” As exciting as the hiring of Fran was and as much work as he did to solidify the squad straight away, he was able to anyone Are you really taking SU over a mediocre program where the bowl reaches to the ceiling?

I’ll just let him answer that now:

Fran Brown is real and he is here to stay. And as crazy as it is, these are just a few of his first year achievements:

It’s impossible to say what the future holds – such as whether Fran will be able to land another extremely talented QB in the portal and/or lock up a number of the recruits who came to visit – but CNY orange skies is now there limit.