ORANGE WATCH: 2023 Syracuse football game-by-game predictions – Part II
Syracuse football aims for a winning season and consecutive postseason appearances for the first time since Doug Marrone and Scott Shafer led Orange teams to bowl game victories over Power 5 conference schools in 2012 and ’13, respectively. In his eighth season, Dino Babers is tasked to lead the program to the same result. With all the craziness surrounding conference realignment this summer, let’s enjoy the games this fall. We continue our three-part chronological look at each SU contest with games five through eight of the season.
No other ACC team but Syracuse opens the conference portion of its schedule facing the top three teams in the pre-season media poll. The three-game onslaught begins with Big Dog Clemson making its 6th all-time Dome appearance (September 30) in a game that figures to be a Saturday night primetime affair in front of a very loud “Loud House,” although the Tigers do host Florida State the week before (affecting a possible ESPN College GameDay appearance). The 2017 SU home upset is the only ACC win against Clemson, and to replicate that result this season, the Syracuse defense will have to make plays difficult for the Tigers touted quarterback Cade Klubnik, Garrett Shrader will have to work his magic, and kicker Brady Denaburg needs to be consistent on (long) field goal opportunities. Spurred by the voluminous spectators, those three items are check-listed. The result? A 31-27 upset that sends the crowd onto the field and the Orange into the Top 25. (5-0, 3-0)
It is easy to forget that despite the accolades of being picked to finish third in the preseason and with the reigning conference player of the year in quarterback Drake Maye, North Carolina dropped its final four games last season, including the ACC championship and Holiday Bowl. Maye became the first freshman in FBS history to throw 30 touchdown passes in the first nine games of his career, but he finished with just eight more TDs in the season’s final four games and is eager to atone for the late season collapse. 71-year-old Mack Brown is at the twilight of a 50-year coaching career (at $5M per season) and is eyeing nothing short of playing for the ACC title in the new 14-team format. In a close game (October 7) not decided until the final play, UNC’s Noah Burnette boots a 48-yard field goal to knock the Orange from the ranks of the unbeaten and rankings in a 31-28 defeat. (5-1, 1-1)
At North Carolina in basketball. At Florida State in football. Those are two locations where Syracuse teams are winless after the first decade as an ACC member, and as the football team readies to end its all-time 0-6 mark in Tallahassee this season, who knows what the future will look like for FSU? One of SU’s three permanent ACC opponents, the school’s president and board of trustee members spent most of the spring/summer loudly complaining about the inequities of the league’s revenue dispersal, even though the Seminoles football program is just 18-16 this decade. Obviously, expectations are sky high this year, and a tough neutral site opener against LSU for the second straight season won’t make the task any easier. In fact, by the time the ‘Cuse rolls into town (October 14) the ‘Noles could potentially have a worse record than SU (3-2?). Down a touchdown a final Orange drive falls short driving in FSU territory, and the Tallahassee jinx continues in a 28-21 defeat. (5-2, 1-2)
Following a much-needed open week (October 21), Syracuse prepares for a Thursday night affair at Virginia Tech (October 26), with the Hokies also having the week off prior to the contest. Under Dino Babers SU is 3-6 in games following a week off, but have “momentum” after blitzing N.C. State last season after a bye, to cap the scintillating 6-0 start. Tech has a hard non-conference schedule with no game against an FCS team and two games against Big 10 opponents. The last time the ‘Cuse played in Blacksburg in 2021 it took two touchdowns in the final 3:00 plus a huge defensive stop in between to grab a 41-36 win. Garrett Shrader and Damon Alford who hooked up on the 45-yard game-winning score in ’21 look to have similar success again this year, but the story will be the defensive effort that shuts down the Hokies in the second half on route to a 29-17 rare conference road win and consecutive seasons of securing bowl eligibility in the month of October. (6-2, 2-2)
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