Fran Brown faces Dabo Swinney for the first time in September
Fran Brown and the Syracuse Orange will play most of their non-conference slate to begin the 2025 season, with a neutral-site opener in Atlanta versus Tennessee, followed by home games against UConn and Colgate.
After that, they’ll have their first ACC challenge: a trip to Death Valley on September 20 to face the Clemson Tigers. SU is 0-5 all-time at Clemson, but Fran Brown’s group will try to change that in his second year leading the program.
Each ACC team’s first game of conference play was unveiled on ACCN this afternoon. NC State and Wake Forest drew the very first matchup, a Thursday night clash in Week 3. Miami, SMU, and UNC are the last ones to play an ACC opponent, as they all frontloaded their out-of-conference slate and, by process of elimination, must have Byes in Week 5.
Fresh off an ACC Championship and CFP appearance, Clemson will run it back with QB Cade Klubnik one last time in 2025. Despite surprise home losses to Louisville and South Carolina last year, the Tigers still boasted the No. 12 offense (451.9 YPG) in the nation.
Clemson will host the other Tigers from the other Death Valley – LSU – in Week 1, followed by Troy in Week 2 and a trip to Georgia Tech in Week 3.
The Orange will also make their first trip to Dallas in Week 6. SMU – the ACC runner-up this past fall – has not faced Syracuse in almost a century. There will be at least one familiar face in the mix: CB Marcellus Barnes, who recently transferred to the Mustangs.
SMU will host FCS East Texas A&M in Week 1 and Baylor in Week 2, followed by trips to Missouri State and TCU for their next two games.
The full ACC schedule will be unveiled Monday at 9pm EST on ESPN2/ACCN. Before that, you can check out our early looks at this season’s conference opponents.