Syracuse knows its starting quarterback ahead of its season opener against Tennessee. Notre Dame transfer Steve Angeli won the Orange’s quarterback battle and will start for Syracuse against the Vols in the Aflac Kickoff Game, ESPN’s Pete Thamel first reported Monday.
The Orange named their starting quarterback just a day after Tennessee football named transfer Joey Aguilar its starting signal caller.
Like Tennessee, Syracuse went out and added its starting quarterback to its roster in the spring portal window. With very few quality quarterbacks in the portal during the spring window, Angeli was a name mentioned in connection with Tennessee but the Vols never pursued the New Jersey native.
Angeli spent two seasons at Notre Dame where he played sparingly. He combined to complete 58-of-80 passes for 504 yards, seven touchdowns and an interception. The 6-foot-3 quarterback is not much of a runner, totaling just 36 career rushing yards.
Most of Angeli’s playing time came in the 2023 Sun Bowl when he completed 15-of-19 passes for 232 yards and three touchdowns as Notre Dame dominated Oregon State 40-8.
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Angeli spent spring practice in a three-person quarterback competition at Notre Dame with CJ Carr and Kenny Minchey. Believing his chances of starting elsewhere were better, Angeli entered the portal and eventually landed at Syracuse.
LSU transfer Rickie Collins was the other contender in Syracuse’s quarterback competition. A true dual-threat quarterback, Collins played very little at LSU and was the third string quarterback a season ago.
Syracuse overachieved in Fran Brown’s first season as head coach in 2024, posting a 10-3 (5-3 ACC) record including ranked wins over Georgia Tech and Miami. The Orange slung the ball around the yard a season ago with quarterback Kyle McCord leading the country with 4,779 passing yards to go along with 34 touchdowns and 12 interceptions.
McCord was one of a number of key players that Syracuse lost from its 2024 squad. Sportsbooks expect Syracuse to take a step back with DraftKings setting its regular season over/under win total at 5.5. DraftKings has Tennessee as 14.5-point favorites against the Cuse with the over/under set at 50.5.
Kickoff between Tennessee and Syracuse is at noon ET at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta. ABC is broadcasting the game.
