Syracuse football, riding a three-game winning streak, entered hostile territory this past Thursday night when it traveled to long-time rival Pittsburgh in a prime-time collision on ESPN.
The Orange and the No. 19 Panthers were meeting for the 80th time on the field, and the 'Cuse program wanted to knock Pitt from the ranks of the unbeaten while securing a third triumph over an opponent that was ranked in the major top-25 polls at the time of the encounter.
That didn't happen. We all know the outcome. The Panthers' defense played at an ultra-high level, and the home team came away with a 41-13 beatdown of our beloved Syracuse football.
As first-year head coach Fran Brown said in his post-game press conference after the program's loss to Pittsburgh, stuff like this happens in the sport of football. "It's about keeping your chin up right now," Brown says, a point with which I adamantly agree.
The key is for Syracuse football to learn and grow from its setback to Pittsburgh.
Brown, in his post-game presser, said that he feels like he let down everyone associated with Syracuse University - his program, alumni, fans, SU faculty, and so on and so forth. He apologized for his team's performance.
This is what I admire about Fran Brown. His DART philosophy includes being accountable, and that's what he's doing. He says that he believes this Atlantic Coast Conference clash at Pitt was an affair that the Orange (5-2, 2-2 in the ACC) was supposed to win and should have won, but that the Panthers (7-0, 3-0 in the ACC) simply outplayed the 'Cuse.
The Syracuse football head coach added that he has to "do a much better job" of having his program ready to go and compete at a high level on a big, national stage - like a prime-time, ESPN broadcast on a Thursday evening.
Pittsburgh's swarming defense intercepted Orange senior quarterback Kyle McCord five times, including a trio of pick-sixes, and the Panthers in total scored 31 points stemming from Syracuse football turnovers. That proved too insurmountable for the 'Cuse to overcome, despite the Orange having a 327-217 edge over Pitt in total yards generated.
Understandably, after this latest loss, some fans lamented that the pair of defeats that Syracuse football has suffered to date in the 2024 season both occurred after the 'Cuse was coming off a bye week. Brown says that the team, before its meeting with Pittsburgh, practiced well during the bye week and was locked in, but in football, sometimes the game merely doesn't fall your way.
He added that the next opportunity "always comes back around," and Brown stresses that he's confident in what Syracuse football is as a program, he's confident in himself, he's confident in his staff, and he's confident in his players.
One other thing that Brown mentioned, and for which I completely agree, is that despite this rough outing, the Orange never quit and kept fighting. Now, as Syracuse football will regroup and prepare to host Virginia Tech on Saturday, Nov. 2, the 'Cuse players and coaches have to deal with this adversity and learn from it.
"We just have to continue to grow," Brown says.