Future teams playing against Syracuse football should heed the warning from first-year coach Fran Brown.
Be careful about giving them any extra motivation, as it could backfire.
Kyle McCord threw for 381 yards and four touchdowns—two each to Trebor Pena and Oronde Gadsden II—as Syracuse held on to beat newly ranked No. 23 Georgia Tech 31-28 on Saturday.
Earlier in the week, Georgia Tech coach Brent Key mentioned that the game wasn’t just about strategy but about being tougher than Syracuse. Brown saw this as a jab at his team’s toughness.
“I took it personally when he said it wasn’t about Xs and Os,” Brown said. “It was about coming up here and being physical and tough for four hours. We’re from the Northeast. What do you mean by that? Like we’re not physical and tough? … Syracuse has always been a tough team.
I want to make sure no one will ever say we’re soft. That really bothered me.”
Brown, who has coached with notable figures like Georgia’s Kirby Smart and former Georgia co-defensive coordinator Will Muschamp, emphasized that his team is built to be tough.
“When you play us, just keep quiet. If you give me something to use against you, I’m coming at you hard.”
The Yellow Jackets (2-1, 1-1 ACC), who were ranked in the AP Top 25 for the first time since 2015, got close with 2:31 left in the game when Jamal Haynes scored on a 15-yard run.
Syracuse ensured Georgia Tech wouldn’t get another chance by running out the clock, earning their first win against a ranked opponent since October 2022, when they beat North Carolina State.
“We knew they were a physical team and thought we could handle that. At times today, it showed that we didn’t, and it came down to physicality,” Key said.
