Syracuse, N.Y. — College football’s punchline came into the JMA Wireless Dome and turned the Syracuse offense into a bad joke.

The Orange tried two different quarterbacks, completed just four passes and allowed North Carolina to earn its first Power-Four win of the season, a 27-10 offensive horror show that sent much of the Orange crowd home with 13 minutes remaining in the game.

Syracuse benched turnover-prone LSU transfer Rickie Collins in favor of ineffective walk-on true freshman Joe Filardi and then freshman Luke Carney (and then Filardi again). Its offense took an even bigger step backwards after losing opening-day starter Steve Angeli in the fourth game of the season.

The two true freshman quarterbacks combined to throw for 39 yards against a defense designed by North Carolina’s Bill Belichick, widely considered one of greatest coaches in the sport’s history.

Collins, demoted over the course of the week, dressed for the game and stayed warm by throwing passes on the sideline during nearly every break, but he did not enter the game.

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syracuse Orange Football 2025: Syracuse vs University of North Carolina

Syracuse (3-6, 1-5 ACC) lost its fifth consecutive game since Angeli went down, its longest losing streak since a five-game losing slide in 2023 that ended only after the Orange desperately inserted current tight end Dan Villari at quarterback.

Syracuse lost those five games by a combined 123 points when its ugly offense following an injury to Garrett Shrader required an overhauled offensive approach.

Syracuse has lost the last five games by nearly as much, falling by a combined 107 points.

Syracuse’s passing game couldn’t have fared worse if the tight end had been throwing the ball against the Tar Heels (3-5. 1-3 ACC).

With Kyle McCord, owner of the best passing season in school history, and five-star wide receiver commit Calvin Russell in attendance, Filardi completed 4-of-18 passes for 39 yards, while the Orange didn’t appear confident enough in Carney to allow him to throw a pass.

Syracuse mustered just 147 yards of total offense.

The Tar Heels trailed 10-6 at halftime but took the lead for good with 13 minutes and 26 seconds left when running back Demon June stiff-armed Braheem Long to the ground during a 63-yard journey into the end zone on a screen pass.

North Carolina came into the game having served as one of college football’s biggest sources of comedy this season. The Tar Heels hadn’t won a league game and had failed to score more than 18 points against a Power-Four opponent this season.

That was despite hiring Belichick this offseason at a salary of $10 million, making his general manager the highest-paid in the country and bringing in more than 70 players via the transfer portal.

Belichick, famous for preaching about avoiding distractions, has often brought them on himself this year via his personal life, where 24-year-old girlfriend Jordon Hudson has maintained a presence around the team, or by reports that he has banned members of the New England Patriots organization from the building and speculation the rift led the program to downplay the success of NFL quarterback (and UNC alum) Drake Maye.

The win over Syracuse will provide the Tar Heels some respite from the jokes.

North Carolina has looked like an improved team over the past three games, while the Orange appears like a team that has lost its way.

Tickets for Friday’s game, once viewed as the marquee game on the SU schedule, were available on the secondary market for as little as $8 on Friday.

The prices aren’t going to get any higher for the Orange’s lone remaining home game.

Syracuse faces national powerhouses Miami and Notre Dame the next two games before playing its final game at home against Boston College on Nov. 29.

The last time Syracuse has endured a longer stretch of losses than its current one was 2020, one of the worst seasons in school history, when the Orange finished with eight straight defeats.

Notes: Syracuse guard TJ Ferguson left the game with 12:28 remaining in the third quarter. Center Joe Cruz moved over to take his position while starting center Austin Collins entered the game for the first time and played through an injury bad enough that kept him out of the starting lineup.

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