Pitt's Pat Narduzzi not taking struggling Syracuse QB Rickie Collins lightly

College football fans across the country may be looking at Syracuse as a sinking ship, its prospects for a successful season dimmed as a result of quarterback Steve Angeli’s season-ending injury.

Angeli went down with a torn Achilles on Sept. 20 against Clemson, and since then, the Orange are 0-2, having been outscored 69-21 by Duke and SMU ahead of a bye last week.

Statistically, Rickie Collins, who succeeded Angeli behind center, has not performed well. In his first two starts, he’s thrown four interceptions compared to one touchdown, completing 56.9% (46 for 82) of his passes for 508 yards.

However, coach Pat Narduzzi views Collins through a different lens.

“Everybody’s going to say he’s struggled because they’ve lost,” Narduzzi said Thursday. “When you lose, the quarterback’s going to get all the heat. It ain’t just the quarterback.It’s everybody. I’ve seen the guy get better from his first game against Duke to his second game against SMU on the road.”

Syracuse’s (3-3, 1-2 ACC) most recent contest, a 31-18 loss at SMU on Oct. 4, is worth examining more closely, particularly taking into account Narduzzi’s point that football “is a game of inches.”

In Pitt’s (4-2, 2-1) triumph over Florida State last weekend, the Panthers converted three fourth-and-1 tries on an eventual touchdown drive, key in the 34-31 win.

Syracuse went for it five times against the Mustangs but failed on three, with significant ramifications.

To start, the Orange took 7 minutes, 3 seconds off the clock on their opening possession, moving methodically 41 yards only to be stuffed at the goal line for a turnover on downs.

“You saw what (Collins) did on the road: He took the first drive down that looked like our (8-minute, 5-second opening touchdown drive vs. Florida State), went all the way down to the 1-yard line and got stopped on fourth-and-1,” Narduzzi said.

“Could have been the same thing we did last week, but on fourth down, they got stopped. It’s a game of inches. They’re (not) far away from driving the ball down the field, but then momentum starts to take over.”

On Syracuse’s next possession, Collins threw the first of his three interceptions.

By game’s end, the Orange had turned the ball over after a failed fourth-and-1 from their own 40-yard line and a fourth-and-2 try at the SMU 10.

Including Collins’ interceptions, Syracuse turned the ball over six times.

Narduzzi isn’t the only coach giving Collins props, as the Orange’s Fran Brown told reporters in Syracuse earlier this week that he’d be sticking with the sophomore LSU transfer.

The vote of confidence meant a lot to Collins, who said he used the bye week to get a head start on preparing for Pitt, as well as rewatching his last two games.

“It’s been rough for us as an offense, as a team,” Collins told local media Tuesday. “We haven’t been getting the production that we wanted, the outcomes that we wanted. But (Brown) is still confident, and he believes in me. He’s continuously pushing me and coaching me as hard as I’ve probably ever been coached in my life so far, so I appreciate that.”

“I took advantage of this by week to gain more knowledge and get a jump on Pitt.” —Rickie Collins (@RickieJCollins1) discusses his bye week as #Syracuse prepares for Pitt. pic.twitter.com/ujra5oWaG4

— Syracuse On SI | The Juice Online (@TheJuiceOnline) October 15, 2025

Pitt arrives at JMA Wireless Dome on Saturday night with the momentum of two straight wins, while Syracuse aims for a reset after back-to-back losses.

As kickoff approaches, Narduzzi is guarding against facing a quarterback and team that might look to demonstrate a newfound identity through some frustrating trial and error.

“I think he’s getting better,” Narduzzi said. “I think he throws a great deep ball, he throws a tight spiral and he’s a great player. But everyone else around you has got to get it done.”