Orange Roll Past UNH in Opener

Saturday, September 5

Syracuse, N.Y.

12 PM

Syracuse University

1-0 , 0-0

New Hampshire

0-2 , 0-1

Team	1st	2nd	3rd	4th	Final F
New Hampshire	0	0	0	3	3
Syracuse	14	27	2	23	66

9/5/2026 3:38:00 PM | Football

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'Cuse Posts 66 Points in Opening Win

Six-straight possessions with a touchdown boosted Syracuse football to a 66-3 win over New Hampshire on Saturday at the JMA Wireless Dome.

After suffering a season-ending injury early last season, Steve Angeli returned to complete 20 of his 29 passes for 263 yards and three touchdowns. Amari Odom took over and threw one touchdown for seven yards. Umari Hatcher reeled in eight catches for 147 yards and a pair of touchdowns while freshman Shavane Anderson Jr. ran for 102 yards on just 10 carries and three scores.

Syracuse piled up 513 yards of offense with a balance of 275 in the air and 238 on the ground. The Orange picked up 31 first downs along the way while converting 66 percent (8-12) on third down.

The Orange (1-0) defense held the Wildcats to just 155 total yards, 99 of which were in the air and just 56 yards on the ground. Syracuse came up with 11 sacks for 40 yards and two forced fumbles on defense and one on special teams. Keyshawn Johnson was responsible for 2.5 sacks while Tunmise Adeleye led 'Cuse with six total tackles.

UNH (0-2) was paced by Brooks Bentley at quarterback, who completed 11 of his 18 chances for 75 yards. Tommy McLeish converted four of his eight passes for 24 yards in relief. Myles Thomason caught seven balls for 53 yards.

The Orange open ACC play next weekend at the Dome as Cal comes to town. Game time is set for 3:30 p.m. on ACC Network. Tickets for next Saturday's game are available on Cuse.com/footballtickets

The Orange's opening drive stalled around midfield, but after forcing a New Hampshire punt, Syracuse took control for the rest of the ay.

The offense picked up four first downs on four consecutive plays to open their second drive. Angeli threw for 36 yards on three of those plays with Hill scampering for 11. A back-shoulder fade towards Umari Hatcher went just high before Angeli connected with Hatcher down the middle for the first touchdown of the day from 19 yards out. Syracuse took a 7-0 lead and covered 77 yards on just nine plays and four minutes of clock time.

Quick-strike offense was featured on the third Orange drive, including the first-career rush for Shavane Anderson Jr. up the middle for 37 yards down to the UNH 5-yard line. One play later, Anderson Jr. went right and found pay dirt for his first-career touchdown with 95 seconds to play in the first quarter. It took just five plays to cover the 50 yards in just 1 minute and 19 seconds.

New Hampshire picked up a first down on its first play of the ensuing possession, but stalled from there. A shanked punt of just 28 yards at the start of the second quarter set Syracuse up on its own 35 yard line.

The afternoon of firsts continued as Hill punched in his first career touchdown from 2-yards out. Getting down deep in UNH territory thanks to a defensive pass interference, Hill capped a 10-play, 65-yard drive for a 21-0 Syracuse lead five and a half minutes into the second quarter.

Defense stepped up big on the next Wildcats drive as Keyshawn Johnson had a strip-sack that UNH recovered for a 19-yard loss. The Wildcats recovered the ball at their own six and with his heels on the end line, Matt Guidebeck put up a 40-yard punt. A hold on the return put the Orange on the UNH 40 to start the next series.

Anderson Jr. capped the next drive with his second score of the day from 16-yards out with Angeli down field with a crucial block to open up the end zone.

The defense was clicking again on the next New Hampshire drive. Bentley was picked off trying to float a screen pass by Rashard Perry. Bentley delayed an inevitable touchdown with a shoe-string tackle after Perry ran for 17 yards.

Two plays later Syracuse extended its lead out to 34-0 with five minutes left to play in the half. Angeli hit David Clement in stride at the UNH 16-yard line, setting up the pass-and-catch for the quick-strike touchdown.

A three-and-out saw the Wildcats punt the ball away for the seventh Syracuse drive of the half. It was a sixth-straight touchdown for the Orange made it 41-0 thanks to four-straight rushing plays by Anderson Jr. across 45 yards, including a 22-yard run followed by a touchdown from 2-yards out. Proceeding the Anderson Jr. rushes, Angeli hit Hatcher for 28 yards to get into Wildcat territory.

The Wildcats' offense got going late in the half, picking up a pair of first downs and getting deep into Orange territory down to the 29-yard line. Out of timeouts, New Hampshire rushed its field goal unit on with 16 seconds left. The attempt got off, but sailed left of the west-side uprights as the Orange held their 41-0 lead.

Out of the break, the Orange defense forced another three-and-out, dropping the Wildcats for 4-yards on the third down play. It was then the special team's time to shine as one half of the Kerr brothers, Davion Kerr, got the punt block that UNH batted out of the end zone for a safety and a 43-0 Syracuse lead. It marked the first safety scored for the Orange since the 2025 campaign against SMU.

Samuel Jr. returned the free kick 42-yards into Wildcat territory. A holding penalty two plays later backed Syracuse up to midfield on a third down. The Orange streak of six possessions with a touchdown, excluding the kneel down at halftime, was snapped as Gregg punted for just a second time on the afternoon.

Syracuse came up two yards short on its next drive after going for it on fourth down. Three first downs and a 14-yard connection from Angeli to Cole Weaver got the Orange deep into the Wildcat zone. A fourth-and-two pass came down incomplete, giving UNH the ball on its own 2-yard line.

The Orange were hit with a targeting penalty late in the third quarter and on the next play, New Hampshire had its biggest play of the day on a 46-yard run down the right side from Joquez Smith. It was zero net yards after that for UNH before the Wildcats got their first points of the day on a 46-yard field goal by Lucas Glassburn, cutting the Orange lead down to 43-3.

Angeli and Hatcher connected on a long ball as the receiver went over 100 yards for the day, reeling in a toe-tapper down the right side for 35 yards. The pair connected again on the next two plays, including an 18-yard touchdown to push the score out to 50-3. The 62-yard drive needed just four plays and 90 seconds to find the end zone.

Three plays later, a handoff exchange led to a second defensive touchdown as the ball hit the turf at the JMA Dome. Zyian Moultre-Goddard scooped the ball up at the UNH 31 as the senior linebacker ran the ball back for a 57-3 Syracuse lead.

The defense continued to shine in the second half as Jartavius Flounoy punched the ball loose on the next UNH drive. Gemaus Sackie recovered at the 15-yard line to set up a true Amari Odom drive. Odom made good on the chance as he hit Daunte Bacheyie, who played high school ball at nearby Christian Brothers Academy, in the middle of the UNH end zone for the pair's first touchdown with Syracuse.

Syracuse capped its scoring with less than a minute to play as Woody booted through a 34-yard field goal to finalize the game 66-3. New Hampshire ran one play after the three-point play, a five-yard gain to drain the clock.