In the 2025 campaign, when Syracuse football suffered through an eight-game losing streak to finish at 3-9 overall after a 3-1 start, much was made of the Orange's offense, and how the quarterback room faltered once starter Steve Angeli went down in the team's win at Clemson.
While the 'Cuse quarterback situation should be better in 2026, as I outlined in another recent article, it's important to note that this past season, the Syracuse football defense was also subpar. The Orange allowed 34.9 points per game, the worst mark in the Atlantic Coast Conference, and SU also gave up 427.5 total yards per contest, the second-worst amount in the league.
1️⃣1️⃣as1️⃣🍊🎯 https://t.co/AYwwK3afFd
— Vince Kehres (@vkehres) June 27, 2026
Vince Kehres, previously at Toledo, is the new 'Cuse defensive coordinator under head coach Fran Brown, and there is optimism ahead of the 2026 stanza about the squad's defense.
Case in point, national media outlet Athlon Sports recently disclosed its preseason All-ACC teams for 2026. Four Orange players made the cut, and all four players are on the defensive side of the field.
Syracuse football should be much improved on defense in 2026.
Defensive back Chris Peal, a redshirt junior, is on the Athlon Sports first team. Fellow defensive back Demetres Samuel Jr., a sophomore, is on the second team. Linebacker Chris D'Appolonia, a redshirt junior transfer from Toledo, is on the third team. Last but certainly not least, fellow linebacker Antoine Deslauriers, a sophomore, resides on the fourth team.
In 2025, despite the rough team record, Samuel and Deslauriers were lauded by experts as two of the best freshmen around the country. In the secondary, looking ahead to 2026, starters Peal and Samuel should form one of the premier cornerback duos in all of college football.
Deslauriers was anointed a freshman All-American in 2025 by several national media outlets, including On3. He tied for the team lead in total tackles, at 60, and Deslauriers is ridiculously athletic.
At Toledo last season, D'Appolonia earned All-MAC third-team honors after tallying 68 total tackles, 3.5 tackles for loss, a sack and four pass breakups.
Earlier this month, per a release from SU Athletics, three Syracuse football defensive players were named to noted expert Phil Steele's preseason All-ACC teams on defense. They were Peal on the second team, D'Appolonia on the third team and Deslauriers on the fourth team.
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