Syracuse Bounces Back with Overtime Victory in the Dome over UCONN

SYRACUSE, N.Y. — The Syracuse Orange completed a crucial comeback at the JMA Wireless Dome to defeat the UCONN Huskies in overtime on Saturday afternoon.

The game started slowly, with neither team scoring in the first quarter. The Orange put together a promising first drive that resulted in a failed fourth-down conversion inside the red zone.

The Huskies found the end zone on a double-pass trick play to start the second quarter. UCONN wide receiver John Neider received a pass from quarterback Joe Fagnano and threw a touchdown pass to tight end Alex Honig for the first score of the game.

‘Cuse once again made their way down the field to UCONN’s red zone in response to the Huskies’ scoring drive. Just like Syracuse’s first drive, they opted to go for it on fourth down and were stopped by the Huskies’ defense, this time fumbling the ball backwards to the 39-yard line.

The Orange tallied their first points of the game on a 38-yard field goal by kicker Tripp Woody after a high snap on a Husky punt attempt gave Syracuse the ball on the opposition’s 19-yard line.

UCONN wasted no time finding an answer. Running back Mel Brown sprinted through the Syracuse defense for a 45-yard touchdown on the next drive. The Orange converted a 32-yard field goal with five seconds in the half to cut the lead to one score.

The fourth quarter started just as badly for the Orange as the third. Woody missed a 48-yard field goal and quarterback Steve Angeli threw an interception on ‘Cuse’s first two drives of the quarter. The energy inside the JMA Wireless Dome went flat, and things were not looking good for the Orange.

The Huskies opened the second half with another three points on a 35-yard field goal from kicker Chris Freeman. Frustration built as the Orange once again fell to a two-score deficit.

Orange fans in the dome grew increasingly impatient with their team as the next three series all resulted in punts, with only one first down picked during that period. Syracuse was shutout during the third quarter with no scoring opportunities.

When asked about a potential quarterback change, Coach Fran Brown said, “Right now this is Steve’s moment and Steve’s team”, once again standing by his starting quarterback.

Hope was restored on the Syracuse sideline after Angeli linked up with wide receiver Justus Ross-Simmons for a 53-yard touchdown with 05:41 left in the fourth quarter. The two-point conversion was unsuccessful, but the Orange started to believe they could come back.

UCONN took a methodical drive that dwindled the time down to under four minutes. The Orange regained possession from a punt with 2:06 left to play.

Angeli led his team to a near-flawless drive from their own 20-yard line that ended with running back Yasin Willis crossing the goal line from three yards out. Angeli went 6/7 passing on the drive and linked up with wide receiver Darren Gill Jr. for a successful two-point conversion to take a three-point lead with 48 seconds left to play.

The Huskies marched down the field with three completions to wide receiver Skyler Bell and kicked a game-tying field goal from 41 yards out to force overtime.

Syracuse got the first look in overtime and took full advantage. Angeli found Ross-Simmons with one-on-one coverage and trusted his receiver to beat the Husky defender. Ross-Simmons caught the ball and extended it past the goal line for the game-winning score.

“I’ve made that play before. So even though it is new to everyone in the world, it was a routine play for us”, said Ross-Simmons.

The Orange shut down the Huskies on their overtime attempt and completed a massive overtime victory in the dome.

“We have a lot of fight in us because of how we train and how we practice and ultimately practice is harder than a lot of these games – we just practice so hard…we never gave up”, said tight end Dan Villari.