CHAPEL HILL, N.C. - The some 100 year old phrase "Close, but no cigar" certainly described the Orange's four 2026 ACC losses heading into Saturday night's road test at Kenan Stadium, in which the 'Cuse entered about a nine-point underdog against a Tar Heels team coming off a fierce rivalry game win at Duke.
SU's season was creeping along with a "what if" posture after defeats to Cal, Pitt, UVA, and Louisville by an average of seven points, and it made the path to six wins and a bowl game that much steeper.
That is until the fourth quarter and subsequent OT magic rubbed off again for the second time in four games Saturday evening in front of an announced crowd of 50, 500 at festive Kenan Stadium, highlighted by a big welcome back to two players coming back from the same Achilles heel injury, quarterback Steve Angeli and wide receiver Calvin Russell III, who played the roles of Orange heroes.
For Brown, the final review of the game-winning conversion made for a few anxious moments
The Orange (3-4, 1-4) produced points when they needed to against UNC (4-3, 2-2), the problem was the fourth missed extra point of the season by Shay Barker, a low line-drive kick that was wide left, off a tad errant snap by backup snapper Tim Schwerha, left the game tied at 23-23 after a masterful drive ate up the clock with 1:54 remaining in the fourth quarter.
In OT, Carolina scored on its first possession to go up 30-23, and the Orange needed a fourth down conversion on the four-yard line on its possession to stay alive. After a timeout, Angeli hit Russell with a four yard scoring pass which was reviewed and confirmed.
Following a timeout in which the SU coaching staff huddled and signaled to Brown that the two-point play was again going to Russell, he then gave his okay to try and win the game. Angeli's short pass hit Russell at the goal line and he knocked the pylon on the way out of bounds with the initial official's call a successful conversion, while awaiting an automatic review from the ACC Command Center in Charlotte.
Pent up with emotion while conversing with the officials, Brown had a lot of thoughts crossing his mind awaiting the verdict of a win or loss against legendary coach Bill Belichick's team.
"Honestly, what did I say to the officials, 'You're going to give it to Belichick,'" Brown said jokingly with a smile on his face after the game. "I was just happy it went that way, I kind of knew it would with how Calvin positioned himself to get across the line. The refs did a great job today."
A redemptive win for Syracuse's starting quarterback
After missing three games following a medical procedure in his left leg, it was great to see Steve Angeli back in his accumstomed spot running the offense, and he played his best game of the season.
Angeli's 76-yard touchdown pass to Umari Hatcher with 11:00 left in regulation seemed to change the game's complexion. The two had been trying to loosen up the UNC secondary, down two starters, up to that point, before connecting on the long hookup to put the Orange right back in the game down 20-17.
In all, Angeli finished 20-of-34 for 256 yards and two TD passes, even running out of trouble on occasion, but always in command.
"It's a credit to the entire team," Angeli said of the sweet victory that was celebrated loudly inside the SU locker room late Saturday night. "It's no secret we've been going through tough times, some tough close losses. We knew this game was going to be won in the fourth quarter, and it's great I can trust guys like Hatch and Calvin, the offensive line, our defense for getting stops."
"You win the game on the last play,' he added, "and it's a helluva football game and it is always fun to go out there and win it that way."
Russell continues to step up his play as the season progresses
There is a reason that the two-sport, five-star talented Russell was the program's highest rated football recruit so far in the 2000s, and as Brown keeps describing each week is a freak athlete who made a miraculous six month recovery from his torn Achilles injury, and is by far the biggest inside team leader on the squad,
Since stepping onto the college gridiron for the first time against UConn October 3, Russell has increased his productivity on a weekly basis, finishing with a co-game high eight catches for 86 yards and the tying TD and game-winning conversion in OT.
"We have been right there week in, week out," a happy Russell said Saturday about how great it felt to finally help get his team over the hump of losing games. "We were down 20-10, and we were fighting threw adversity with my (teammates), and that feeling of coming back, fighting threw adversity it felt great."
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