Turnovers Haunt Syracuse in 31–18 Loss to SMU

By Danny Erb

DALLAS, TX — Under a cloudless Texas sky, Syracuse’s offense once again couldn’t get out of its own way.

Quarterback Rickie Collins threw three interceptions, including two inside the red zone, as the Orange fell 31–18 to SMU on Saturday at Gerald J. Ford Stadium.
The loss marked the first time head coach Fran Brown has dropped consecutive games at Syracuse. His young offense flashed promise — Collins ran for a touchdown and threw another to Conty Cook — but early mistakes buried the Orange.

“He started getting a little better,” Brown said. “He threw a touchdown pass, didn’t throw one last week, ran one in. So he’s getting better. Just got to keep working… I got to make sure that I’m able to do that and have his back and be behind him 100% as he’s learning and going through these rough patches.”
Collins finished with just over 200 total yards. “I have to do better executing, getting us in the right situation and getting the ball to our playmakers,” he said. “I was very inaccurate today.”

Running back Yasin Willis added perspective on the team’s red-zone struggles: “You get a good drive going down the field, and then you get to the red zone and things don’t go your way. … When things aren’t going our way, how are we going to respond to that?”

Syracuse enters its bye week 3–2 before hosting Wake Forest on Oct. 18 at the JMA Wireless Dome.