ORANGE TAKEOVER: SYRACUSE STUNS SMU

Loud House Magic: Costumed Fans Storm the Field After Syracuse Stuns #19 SMU

If you wanted total college football chaos on Halloween afternoon, Syracuse was the place to be.

The Syracuse Orange just pulled off a massive shocker, taking down the No. 19-ranked SMU Mustangs in a 30-27 thriller. The second the clock hit zero, hundreds of costumed students completely stormed the turf to celebrate. But this game did a lot more than just give Syracuse a signature win.

After dethroning the previously 1-loss Mustangs, the Orange have completely blown the race for the ACC Championship Game wide open. SMU no longer controls its own path to the title game after picking up its second conference loss of the year. This conference is truly wide open.

For most of the day, it looked like Syracuse was going to let this one slip away. After playing an awesome first half and heading into the locker room with a comfortable 20-10 lead, the Orange offense completely stalled out.

Things got really scary in the fourth quarter when quarterback Steve Angeli was called for intentional grounding in his own end zone, giving SMU a safety. The Mustangs took all the momentum from that play, and when Kendrick Raphael busted loose for a 14-yard touchdown run shortly after, SMU suddenly jumped ahead 27-20.

But this Syracuse team just refused to quit. After a clutch field goal by Tripp Woody cut the deficit to four points, the Orange defense stepped up to force an SMU punt with 3:47 left.

That is when Angeli went to work, executing a flawless game-winning drive. With just 17 seconds remaining on the clock, Angeli rolled out and found tight end Noah Meyers wide open in the end zone for a short, dramatic touchdown pass to seal the 30-27 upset.

You also have to give a ton of credit to the Orange defense for surviving a total aerial assault. SMU quarterback Kevin Jennings threw for a ridiculous 351 yards and two scores, but the Syracuse front line made his life miserable.

They sacked Jennings six times on the day, with Keyshawn Johnson getting home for two of them, and completely shut down SMU’s running game, holding them to just 70 total yards on the ground.

For a Mustang's backfield headlined by Jennings, who is one of the country's best signal callers through the ground and Kendrick Raphael, the Mustangs star RB transfer from Cal, holding them to just 70 yards is extremely impressive for this Syracuse defense.

This win completely transforms the season for Syracuse, bringing them back to a 4-4 record and putting a bowl game firmly back on the table. But the real national headline is the chaos this leaves behind in the ACC standings.

SMU drops to 4-2 in conference play, creating a massive traffic jam behind undefeated Miami. Teams like Wake Forest, Virginia Tech, and Louisville are suddenly staring at a wide-open race to the championship game.

The Loud House officially earned its nickname today, and the image of students celebrating a ranked victory in Halloween costumes is something nobody in Syracuse is going to forget anytime soon.