Syracuse (9-3, 6-3 ACC) rallied from down 21-0 to upset No. 6 Miami (10-2, 6-2), 42-38, in their final regular season game. The monumental victory was the Orange’s first win against a top 10 opponent since 2017 when they beat Clemson.

Fran Brown also became the second Syracuse head coach to reach nine wins in his inaugural year in the modern era, joining Paul Pasqualoni.

Here are five takeaways from Saturday’s win.

The Orange closed out November going 4-1, marking the first time SU had done that since 1991. Head coach Fran Brown has addressed this program’s recent November struggles and vowed to leave them in the past.

Syracuse has three impressive wins in November: coming back from down 18 points to beat Virginia Tech, travelling across the country to beat Cal, and putting up 33 points against the best defense in conference and coming back down 21 to beat No. 6 Miami.

“Making sure that November is a time that we win means a lot,” Brown said.

Fran Brown did not mince words when he proclaimed “Syracuse is back” while walking off the field after the game.

Quarterback Kyle McCord echoed similar feelings.

“I think the win shows that Syracuse is for real,” McCord said.

Syracuse has now beaten three top 25 opponents and will finish fouth in the ACC after being picked 11th in the preseason.

In this game Syracuse went toe-to-toe and outlasted one of the best teams in the country while playing a disciplined game.

Syracuse had less penalties and penalty yards, less incompletions and less punts. SU also had better third down numbers, more first downs and more plays ran.

All these metrics proved Syracuse’s win was no fluke, but also that there is more to improve upon.

"I want to win a National Championship," Brown said. "I want to win a Conference Championship, and that didn't happen."

Syracuse has gone wide receiver by committee as they have seven players with over 190 receiving yards this year. SU had four different players who have led the team in receptions in a game and six different players who have led the team in yards.

On Saturday, it was Jackson Meeks; turn as he was targeted 13 times, and finished with seven receptions for 110 yards.

The Georgia transfer had to sit behind NFL players like Brock Bowers and Ladd McConkey while at Athens, which he says taught him patience. His patience is paying off at SU as Meeks now has 66 catches, five touchdowns and 801 yards.

“I think he's probably the most competitive player ever played with,” McCord said. “When they left one-on-one, I was going to take that shot every single time.”

McCord didn’t get as much buzz or hype as Cam Ward over the year even though the two quarterbacks played in the same conference and were constantly on top of the NCAA passing charts.

While McCord has thrown for more yards, more touchdowns with a better completion percentage and better QBR than Ward, Ward is expected to become a top NFL pick come April.

When matched up head-to-head, McCord also had the better day, throwing for more yards (380 to 349) and touchdowns (3 to 2), and, of course, coming out with a win.

He became the first SU quarterback since Donovan McNabb to lead the Orange to a win over Miami at home.

“I just want to be the one who helped bring [Syracuse] back to what it once was,” McCord said “To be a part of that team that turned things around and got things going in the right direction, I think that's going to last forever."

Syracuse’s win came a couple hours after No. 2 Ohio State, McCord’s old school, lost to unranked Michigan at home, 13-10.

The Buckeyes failed to beat Michigan for the fourth consecutive time and McCord's replacement only put up 175 yards and had two interceptions.

The Buckeyes might have been missing McCord who will end the regular season as the NCAA’s passing yards champion.

When asked if the Ohio State loss made Saturday any more satisfying McCord simply said, “Everything comes full circle.”

Syracuse finished with just 99 rushing yards against Miami and ranks 127th in the nation in rushing yards. But the run game showed up when it was needed.

In the second quarter, SU trailed 21-7, but leaned heavily on the run game on a 16-play drive where they ran the ball six times including a span where they ran it five straight times.

In the fourth quarter Syracuse put up 46 yards helping control the clock and keep the ball out of Ward’s hands.

SU closed the game calling eight straight rushes picking up four first downs which expired the final 3:42.

Even though the ground attack didn’t put up eye-popping numbers, they came through when needed to help Syracuse knock off Miami.

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