Syracuse had the game in hand and still let it go. The Syracuse Orange led 18-14 entering the fourth quarter against the California Golden Bears in Syracuse's ACC opener, then lost 21-18 after Steve Angeli threw three interceptions, one of them returned for the winning score.
That is why the search for where to watch football today turns into a check on what went wrong as much as what was on TV. Angeli finished 24 of 49, and Syracuse's four fourth-quarter possessions ended in the exact order that buried the Orange: a missed field goal, an interception, another missed field goal and another interception. Tripp Woody missed a 31-yard field goal, and another Angeli turnover ended the game with Syracuse inside Cal territory.
The loss matters because the defense did enough to keep Syracuse in position to win. Cal managed only 249 total yards and went 3 for 13 on third- and fourth-down conversions, and Syracuse did not allow a point in the fourth quarter. Even so, the Orange still came away 1-1 overall and 0-1 in the ACC because the mistakes around the quarterback were too costly to overcome.
Angeli's day fits the result. He had no clean escape from the pressure of a sloppy game in which Syracuse also committed 15 penalties for 132 yards, and the turnovers kept handing Cal shorter fields and better leverage. The Orange did get production from Justus Ross-Simmons, who caught five passes for 82 yards, and Daunte Bacheyie, who had four catches for 73 yards, but those gains were swallowed by the giveaways and special teams failures.
There was one more wrinkle that showed how close Syracuse came to flipping the game back. The Orange tried a fourth-down fake punt jump pass executed by Jimmy Gregg and David Omopariola, a sign the staff was willing to gamble to keep the afternoon alive. But the bigger question is still the one that followed the final interception: Syracuse is not expected to turn to Amari Odom yet, so the job remains Angeli's to hold or lose after a performance that left the Orange needing answers more than excuses.
