Syracuse Football welcomes Louisville in first game at Dome in over a month

 By Ben Anderson

    Syracuse football makes its long-awaited return to the JMA Wireless Dome Saturday when it welcomes the Louisville Cardinals.

    Syracuse spent 35 days between homes games, spanning September 12 through October 17. This stretch between home games is among the longest in the nation, trailing only Stanford (36) among Power Four teams. 

    The Orange enters at 2-3 (0-3), following a 28-25 loss on the road against the Virginia in a game that SU led by 10 at halftime. 

    In the contest against the Cavaliers, the Orange started its third different quarterback on the season, bringing in Malachi Nelson, after Omari Odom suffered an injury in SU’s victory over UConn.

    Nelson had a solid performance for the Orange, going 16-29, 217 yards and 1 touchdown before going down with an injury in the fourth quarter. This resulted in Danny Lauter becoming the fifth QB to appear for SU this season. 

    Orange head coach Fran Brown said that there is confidence and skepticism about who will start under center on Saturday amongst the staff. 

    “Having that next up mentality in that room and having guys that can come in and perform at a snap,” Brown said. “I hope it shows our entire football team that you should always continue to work, at any point your number could be called.”

    Despite the questions at the QB room, WR Umari Hatcher has been the biggest key for SU’s offense this season. Against Virginia, he hauled in eight passes for 126 yards and a touchdown to become the first SU player to have back-to-back 100-yard receiving games since Oronde Gadsden II did so in 2024. Hatcher, recently placed on the Biletnikoff Award Watchlist has set career highs in receiving yards (560) and touchdowns (6) this season.

    “I want him (Umari Hatcher) to be the leader that he’s supposed to be for the football team,” Brown said. “To stay focused and continue to push. I want him to show our players to be able to look at him when adversity strikes.”

    Louisville enters at 3-3 (2-2) after ending a 2-game drought with a 44-20 victory over Florida State. 

    Opposite of the Orange, the Cardinals had to come back to take down the Seminoles. Louisville trailed 14-0 through one quarter of play before scoring 25 unanswered points as part of a 44-6 showing over the final three quarters. 

    The Cardinals showed why they are the ranked No. 11 in all of NCAA Division I in rushing yards, rushing for 397 yards, the ninth-highest total in program history.

    Issac Brown led the way with a career-best 235 yards. The seventh-most in a single game in program history and the most by any FBS player this season. His 97-yard score in the second quarter was the longest play from scrimmage in Louisville history and is tied for the longest run by anyone in the FBS in 2026. 

    In addition to his 235 yards on the ground Brown also caught a pass for seven yards and had a 71-yard kickoff return. His 313 all-purpose yards were third-most in program history and the most by any player in the FBS this year. 

    Brown was not the only rusher finding paydirt, with four different Cardinals finding the endzone for six touchdowns. The most by Louisville against an FBS opponent since 2016, also against Florida State. 

    The Cardinals average 231.7 rush yards per game. The Orange, which ranks 76th in NCAA Division 1 in rushing yards allowed at 144.4 per game. SU has to find a way to combat this, as they struggled to shut down the run game of Virginia, allowing 169 yards on 35 attempts. 

    This a rivalry that dates back to both programs’ time in the Big East, with this marking the 22nd all-time meeting. Louisville leads the series 13-8. The programs met every year from 2003-2022 aside from two seasons. 

    This is the first meeting between the two schools since 2022, the last season that the ACC had divisions. 

    Syracuse and Louisville last met in the season opener of 2022 at the JMA Wireless Dome. The Orange won the contest 31-7. However, Louisville has won seven of the past 10 meetings dating back to 2012. 

    Both teams are trying to fix their seasons. The Orange entered with respected expectations with the highly anticipated return of QB Steve Angeli. The Orange opened up the 2026 campaign with a dominant victory over New Hampshire, before losing to Cal and Pitt with Angeli throwing four touchdowns and five interceptions. 

    Louisville started the season ranked No. 24 in the AP Polls and reaching all the way to No. 16 before suffering back-to-back losses to unranked opponents in Wake Forest and NC State. 

    Both programs are led by coaches still trying to establish their respective programs. Fran Brown leads the charge for the Orange in his third season with a 15-15 record. Jeff Brohm pilots the Cardinals in his fourth season, holding a 31-15 record coaching in the Bluegrass State. 

    Louisville is aiming to get back to over .500 in ACC play and get back into contention in the ACC. Syracuse is fighting to end a 10-game ACC losing streak, and an 11-game losing streak against Power Four opponents since upsetting Clemson on Sept. 20, 2025. Syracuse’s longest FBS since joining the ACC in 2013 was 11 games. That stretch began with the Orange’s 1-10 season in 2020. 

    Kickoff from the JMA Wireless Dome is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. and will be broadcast on the ACC Network.