SYRACUSE, NY — On a cold, Halloween night in Syracuse, New York, the Orangemen took on the UNC Tar Heels in what can only be described as a frustrating contest that ended in a 27-10 victory for North Carolina. Instead of Rickie Collins starting for Syracuse, it was walk-on true freshman Joe Filardi. And, Filardi went 0-for-8 at one point despite holding a 10-3 lead over North Carolina. For the Tar Heels, their rushing attack started working towards the end of the second quarter, yet struggles from Gio Lopez held them back early. That is, before their rushing attack set the pace of the contest.
Syracuse vs. UNC 2025 College Football Recap
This Week 10 contest featured two teams currently scraping the bottom of the barrel of the ACC for two different reasons. For Syracuse, the loss of Steve Angeli was not able to get corrected, and consequently hurt the team. For UNC, the Tar Heels are in a rebuild in Bill Belichick’s first year as the head coach. And, this matchup showed the growing pains both teams are currently going through.
Offensive Ineptitude in the First Half
Despite having a 10-6 lead entering halftime, Syracuse only had 71 yards of offense. Their quarterback, Joe Filardi, was 1-of-11 for just 25 passing yards. To put that in perspective, UNC running back Demon June had 80 yards at halftime, outpacing the entire Syracuse offense. For Syracuse, miscommunication ran amuck for the Orangemen. The true freshman was short on throws and was off on timing with his receivers. Furthermore, it seemed like the line protections were completely out of whack for the unit.
However, it goes to show how “success” can dictate perspective. While Steve Angeli and Rickie Collins received boos during struggling portions of their tenure, Filardi did not experience that at all. Instead, he was met with cheers and enthusiasm. That’s likely because the team was leading, even though the offense had little impact in that success.
For North Carolina, Gio Lopez struggled, too. The UNC quarterback just missed his receivers on multiple occasions. There were opportunities for scoring attempts and chunk gains, but inaccuracy shrunk any potential in those moments. The running game struggled to start the contest, but by halftime, Demon June was starting to find space and punish the Syracuse defense.
Defense Stands Out
After struggling to start the year, Syracuse’s defense has really bunkered down. The unit only allowed six points at halftime, and were creating constant pressure. That pressure forced Gio Lopez to make errant throws, and create long situations UNC couldn’t recover from. Notably, safeties Devin Grant and Duce Chestnut played a major role in the unit’s first half success.
Grant had a forced fumble that led to a touchdown for the defense. Grant specifically was used in a multitude of ways by the defense, being a key cog in their early success. He did get beat on a deep post by Jordan Shipp, but the play design forced his help to be out of position.
Meanwhile, Chestnut was aggressive in run support and consistently making plays for the unit. The two upperclassmen have been leaders for the defense, and that leadership showed itself on the field for Syracuse on Halloween night.
For the Tar Heels, defensive end Melkart Abou-Jaoude was near-unstoppable. The Syracuse offensive line had little answers for the defender, who wreaked havoc in the first half. The redshirt junior had one sack and 1.5 tackles for loss in the first half of the game. And in the fourth quarter, he had a game-changing forced fumble that gave the Tar Heels the ball. His constant pressure made it so the Orangemen couldn’t get anything going on offense, and gave an advantage to his team.
On the backend, cornerbacks Kaleb Cost and Marcus Allen showed great coverage skills in this game. They limited the passing attack of Syracuse, and were a big reason for Joe Filardi’s struggles from a coverage aspect.
Syracuse vs. UNC 2025 Recap: Other Notes
June Brings Out the Demon
Most of this Week 10 contest contained mishaps from both teams. Yet one constant remained throughout the game; that is UNC freshman running back Demon June.
In the first half, June had 80 rushing yards on nine attempts. And, in the Tar Heels’ first play of the second half, he took the ball 63 yards for a touchdown on a short pass. Later in the quarter, he punched it in from seven yards out to get his second score of the day.
The freshman showcased impressive vision, speed, and balance in this contest. It seems that Bill Belichick has a foundational piece in the running back going forward – if UNC can retain him.
Carney Comes In
After the struggles seen by Joe Filardi (2-of-13 for 33 yards), head coach Fran Brown went to their other freshman, Luke Carney, early in the second half. While Carney was not able to string together much as a passer, the unit saw success running the ball with the freshman under center. However, that too, was short-lived as Carney only saw two possessions before seeing Filardi come back in.
Sloppy Football
This was a game that saw poor execution from both sides – and often. Both teams missed open receivers and there were multiple miscommunications between signal-callers and their lineman (and receivers). On top of that, there were multiple occasions where a timeout had to be called to stop a penalty from occurring (or having 10-men on the field).
Entering the fourth quarter, Syracuse and UNC were a combined 4-29 on third down attempts. A lot of that lack of execution came down to the aforementioned miscommunication and overall sloppy play from both parties. It’s something both coaches want to avoid. Unfortunately, it led to some hard-to-watch football.
Shipped Up
After being quiet for most of the contest, Jordan Shipp finally saw his hard work pay off. Midway through the fourth quarter, Shipp ran a post against man coverage and saw himself get open, eventually scoring from 21 yards out. The sophomore wide receiver has not been as explosive as expected this season, but that’s more-so due to the team’s struggles than Shipp’s play.
Shrine Bowl Prospect Watch
Syracuse Orange
Senior Devin Grant was expected to play a big role on defense this year. In this contest, he was able to do just that. He forced a fumble in the first half that led to the team’s only score in the first 30 minutes of the contest. He also made numerous stops in the run game, being used in a variety of ways by the defense. Grant has shown to be a versatile player for the defense, and could potentially showcase those talents at the next level, too.
UNC Tar Heels
In this game, Marcus Allen played a big role in limiting the passing success of Syracuse, especially in the first half. Allen showed good coverage skills, specifically in a jump-ball situation against Darrell Gill, who has “Moss’d” multiple players already this season. Instead of being on a highlight reel, Allen forced an incompletion, and almost had an interception. It’s been an up and down year for the senior cornerback, but he put together a great performance on Halloween.
Discover more from The League Winners
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.
