The Syracuse Orange were able to steal victory from the jaws of defeat in their Week 2 matchup against the UConn Huskies. But despite the fact that the end result was a positive one for the Orange, his team’s performance was not good enough for Syracuse head coach Fran Brown.
For the first 45 minutes of Saturday’s game, Fran Brown’s team looked nothing like the team that won ten games in his debut season at the program in 2024.
Despite going into the game as favorites over UConn, Syracuse trailed by 17-6 nearly half way through the fourth quarter. But eventually, Syracuse’s offense would finally come to life, storming down the field on back-to-back touchdown scoring drives to take a 20-17 fourth quarter lead.
More news: NFL Insider Downplays Significance of 49ers’ Christian McCaffrey Injury
On the final possession of regulation, UConn would get into field goal range and tie the game to force overtime. But ultimately, the Orange would capitalize on the momentum they found near the end of regulation, coming away with a 27-20 victory after Syracuse freshman linebacker Antoine Deslauriers made a game-saving pass deflection on a UConn pass attempt into the end zone.
ANTOINE DESLAURIERS WITH ANOTHER PBU TO END THE GAME!SYRACUSE WINS#CuseFootball | #CuseNation | @CuseFootball | @BarstoolCuse | #Syracuse pic.twitter.com/UVC1AcFOHQ
— Everything Team USA/NY (@EverythingUSANY) September 6, 2025
The win obviously avoids as disastrous 0-2 start for the Orange after losing to the Tennessee Volunteers in Week 1. But the performance itself was not good enough for Fran Brown, who decided to have his entire team run sprints on the field after the game had concluded.
You can tell Fran Brown is not happy after that game. He’s making the entire team run sprints post game right now.@NunesMagician pic.twitter.com/lnNl0U6ULy
— Christian De Guzman (@CTDeGuz) September 6, 2025
Brown is notoriously passionate about his job, even famously declaring that he doesn’t shower after losses because he doesn’t deserve to be clean if his team loses.
With that in mind, it’s easy to understand Brown’s frustrations after the game. Despite coming away with a win, it was far from a perfect outing from the Orange. And many could argue that they were lucky not to drop the game to UConn, who outplayed them for much of the game.
More news: Oklahoma Legend Fires Brutal Shot at Michigan in Wild Prediction
It will be interesting to see whether Syracuse learns from this humbling experience of running after a win. Because soon, they will be put to the test by another powerhouse in the ACC who is also eager to turn their season around.
Syracuse will face off against Colgate in Week 3, which on paper should be a rather easy matchup for them. But in Week 4, the Orange will face perhaps their toughest test of the season when they take to the road to face the Clemson Tigers.
For more on the Syracuse Orange, head to Newsweek Sports.
The post Syracuse Coach Punishes Team After Week 2 Win appeared first on Newsweek.
