Syracuse is expected to start its third quarterback of the season when it visits Virginia on Saturday night. Former five-star recruit Malachi Nelson is set to be under center, ESPN's Pete Thamel reported, after Amari Odom was downgraded to doubtful on Friday night's availability report with soreness in his throwing shoulder and Steve Angeli was listed out, according to Yahoo Sports and Augusta Free Press. Kickoff at Scott Stadium in Charlottesville is 7:30 p.m. ET on ACC Network, in Virginia's annual Homecomings game. Neither team is ranked. Virginia is 3-2 and 1-1 in the ACC; Syracuse is 2-2 and 0-2.
The change comes one week after Odom's breakout. In his first start for Syracuse, he threw five touchdown passes, tying the program's single-game record, and ran in the winning two-point conversion on the final play of overtime in a 42-41 win at UConn, the Associated Press and FingerLakes1 reported. Angeli had opened the season as the starter, and the Orange went 1-2 as he completed 54.8% of his passes with four touchdowns and five interceptions, according to Yahoo Sports. Nelson, the top overall recruit in the 2023 class, is now at his fourth school in four years. Whoever plays will have receiver Umari Hatcher, whose five touchdown catches rank second in the ACC, and running back Tylik Hill, who ran for 140 yards against UConn. Syracuse has lost nine straight ACC games since a 34-21 win at Clemson on Sept. 20, 2025, Field Level Media noted.
Virginia is trying to shake off a rough Saturday in Tallahassee. After taking a 7-0 lead, the Cavaliers gave up 38 unanswered points in a 38-7 loss at Florida State, where quarterback Beau Pribula went 14 of 32 for 168 yards and was sacked 10 times, according to Virginia athletics. The Cavaliers are 3-0 at Scott Stadium this season and 9-1 at home since the start of last season, per Field Level Media. "We're going to go back to work and have a great week of practice and show back up Saturday and see if we can get this bad taste out of our mouth," coach Tony Elliott said. Starting cornerback Omillio Agard was listed as questionable on this week's availability report, Sports Illustrated reported.
Virginia opened as an 8.5-point favorite with a moneyline of -345 at FanDuel, Sports Illustrated reported earlier in the week, a price that implies roughly a 78% chance of a Cavaliers win. Prediction markets now lean further toward the home team. On Kalshi, Virginia's contract to win traded around 82 cents on Saturday afternoon, about an 82% chance, leaving Syracuse near 18%. That opening sportsbook number was set before Syracuse's quarterback news broke on Friday night.
The series has a history of close games. This is only the seventh meeting between the schools, with the series tied 3-3, and four of the six previous games were decided by three points or went to overtime, FingerLakes1 reported. Syracuse won the last meeting 22-20 in 2022, and this is its first trip to Scott Stadium since 2015, when Virginia won 44-38 in triple overtime. It is also the Orange's final road game before a return to the JMA Wireless Dome. Syracuse's starting quarterback will be confirmed at kickoff.
