Syracuse coach Fran Brown is thankful for a fresh start Saturday afternoon when the Orange open their season at home against FCS foe New Hampshire.

Syracuse started 3-1 in 2025 before the team spiraled in the wake of quarterback Steve Angeli’s season-ending Achilles injury. The Orange lost their final eight games, including defeats by 35, 28 and 63 points.

Angeli, formerly the quarterback at Notre Dame, is ready to go as Syracuse hopes to bounce back in Brown’s third season on the sideline.

“My expectations are for our football team to go out and play as hard as we possibly can,” Brown said. “For me to make sure that I have the coaches, the players, everybody ready to go out and compete, so our fans can come out and have a lot of fun.”

While all eyes will be on Angeli, there also will be plenty of attention on Justus Ross-Simmons. The Orange wideout is immersed in a legal eligibility battle, but Brown said Monday that he expects Ross-Simmons to be available Saturday.

“We’re just praying for the best opportunity for him to continue to be a good teammate,” Brown said. “But all the rules said that he’ll be able to play. He’s good to go. So we just got to make sure he’s in game-playing shape, and we’re excited to have him back on our team.”

New Hampshire (0-1) began its campaign with a 28-14 loss to Albany last weekend. The Wildcats allowed 374 rushing yards — 7.1 per carry — and committed 11 penalties, giving the team plenty to improve upon against Syracuse.

“I don’t think we ever felt out of that game,” New Hampshire coach Sean Goldrich said. “As bad as we might have played, there will still some chances in the second half for us to get back in the football game and make it interesting. … I don’t feel like we ever fully quit, which is good. I think there is some fight in us.”

New Hampshire quarterback Brooks Bentley completed 19 of 27 passes for 230 yards and two touchdowns.

–Field Level Media