Syracuse Fan’s First Look at the Fran Brown Era

SYRACUSE, N.Y. (Sports Media Center) – Syracuse fans got their first chance to experience the Fran Brown era of Cuse football. 

With a chance to see new and exciting transfers as well as familiar faces the Spring Game kicked off and the JMA Wireless Dome was filled with a record breaking 16,579 fans. 

The game featured two guest coaches. The Orange team led by class of 1982, offensive guard John E. Lally, and the Blue team led by class of 2018 and star linebacker for the Indianapolis Colts Zaire Frankline. 

The Orange team walked away victorious with a 31-10 win over the Blue team. Though newly Orange quarterback Kyle McCord only saw action in the first half he still managed to pass for 242 yards and a touchdown, completing 18-of-28 passes. 

Syracuse fans had the opportunity to see McCord in action for the first time. Photo Credit: Kalia Butler

But McCord wasn’t the only quarterback in the Spring Game, Carlos Del Rio-Wilson and Braden Davis also had an opportunity to showcase their ability in front of fans. Del Rio-Wilson threw for 101 yards for the Blue squad. 

“I feel that he (Carlos Del Rio-Wilson) was just a little more consistent. I thought he hit stuff a little better,” said coach Brown. 

Syracuse fans had the opportunity to see Davis at quarterback, and they also had the chance to see him play a little at wide receiver. 

Branden Davis was one of the leaders of the Blue team. Photo Credit: Kalia Butler

“He’s an intelligent kid, he’s really smart, already transferred from another school, he has the ability to be on the football field. So, when you’re intelligent like that, you do all the things the right way, I think that as a football coach you have to find a place for him to make sure he plays,” said coach Brown.

For coach Brown this is only the beginning of the potential he sees for this team. “We are about a five. We are like a five on a scale of 1 to 10. We’ve got a lot of work to do,” said coach Brown. 

Many alumni attended this Spring Game, showing their support for this new Fran Brown era. The alumni may span back decades, but they all have one thing in common, they all once wore the orange jersey. 

“I think to really have a good future, you got to know and understand the past. A lot of people don’t know the past and their like, ‘Oh we’re just going to win.’ Like how? Like who’s around? Like what was the past like? What was their culture like? Once you start to find out some of those things you can start to take some of it,” coach Brown. 

The next time Syracuse fans will have the opportunity to see this Orange squad is in the regular season when Cuse kicks off in the JMA Dome on August 31 against Ohio. Season tickets can be purchased at cuse.com/tickets.